Finding moments of relief:
My journey through a health crisis and heat wave
Life lessons on repeat.
Another gift of longevity.
Turns out the auto immune gut condition I was diagnosed with a long time ago hasn't in fact resolved. It's back, with gusto. Lucky me.
It's been severe for going on a couple of months now, and wearing me down enough that I'm making some changes.
I've started making bone broth again, and drinking it every day.
I'm cooking my vegetables longer so they get softer, and reducing the roughage onslaught of handfuls of raw snap peas on the daily.
I've added three herbs to my already robust supplements array: Botswelia (frankincense) and a combo of marshmallow and slippery elm.
Eliminate as much gluten and cow dairy as possible (except whole milk full fat non-gmo yogurt).
Eating less (but that’s necessity, because in this condition food does not feel friendly).
The heat wave hasn't helped my digestion or my energy level.
100º+ for days on end, and me with no A/C.
I had no clothes that I could wear with any kind of comfort at all. I mean, when it's 95° or more inside, something’s gotta give. So I shopped for a solution, and found these really cool pants that are designed for men. I made a video.
I’ve got one more really useful life hack for you today!
As part of the investigation into the state of my gut, today was the day to go to the lab and get some blood drawn. They were gonna need a bunch of vials for all these tests, and I've had issues before. It has taken many attempts to actually get a vein stuck, which is no fun at all. And sometimes the blood just doesn't flow very well and I just don't fill the damn vials.
Lucky for me I've got a friend who was a nurse for 35 years she told me what to do. She told me to bring the heat 😎. Which I did.
I filled four vinyl gloves with very hot water, tied them shut, and wrapped each one in a washcloth that I also dipped in very hot water. I tucked them all in a bag, lined with my battery powered heating pad, and schlepped them to the lab.
It worked. The tech was really cooperative and understood my goal and it only took her two sticks to fill all the vials she needed. Yay.
I'd love to hear from you. What life hacks have you come up with lately? Join the community.
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