Been too long...

Beginning Weight: 180
Weight today: Unknown
Last Weigh-in: 165
Steps today: 11,168

Hi all,
I realize that it has nearly been a year and a half since I last posted, and I am sorry. I allowed myself to be overtaken by the prednisone. Despite my constant dieting and exercise, I still managed to gain over 30 pounds. I let my self get defeated. I tried to think of how much weight I could have gained if I hadn't tried so hard to keep the weight off, but that didn't really seem to help. I am proud to say that I am back on the up and up. I finally reached a point where I said enough is enough. I couldn't believe that I had gone a whole year and not lost any of the weight. I wanted to get back into my old clothes.

The change started this year when I gave up all drinks for Lent. I denied myself every kind of drink except water. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. Once Lent was over I decided that I would let myself have a treat every once in a while but I would continue to drink mostly water, and I would have to have my 8 to 10 glasses of water before I would allowed myself to have a carbonated treat.

Then I decided that I wasn't going to get anywhere until I became more physically active. My wonderful boyfriend got me a pedometer so that I could start counting my steps everyday. We heard somewhere that if you got at least 10,000 steps a day then you could more easily control your weight. I figured, even if they were wrong, it couldn't hurt to try. What I didn't realize is that 10,000 steps if far and above what I would actually do in an average day. The first day I wore the pedometer I think that I only got 7,000 steps and I felt like I hadn't stopped moving all day. I even had to walk around in place to get that far. It took me three days to work up to getting 10,000 steps a day. Sometimes I have to walk two miles standing in place, in my living room, just to make my quota.

It all seems to be worth it. I have lost about 15 pounds so far, maybe more. I still haven't worked up the courage to weigh that often. Generally, I will only weigh myself when I go to the doctor, which is about every two months. I started out at about 180 pounds. The last time I went to the doctor I weighed 165 pounds. I will be going to the doctor again in August so I will know more then.

In the next post I will let you in on my new exercise obsession. Here's a hint...It starts with a "Z".

Rude Customers

Hi readers,
I want to use today's post to discuss people's terrible manners. I know that I live in the country, and several of my customers may very well have been raised in a barn, but I know that their parents taught them the most basic of manners. To go back a step, I work as a cashier in a grocery store, in a very small town. I know almost everyone of my customers, and they have known me since birth. From my other posts, and introduction, you probably know that I am currently suffering from the terrible prednisone side effect, MOONFACE!! It seems as if my customers favorite thing to do right now is ask me, why my face is so big. They all start my staring at me while I ring up their items. They scan over my face, with their noses scrunched up and their eyes squinted, as if they are perhaps confused, or smell something fishy. I do not dare ask them what they are looking at because I know that the question will come on its own. Then it does. It would be one thing if they asked in a nice way, or seemed concerned about my general health, but usually the question comes out sounding rude and insulting. I think the best example would be one lady who said, "Girl, why your face gettin so fat?" I didn't really even know how to respond. I just wanted to cry. when I told her I was on Chemo and steroids she looked like she felt bad about asking the question, and this made me kind of happy. I wanted her to feel bad. Who asks their cashier why their face is getting fat. I don't care if you do know me by my first name. And who wants their face associated with the word fat. That word should never escape your lips. I had another man who asked me, "Why is your face so swole? You usually look pretty and thin." With this comment I could no longer hold my tongue, I didn't just want him to feel bad for me, I wanted him to feel bad about his behavior. I told him right away that his comment was incredibly rude. He swore that he did not mean to offend me, he was just concerned, because I used to be thin and pretty. I told him that he was incredibly insulting, because saying that I am usually thin and pretty, implies that I am now fat and ugly. What would you say to these people, I ask you? I get three to four of these comments every day. It was the same when I was getting my chemo treatments and had to wear a mask. All of my customers thought I was wearing the mask for their benefit. They all assumed that I had H1N1 and was trying not to infect them, as they all put it. They would ask me if I was trying to be the lone ranger, or if I was preparing for surgery. They would put up their fingers in the shape of a cross like I was a vampire or somethings. How do you deal with these experiences? I tried to handle these questions and altercations with grace and a smile, but it gets really wearing after a while. If there is anyone out there reading, I am open to suggestions. What would you say to them?

