Elimination Diet---Day 1 completed

Yesterday sucked!!!!  It was the first day in 5 years that I have not had diet soda and let me tell you the exhaustion and headache from lack of caffeine was almost overwhelming.  the urge to order a pizza was so great and it didn't help that the kids kept pressuring me to go to their favorite restaurants for lunch and then for dinner.  they had chicken nuggets while I had a protein bar.  I'm following the diet to a T but I hope it really makes a difference because yesterday I felt awful.

Elimination Diet---Yikes

All I can say about this is..."Oh crap, what did I sign on for?"  I went to see a nutritionist for the first time this morning to see if there was anything nutriotionally that I could do to help my disease; I thought cutting out processed foods and things like that.  Well, we are cutting out a lot more than that.  She pulled up a few articles that suggest doing an elimination diet for Lupus in case there is a food causing some of the problems so we decided that it was probably in my best interest to give it a shot. 
For the next two weeks, I can not eat any grains, processed foods, dairy, citrus or "bad" fats.  This basically cuts out my entire normal diet.  I also have to give up my dearly loved diet soda (so, I'm binging on it all today).  After the two weeks, I should feel better and then I can slowly introduce things back into my diet.  It is very similar to how babies are introduced to new foods.
I'm very excited about it because this may be very good for me but also a bit nervous about what the next 2 weeks are going to be like.  If anyone has done this, please let me know as I would love suggestions.
                                              

A month ago today!!!

This time last month, I was told that I had liver damage due to all of the medications that I take to control my lupus, depression and anxiety.  Because of the damage I had to halve some of my medications and cut out the rest of them until my liver function returned to the normal range.  Fortunately, it returned to normal and I have started reintroducing some of the meds but others have had to stay at half the dosage.  This was very scary for me as I never had this problem before and didn't know what the future held for me.
Because of the reduction in meds, I started looking into other more natural approaches.  One thing I did was make an appointment with a nutrionist (which is tomorrow) and the other was to start using essential oils.  After 2 weeks of using the oils, I no longer need one of the anxiety medications and I sleep beautifully.  I was so skeptical about them but figured it was worth a shot and it seems to be working.  I'm not 100% it isn't just psychological but even if it is, I don't care; it is helping.
Over this past month, I've learned that sometimes natural remedies (when used under guidance and correctly) can really help out and aid in the treatment of my disease.  Do I think it is going to cure me?  Definitely not, but do I think it can help me...yup!

What a gorgeous day!!!

It has been a very long winter here on Long Island and today was a beautiful day.  It was 63 and sunny with hardly any wind.  R and I went to the zoo with some friends and after picking L up from school, I was able to get the kids outside so that they could ride their bikes in the neighborhood while I sat with our dog and now they are playing in our backyard.  I absolutely love days like this when they can have so much fun without it exhausting me.

Here's hoping to many more days like today.

After 7+ years of marriage

We are finally getting a bedroom set delivered today.  C and I have lived together for 11 years and first slept together in a twin bed, then moved to a double and finally to our current king mattress.  The whole time though we have used the same furniture that I had while living at home in high school.  We bought furniture for the house, for the kids but whenever we got money for furniture we always just put it to another room in the house.  Finally, on Valentine's Day, C gave me a wonderful gift of a new bedroom set.  I can't believe that after 14+ years of being together we are finally going to be able to sleep in a beautiful bedroom.

Sometimes it is this little things that can make a world of difference.

Thanks C for this wonderful present...I love you very much.

But, you look great!

Living with a chronic, invisible disease can be so difficult at times.  What I mean by an invisible disease is that there are many diseases where the person looks wonderful even though they feel awful.  For example, because of my lupus I have a rash that runs over my cheeks and nose.  The redder it is usually means that I am feeling lousy, however, everyone compliments me on what beautiful skin I have.  I guess I should look on the bright side and take the compliment and know that at least I look good but sometimes I wish the way I look would match the way that I feel.
Lots of times I feel like no one believes me or that I am a wimp when it comes to my health because I don't look sick.  Everyone means well by telling me that I look great but sometimes I wish that I didn't look great so that I would feel "permited" to whine about how lousy I feel. 

Being in two places at one time?

How do I manage this?  Unfortunately, I don't have any family that lives close by and my husband is gone 7am-7pm with work and traveling into the city so it is me and the kids together 24/7.  I really don't mind until one of them has something at school that is the same time as the other one.  A perfect example was that my daughter had a skating show at 10:30am but I needed to pick my son up from school at 11am and just couldn't logistically do it so I didn't make it to the skating show.  L pointed out that she was the only one that didn't have family there....insert major mommy guilt.  I was asked to come and read in R's class but couldn't do it because it was one of the days that L didn't have school and I couldn't bring her with me.  
How do working moms do this?  How do other moms do this?  Anyone have good suggestions about how to handle this?  I try to balance them off and switch off who gets me for the holidays and sometimes the times work out but most of the time they don't.  Sometimes C can work from home so that I can go to a show while he picks the other child up from school but this doesn't happen too often.  It would be so great if I could clone myself; I'm sure that I am not the only mom that feels this way;)