I'm overwhelmed by a whole lot of stuff right now.
As I've mentioned in the past, my husband has been having some medical problems. They haven't gone away and he is scheduled for an endoscopy on Friday. I really am hoping this finally gives us some answers. On top of all of this, his liver enzymes are showing higher than normal. Jeff has been on blood pressure medicine for quite a few years now and since we just changed his medication about 4 months ago, that could explain the liver enzymes.
On top of this, we had to make repairs to one of the work trucks that ran us a couple thousand dollars and today I received the phone call from the doctors office that our deductible hasn't been met, so we need to come to surgery with another $500.
For the past 20 years I have had exceptional insurance. We have never needed it. We are currently privately insured since I'm out of work and now all of this!
I have decided that I need to look further into a Raw Food diet for us. From what I can tell, this would hopefully allow Jeff to be completely off any and all medications. But, have you seen the information out there?! Wow. Where to begin?
I'm going to have to learn to prepare food in a completely different manner, while keeping a 16 year old happy and eating as well. Small steps, I know, but still. I look at my cupboards and realize all of the food that I am going to have to get rid of. I will be calling some friends to go shopping in my kitchen!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Smoothie Sunday
My life became much smoother a week ago. My new blender arrived! Get it? My life is smoother? Okay, never mind!
Please say hello to my new best friend! My new Blendtec blender. In red of course! When making smoothies, my old blender worked, but this new blender is fabulous! When I press the smoothie button, it goes through its cycles to make a smoothie.
This mornings breakfast recipe was as follows:
One Mango
One Banana
4 slices of Pineapple
Juice of one Orange
2 cups of Spinach
Ice and a little bit of water
Hit the smoothie button, and 40 seconds later, I have my wonderful breakfast. And yes, it makes about 32 ounces and I drink all of it!
Tonight I was in the mood for something sweet and chilly, so I made a Banana, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Milkshake.
3 frozen bananas
1 1/2 cups of light soy milk
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp chocolate syrup
One cup of Ice, (although next time I think I will add a little more)
I then pressed the milkshake button, YES, there is a milkshake button! This served enough for myself and Jeff to enjoy as dessert! YUMMY!
Today I found a recipe for Fresh Strawberry Margaritas, maybe I will try that one next! Stay tuned for more recipes!
This mornings breakfast recipe was as follows:
One Mango
One Banana
4 slices of Pineapple
Juice of one Orange
2 cups of Spinach
Ice and a little bit of water
Hit the smoothie button, and 40 seconds later, I have my wonderful breakfast. And yes, it makes about 32 ounces and I drink all of it!
Tonight I was in the mood for something sweet and chilly, so I made a Banana, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Milkshake.
3 frozen bananas
1 1/2 cups of light soy milk
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp chocolate syrup
One cup of Ice, (although next time I think I will add a little more)
I then pressed the milkshake button, YES, there is a milkshake button! This served enough for myself and Jeff to enjoy as dessert! YUMMY!
Today I found a recipe for Fresh Strawberry Margaritas, maybe I will try that one next! Stay tuned for more recipes!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Gotta Love Florida
I went out to get the mail today and as I turned towards the mailbox I glanced up the street and took a look at the sky. Since my phone was in my hand, I snapped this photo.
The sky is looking pretty ominous and the thunder is coming through loud and clear. I grabbed the mail and turned around, looking the opposite direction and saw this.
This is how storms in Florida sneak up on you. You can be looking in one direction and believe everything is hunky dory. Then you glance in your rear view mirror and think, Oh Heck!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
What's The Point?
Tuesday afternoon my husband ended up in the Emergency Room of one of our local hospitals. He has had some abdominal pain that would come and go over the past month or so. Tuesday, it came on with a vengeance and didn't leave. It started around noon and by 3, he came out to me saying he couldn't take it anymore and he needed to go to the hospital.