Until next time,
Val

Hi readers,
Today has really been a great day so far. I just got out of the doctor's office, which lately has signaled a pretty bad for me, but not today. It is the best news I have had in months. First and foremost my kidney function continues to improve. I am almost back to normal again. There is still blood and protein present in my urine, but much less than there was back in November and December. I also got taken off of my cholesterol pills. I think it must have something to do with my great new diet and exercise regiment. I am not off of the prednisone yet, but I have been lowered to 25mg a day, and I get to go down by 5mg every 2 weeks, if everything continues on the same smooth path.

I wanted to use today's post to rave about the benefits of yoga. I used to hate yoga, because I look absolutely ridiculous doing it. I used to be a ballet dancer before I got sick, but that certainly did not make me a yoga expert. I tried doing group classes in the past but I just felt awkward and clumsy. Then I moved on to pilates where I felt more clumsy and more out of place. After I got sick this time, and found myself beginning to gain weight from my lovely steroids, I found myself in the exercise DVD section in BestBuy. This is where I discovered the wonders of doing Yoga at home. I purchased a DVD called Yoga for Weight loss. I do the DVD in my living room floor. You hardly need any space at all for all of the movements, and you don't have to worry about looking proficient in front of strangers. I can fall, stumble, readjust, or scream, without anyone being the wiser.

I also can't fail to mention all of the health benefits other than weight loss. I read an article that said that Yoga is excellent for people on chemo or people who have been on chemo. It helps the chemo to filter through your system somehow. I wasn't sure that I believed it at fist, but it seems to be working for me. My new antibody chemo therapy, has killed off my B-cells as it was supposed to, and I am on the mend. Also, if your steroids are causing fluid retention and stiffness in the joints Yoga can very nearly cure them if you do it just ten to fifteen minutes every morning. If I miss my Yoga in the mornings my knees swell up and get so tight that I feel like I can barely straighten my legs. Not to go to far, but I think that Yoga has even helped with my moonface, by stimulating my thyroid gland.

So in closing, I would encourage everyone to go out and try Yoga, either at home or at the gym. I prefer it in the privacy of my living room, but some of you may prefer a more social environment. I hope you enjoy it, don't over do it, or hurt yourself, just have fun, and don't be afraid to look silly. If anybody is actually reading, and tries anything, please let me know how it goes, or if you have any advice for me don't hesitate to comment.
Val

Subway Discovery

Hi readers,
I am such a bad blogger. I apologize to anyone who may have read my first post and then returned to find that I had neglected my poor blog ever since. Although I suspect I have no readers yet. I like to think that someone out there is reading, even if they don't make their presence known.

As I mentioned in my first post, I may mention food in this blog from time to time, as my life seems to be ruled and fueled by it at this point in time. Thanks to the prednisone, my mind and stomach are non-stop food machines. It consumes my every thought. My obsession for buying new and expensive new clothes ended when I started gaining weight from the steroids, and my love for expensive specialty organic foods and new kitchen utensils began.

I put myself on a low salt, low fat diet as soon as I started the prednisone, because of bad experiences during my first go round with the medicine. About eight years ago, not really caring to read about the side effects of the drugs the first time around, during my first week (on 80mg a day) I indulged on my every foodie whim, and I paid for it. I gained 12 pounds in the first week, most of which was water. There was much painful fluid retention and ugly stretch marks to follow. My worst mistake was going to Chilli's, my favorite restaurant at the time. I ate the bottomless chips and salsa, chicken taco's, a mushroom Swiss burger, and a molten chocolate cake. Our waitress watched me in horror, or maybe disgust, or maybe a little bit of both. My legs swole to three times there normal size within about two hours and I couldn't walk for about two days. They sent me to a dietitian right away to tell me what a bad girl I had been. They basically told me that I could not eat anything that I normally ate. I pitched a hissy fit. I cried on the spot. I kicked, I scratched, I screamed, I insulted anyone who looked my direction. I suddenly went from 15 years old to 2. Despite the fit I pitched, the diet worked. I lost 13 pounds the next week, and stayed on the diet until well after the steroids were out of my system. This time, I didn't wait for my legs to swell up like a corps fished out of the Hudson. I took it upon myself to start the diet back, and I can't say that I am sorry I did. The diet forces you to be more adventurous with ingredients. You try new fresh produce, spices, new ways of preparation. I will go into more of this in future posts, but I just wanted to give a purpose for my many discussions of food to come.

