Health Update - Good news!

I went back to the doctor last Friday to recheck all of the health issues that I was dealing with in the past 4-6 months. To summarize - at that time I was off-the-charts hypothyroid and there appeared to be something wrong with my brain's pituitary gland. We ruled out a tumor, but could not find the cause.

Back in November, I restarted taking Synthroid for my thyroid and my doctors advised a complete gluten elimination to help my brain. (I was not being very disciplined about gluten free diet until this past month.)

Well - I just got the results from Friday's blood work...

My thyroid is at the low end of NORMAL! 

And, my prolactin score is NORMAL! 

I am still very tired. I know I have issues to be worked through, and I am slugging away one day at a time. BUT, I see huge improvements!

- I felt good enough to be creative and finish my book (and start another book project) this past month
- My body temperature is up ONE WHOLE DEGREE!



Let's thank God for this progress and ask His mercy to continue to rain restoration and healing upon my body.

Health Update - Bethany's Brain

Last week I went to a new doctor to see if I might get a new perspective on some of my health issues. My hypothyroid condition has been particularly out of control lately, and we are trying to put all the pieces of my health puzzle together. Also, we recently found out through blood work that not only was my thyroid score literally off-the-charts hypothyroid, but I am still terribly vitamin D deficient as well. (My end of Summer vitamin D score was far worse than my January mid-winter score last year!). So, I had some concerns about my health. Also, I am no longer taking NatureThroid as it turns out I am "sensitive" to pork and I felt better after discontinuing the medicine than I felt the nine months I was on it.

Meanwhile, I was seeing many of my health symptoms spiraling out of control. Paul said that I am in the worst health he has ever seen in me... this includes my bouts of disability... so, that says a lot... I am  NOT currently disabled. But, I see some patterns that, if not nipped in the bud, could potentially go that direction. My hands are not able to hold a pen most days. (I am able to type easily.) But, it hurts to play piano. I cannot comfortably lift up my arms to comb or arrange my hair... etc.

So, I went to a new doctor. And, she picked up on a number of symptoms that she thought correlated and took a blood test (among others) to check my prolactin level. I asked her what she was checking for and she said "pituitary gland tumor." I did not freak out. I actually thought, "yeah... that would certainly explain some things..."

Then, Monday we got the results of the blood work. My prolactin is quite elevated and I need to have an MRI done tomorrow to check for a tumor in my pituitary gland. I spoke to my naturopath today as well. And, he also now suspects to see a prolactinoma on the imagining tomorrow. My naturopath was very encouraging, telling me that he has treated this condition successfully before. In fact, he said that he has seen great results simply from eliminating gluten from the diet. (Yes, I was gluten free for a while, but we recently reintroduced grains in abundance as an attempt to cut back grocery expenses.) My doctor did not say that prolactinoma is caused by gluten sensitivity, but he did strongly state that gluten can/does exacerbate the condition. So, it looks like I will be going GF again. (At the very least)

Neither of my doctors expects that this tumor (which we expect to find) will be malignant. Pituitary gland tumors are generally benign. Neither does either doctor expect this health concern to be at all life threatening. And, to be honest, I never feared that. My anxieties were always more along the line of, "IF I have to ... THEN who would watch the kids/homeschool the kids/cook/clean/etc..." Rebecca is amazing! She is the momentum that keeps this family in motion right now (humanly speaking). She is stepping up as little mama in a big way! And, she is feeling the physical strain. She is quite tired.

I will let you know the results of the MRI as soon as I am able. I think at this point we would all be surprised if it is NOT a tumor... but you just never know. Last week a brain tumor was not even in my foggiest ideas for my future. Now, I am talking about it like it is a certainty. But, we do not know anything for sure yet, except that my prolactin score was high.

Now, knowing that these types of posts (on my blog) get more hits than anything else, I feel obligated to say that I HAVE PEACE, Friends! And, you can too! I can trust in the Lord no matter what is going on with my thyroid health, my vitamin D level, my pituitary gland tumor etc. I am clinging to several verses of Scripture throughout this ordeal and all the others of this past year. With my health and Paul's health. With Paul's job loss and everything else we have faced - we CAN and we DO have peace. We have moments of weakness, but we CAN have peace!

Here is a small sampling:

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:29 
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Psalms 57:1-2 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
² I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.

God is fulfilling his purposes for my life. And one of His ultimate purposes is to conform me to the image of His Son. Whether you believe that God "allows" bad things to happen or whether He has "ordained" bad things to happen-- God WILL use all circumstances in my life for my good and for His glory. We can have peace.   

To God be the Glory. 

Gluten Free Baking

We have been gluten free for a week and one day. To the best of my knowledge we have not consumed any gluten (except trace amounts here, there, and everywhere.) I was not planning to introduce baking, because 1) we are trying to cut back (strictly limit) carbs and starches; and 2) have you eaten gluten free breads?! (keep reading!)