I am a "suck it up" kind of girl. I hate to go to the doctor, let alone the emergency room unless I am to the point that I feel like I'm dying. I have all of my yearly appointments, but beyond that, I would rather just stay away! My husband is not far off from that same concept. Doesn't like going and I make all of his appointments for the year.
So, when he walked out, doubled over and looking a tad green, saying he wanted to go, I knew it must be some serious pain. I grabbed a sweater and my kindle and off we went.
When we entered the hospital his blood pressure was 135/79. High. Not his normal pressure. They decided to treat him for acid reflux, gave him some medication and pain medication and said in 20 minutes if the pain had subsided, that would be the issue. 45 minutes later, his pain was still there, if not worse.
Take his blood pressure again and it is now 143/81. Higher. Not good. At this point they hook him up to fluids and give him another two doses of pain medication.
An hour later, they retake his blood pressure and it is 150/83. Even higher. Now at this point I'm becoming frustrated. His blood pressure just keeps going up and no one seems concerned. You can tell the nurse can't figure out what is going on.
Then it happens: SHIFT CHANGE
It all goes to hell after that. We ask twice for another blanket for Jeff because by now he is freezing. No blanket. They never retake his blood pressure. The new nurse comes in and says blood work didn't show anything, nothing else we can do here. You need to get an appointment with a GI doctor and take some pain medication. I'm confused as to what the point was of us even going there. He was released with the same issues that we went in for!
Needless to say, Jeff's evening was not good. The doctor I called that the hospital referred me to, said they could see him in August! Not happening. So, asked a friend for a recommendation and he now has an appointment today.
I feel bad for him. He is extremely uncomfortable and just wants some answers. Hopefully those will come today!
I am a "suck it up" kind of girl. I hate to go to the doctor, let alone the emergency room unless I am to the point that I feel like I'm dying. I have all of my yearly appointments, but beyond that, I would rather just stay away! My husband is not far off from that same concept. Doesn't like going and I make all of his appointments for the year.
So, when he walked out, doubled over and looking a tad green, saying he wanted to go, I knew it must be some serious pain. I grabbed a sweater and my kindle and off we went.
When we entered the hospital his blood pressure was 135/79. High. Not his normal pressure. They decided to treat him for acid reflux, gave him some medication and pain medication and said in 20 minutes if the pain had subsided, that would be the issue. 45 minutes later, his pain was still there, if not worse.
Take his blood pressure again and it is now 143/81. Higher. Not good. At this point they hook him up to fluids and give him another two doses of pain medication.
An hour later, they retake his blood pressure and it is 150/83. Even higher. Now at this point I'm becoming frustrated. His blood pressure just keeps going up and no one seems concerned. You can tell the nurse can't figure out what is going on.
Then it happens: SHIFT CHANGE
It all goes to hell after that. We ask twice for another blanket for Jeff because by now he is freezing. No blanket. They never retake his blood pressure. The new nurse comes in and says blood work didn't show anything, nothing else we can do here. You need to get an appointment with a GI doctor and take some pain medication. I'm confused as to what the point was of us even going there. He was released with the same issues that we went in for!
Needless to say, Jeff's evening was not good. The doctor I called that the hospital referred me to, said they could see him in August! Not happening. So, asked a friend for a recommendation and he now has an appointment today.
I feel bad for him. He is extremely uncomfortable and just wants some answers. Hopefully those will come today!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Smoothie Sunday
This is what my breakfast, lunch and snacks have looked like all week.
I was searching around the internet last week when I typed in green smoothies into google. About a million different items popped up, but one caught my attention: Green Smoothie Queen, AKA The Raw Divas.
I first tried the 3 day Challenge, which got me hooked! I have since graduated to the 10 day Challenge, with the full intention of doing a full 21 day Challenge next. I am still eating dinner, but mind you, much smaller portions since I really haven't been that hungry.