My main revelation or discovery about food that I wanted to blog about today, which it took me so long to get to was my secret for a great lunch out at Subway. Living in a small town without many fast food options, and where most of those options involve fried chicken, which of coarse I can't have, my only choice for a quick meal out is Subway. Now, since I am on a low salt, low fat diet, I always go for a veggie salad (yes, that means no meat and no cheese)which is actually delicious. I get lettuce, spinach, bell pepper, tomato, black olives, cucumber, onion, and jalapeno. Now, here is the true secret, and my most recent discovery. Do not use any of their premade dressings, they are full of sodium and sugar. Don't even go near the fat free ones. My new trick is to ask for them to hose my salad down with their red wine vinegar. What's so special about that, you may ask? It doesn't end there. Then have them add just a touch of olive oil. Oh, and be careful to make sure and ask for the red wine vinegar. Don't just ask for vinegar and oil, or they will spray a premade mixture of the two on your salad, and you won't be able to control the amount of oil that goes in and you could end up with a much higher fat content than you want. Once, they have added a little bit or oil, ask for them to add a little squirt of their spicy mustard, and then top it off with black pepper and oregano. When they hand you your salad it will have a lovely plastic sealed top on it which makes it perfect for shaking and mixing your dressing. Shake it like you've never shaken anything in your life. Flip up and down and all around. Don't be afraid of looking silly. Once the vinegar, oil, mustard, pepper, and oregano have been mixed together, you've guessed it, it makes a wonderful homemade vinaigrette. The mustard acts as an emulsifier, and really helps the vinegar and oil to coat each shred of lettuce and each piece of vegetable. I hope this little tid bit helps you out. I promise from the bottom of my foodie heart that it is really delicious.

I won't say that I will post again tomorrow, because that has already turned out to be a disasterous claim, so I will just say that I will blog again soon!

Day 1

This is my first post on my very first blog. I have to admit that I am a bit of a band wagon jumper. I only decided to start a blog after watching Julie and Julia. I was truly inspired. I spent the next two weeks searching my mind for something to blog about. I thought about blogging my way through a cookbook, but that would just be copying. Then, my boyfriend suggested that I start a Jane Austen blog where I write a Jane Austen inspired story everyday. Finally, I thought about writing about living with vasculitis and being on prednisone. I hope to incorporate all of my blogging possibilities within this one blog. I will give low sodium, low fat recipes. I will talk about the side effects that I am currently experiencing, and I may even throw in a Jane Austen style narrative about my daily adventure. You never know what I am going to throw out there.

Today has been a bad day. For some reason I am having terrible joint pain. It started in my knees about three weeks ago, and is now spreading into my other joints. This morning I woke up to my big toes, ankles, wrists, and knuckles aching like crazy. The doctors have not come up with an explanation at this point. Being the crazy paranoid person that I am I spent the day trying to come up with explanations for the pain. I Googled until my fingertips were raw. I thought maybe I had eaten too many shellfish. Maybe I have Gout? With me nothing is too unusual. Then I thought that maybe I had eaten too many Tums! I eat about a roll a day to counteract the indigestion caused by the prednisone. My hypochondriac mind combined with new found knowledge from google led me to possibly believe, for about half an hour, that I was suffering from hypercalcemia, from too many Tums. I ditched this theory after about an hour. I am sure my doctors are smart enough to follow my calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium levels. I really need to learn to stay away web md, the mayo clinic, and wrongdiagnosis.com. One of the first things my doctors told me when I was diagnosed at 14 was not to read anything on the Internet. It will probably end up freaking you out. I am now hoping that this new symptom is just a side effect from the prednisone in combination with the protein buildup in my urine. The doctors also think it could be caused by a vitamin D deficiency. This was not a surprise, as I live a bit like a vampire. Whatever the cause, I just want the pain to go away. I am tired of feeling like a 90 year old woman.

That's enough complaining for me tonight. Tomorrow, I will share a bit about prednisone and food, food, food, foood, my one, solitary daily mission, food!