But, as I was looking through a plethora of GF cookbooks, I found one lady who actually had some good ideas about cooking and baking. And, this morning I made GF biscuits for breakfast. And they were delicious! I am so very impressed. I will definitely be buying the cookbook The Healthy Gluten-Free Life on of these days! And, from what I have seen and sampled so far I highly recommend that you buy it for any GF family or friends! (The cookbook is gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and sometimes nut-free.)

Yes, GF baking does require a million ingredients compared to cooking with whole wheat flour, but I think I will get used to it. The price tag on the flours is a little insane (Bob's Red Mill certainly has the monopoly corner on the market.) I plan to put in an order with my UNFI coop soon to buy my flours in bulk. I imagine that will be a grocery bill with some serious sticker shock. But, health is NOT a luxury! This diet is for our health! I want to be able to function and live!

Onto other topics - If you have been with me since I started blogging in 2008 then you know that I have been battling with hypothyroidism since I was a young girl. In March 2008 I heard about natural dessicated thyroid for the first time. And, on March 26, 2008, I blogged about a website called Stop The Thyroid Madness which rocked my world.

Since that time I have been all over the map with my thyroid health. But even when my labwork said I was "normal," I was weak, tired, suffering, disabled, etc. I prayed for years about a doctor who would work with me and try Armour dessicated thyroid medication. Well, as it turns out, my new doctor is the answer to 4 years of prayer! He actually recommended the Stop the Thyroid madness website and book to me! Sometimes I do not at all understand God's ways! But, rather than trying to figure out why God waited 4 years, I will focus on thanking Him now for this Divine Intervention.

But, I have a prayer request y'all. My doctor is openly un-Christian. I think - NO, I KNOW that God has sent me to this doctor just as much as He sent the doctor to me. This doctor's need is far greater than my own. And, I want to witness to him. I plan to witness to Him. Please be praying for me as I look for the perfect opportunity to speak for the Lord. Pray that the Holy Spirit will alert me to the right time and give me the right words.

My First GF (gluten free) update

Well, friends, I have survived almost a week since I started my gluten free (GF) diet. I gave away all of our foods with gluten in them. I gave away most of our sugar and HFCS foods too - because I figured, why not? At the time it seemed like the thing to do. The new doc is pretty radical about sugars and starches (there is a poster in his office that calls soda a "poison." And this is a mainstream doc!) I am also strictly limiting carbs.

After just 4 days I had lost 8 pounds and 3 inches on my waist! Seriously... I had some serious bloating apparently. (Paul has lost 7 pounds, and the big two kids have lost pounds too). Nelson's face is thinning out. I think both Nelson and I are both less irritable. And, I think we are slower-to-anger. No joke, there is a big difference in the amount of annoyedness in our home! (Spellcheck does not think annoyedness is a word. Yes it is. I just made it up.)

But, the biggest news is Lydia! She has not been napping at all!!! She is staying up and playing all day. She still has some gas, but her stools are much more normal (and less frequent).

I am only a little ashamed that I did not give this diet a go before now. But, honestly, I couldn't have done it before. I was not ready. Now I am ready. And, wow!, the cookbook aisle at my library is packed with GF cook books! And, I already have some "raw" cookbooks (so-called un-cookbooks), so I am doing okay.

The first four days went great! But something clicked Sunday night into Monday morning... and now I am struggling. Paul is being our chef - since he is home anyway - so that takes a huge burden off of me. I could not do this without him. He has been the support in my times of what-am-I-going-to-make-for-dinner-panic. (Que the "Wind Beneath my Wings" music.)

Regarding Paul's health - I was wrong about the date of his evaluations. His evaluation with physical therapy was today and his evaluation with the chiropractor is Friday. Then we have our official answer. But, it looks like he will be in another round of therapy and will likely be sent to an orthopedic doctor. No talk of surgery yet. From my perspective, I don't see how he will ever work at UPS again. Some may call this faithless... so, I should clarify. Short of miraculous healing - I do not know how Paul can work with big boxes again. (I'm not exactly an optimist though... so take the above paragraph as you wish.)

To add a depth to this post that I did not intend - let me tell you this: If you want to know who your god is, try losing your job/career, health, comfort foods, caffeine, sugar, etc all in the same month. I told my mom yesterday that I am "glad" that these things have happened, because now we are in a position of leaning solely on the Lord. (And, as a side note, going GF is kind of like fasting for the rest of my life. Right?)

In my weakness - He is made strong. And, when all fleshly comforts are taken away - I know that my Help comes from the Lord.


OH - one more thing - I want everyone one of you to watch the documentary about Billy Graham called Billy Graham: God's Ambassador. It is awesome! If this movie doesn't get you fired up to go where the Lord leads... well, you may need prayer for a softened heart.