And the biggest surprise? My husband has joined along with me! That was a surprise. I wasn't expecting for him to agree so easily. I had my speech all prepared, when he just said "Ok".
Here is what is in our breakfast smoothie this morning:
1 cup Pineapple
1 cup red grapes
1 banana
Juice of 4 apples
3 cups spinach
Some Ice for blending because I like mine cold!
(This recipe makes about 32 oz)
That is it. I cut up all of the fruit about 3 times a week and have it stored in the fridge. This way it takes me a total of 3 minutes to prepare a smoothie. After making the breakfast smoothie, I immediately start making the lunch smoothie so that I can take it with me for the day.
The recipe above Jeff really liked. I found it a bit on the too sweet side. I do have my favorite recipe, but I will give that another time.
After a week of this, here are some noteable changes. My cravings have up and disappeared without me trying to give them up. Anyone who knows me, knows I enjoy my coffee and Diet Coke! I'm down to about a half of a cup of coffee in the morning, and I only had 2 Diet Cokes all week. And I didn't finish either one. I also lost 2 lbs without even trying! That is an accomplishment.
Check out Green Smoothie Queen. I hope you will add some greens to your day!
| photo from therawdivas |
I first tried the 3 day Challenge, which got me hooked! I have since graduated to the 10 day Challenge, with the full intention of doing a full 21 day Challenge next. I am still eating dinner, but mind you, much smaller portions since I really haven't been that hungry.
And the biggest surprise? My husband has joined along with me! That was a surprise. I wasn't expecting for him to agree so easily. I had my speech all prepared, when he just said "Ok".
Here is what is in our breakfast smoothie this morning:
1 cup Pineapple
1 cup red grapes
1 banana
Juice of 4 apples
3 cups spinach
Some Ice for blending because I like mine cold!
(This recipe makes about 32 oz)
That is it. I cut up all of the fruit about 3 times a week and have it stored in the fridge. This way it takes me a total of 3 minutes to prepare a smoothie. After making the breakfast smoothie, I immediately start making the lunch smoothie so that I can take it with me for the day.
The recipe above Jeff really liked. I found it a bit on the too sweet side. I do have my favorite recipe, but I will give that another time.
After a week of this, here are some noteable changes. My cravings have up and disappeared without me trying to give them up. Anyone who knows me, knows I enjoy my coffee and Diet Coke! I'm down to about a half of a cup of coffee in the morning, and I only had 2 Diet Cokes all week. And I didn't finish either one. I also lost 2 lbs without even trying! That is an accomplishment.
Check out Green Smoothie Queen. I hope you will add some greens to your day!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy 4th Of July!
Happy 4th of July! I'm trying to adjust to the fact that it is currently 7/04/2011 already! Anyway...
As much as I would love to say that we have a full schedule of partying and eating today, I can't. Just about everyone we know is out of town. So, it is just Jeff and I and the dogs. Who not only are terrified of thunder, but fireworks as well. Only problem with the 4th being on a Monday? An entire weekend of our neighbors letting off fireworks. Last year we lost Nico due to the fireworks. You can read about that Here, and Here.
And then, one year ago this week, Bella came in to our lives. Her story is here.
Well, I'm off to grab some groceries, and drop off a friends dog that we had for the weekend. (Yes, that means with my Moms dog, we had 6!)
Happy 4th everyone!
As much as I would love to say that we have a full schedule of partying and eating today, I can't. Just about everyone we know is out of town. So, it is just Jeff and I and the dogs. Who not only are terrified of thunder, but fireworks as well. Only problem with the 4th being on a Monday? An entire weekend of our neighbors letting off fireworks. Last year we lost Nico due to the fireworks. You can read about that Here, and Here.
And then, one year ago this week, Bella came in to our lives. Her story is here.
Well, I'm off to grab some groceries, and drop off a friends dog that we had for the weekend. (Yes, that means with my Moms dog, we had 6!)
Happy 4th everyone!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)