Tag Archives: health

Vegetarian Week – Day 3

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Day 3 Vegetarian Meals

We are winding down on Day 3 of our vegetarian week, in support of our daughter Samantha and her nutrition course assignment. I wanted to post our meals today since I am feeling better and actually cooked a vegetarian meal (last night I made egg salad, which to me isn’t really cooking….it’s more like assembling).

Today for breakfast I had a slice of homemade cinnamon raisin bread (my first try at making homemade whole wheat raisin bread) with some organic butter, a full cup of blueberries, and black coffee. I was very surprised at how long it held me. I thought I would be hungry within an hour.

For lunch I had a bowl of what is called Caribbean Quinoa Salad from The Merc. It has quinoa, black beans, sweet potato, pineapple, limed red onion with a vinaigrette dressing. Again, very filling and I loved the taste.

My snack….my favorite Girl Scout cookies. They count as a vegetarian food. 😛

For dinner I made homemade pizza on a whole wheat crust that I prepare in my bread machine. The recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas so we make one pizza for the girls and one for the adults (we always have leftovers for lunches the next day). My girls had chopped spinach mixed in with the sauce, and they just like cheese for their topping. My little one now likes the Applegate Uncured Turkey Pepperoni so she put some on half of their pizza. Our pizza had the chopped spinach as well, and the toppings included mushrooms, red onion, and red bell pepper. I thought for sure I would hear from my husband, “It was good….it needed some sausage though.” But I didn’t. He actually said what I was thinking….he was surprised how tasty it was and how filling it was.

I wasn’t even really hungry, but I snacked on some mixed nuts while watching one of my favorite TV shows. That was really mindless eating….I wasn’t even hungry. I need to work on that habit.

Some observations 3 days in:

  1. I am surprised at how filling plants can be. I haven’t felt hungry between meals and I feel satisfied after I eat a plant-based meal, even if it doesn’t include dairy or eggs.
  2. I have not felt sluggish after a meal – except for the overall fatigue and yuckiness I felt from being sick. I was worried that upping my intake of complex carbohydrates and cutting down on the animal-based protein might result in feeling sleepy after I eat, but it hasn’t.
  3. I have not missed meat. I haven’t craved it, nor do I feel like I’m missing out on anything.
  4. Our local Co-op, The Merc, has come to our rescue a couple of times with their delicious vegetarian/vegan food offerings at their hot bar and deli.

All in all, it’s going very well. Tomorrow I know I will feel even better, so I have all the ingredients to fix vegetarian lasagna. If I can pull that off and my little crew likes it, I will consider the entire week a success.

 

Going Vegetarian for 7 Days

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*Sigh* Although I am not the meat-lover my Kiowa husband is, (there are several Kiowa meat-loving people I know who insist there is no word in their language for “vegetable”), I do enjoy cooking and eating animal products. Especially game meat. Ever since I became more enlightened about factory farming and where my beef and chicken comes from and the conditions under which they are raised, I’ve tried to cut back and just buy from local sources and local butchers. I’ve entertained the occasional thought about going vegan or vegetarian, but then I always told myself, “I come from hunter-gatherer people…..not just gatherers.” Hahaha.

Anyway, I have been to several lectures and presentations on the benefits of plant-based diets. I know I have a strong family history of heart disease and I’ve learned how a plant-based diet can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. I am a huge fan of author Michael Pollan. Reading his work is part of my inspiration to learn how to garden, or up until now – buying into a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group. But I always felt that meat had its place in our diets and food systems, especially with Indigenous people. So I never seriously considered a meatless diet.

Until now.

My daughter Samantha is back in school to get her RN (she has been an pediatric LPN for years), and she is taking a nutrition class this semester. One of their assignments is to adopt the vegan lifestyle for a week. Vegan means that one doesn’t consume any animal products in their diets…..in addition to no meat, there is no butter, milk, yogurt, eggs, or dairy-based coffee creamer. I even saw on an episode of “Chopped” where a vegan chef was forced to use honey in his dish because it was a basket ingredient, but he refused to taste the food after he added it.

I know any lifestyle change beyond a couple of days is daunting. So I told her I would do it with her to support her. Her carnivore dad got on-board and said he would be a vegan for a week as well, even though he seriously believed it would kill him. Thank goodness her instructor changed the assignment from 7 days of vegan-ism to 7 days of lacto-ovo-vegetarianism. So we can eat dairy products and eggs, just no meat or fish.

The assignment began yesterday. And as luck would have it, I got sick yesterday. Some type of weird allergy attack that began as soon as I woke up. I was strung out on antihistamines all day. Miserable. So my plans of cooking homemade cheese pizza with whole wheat crust went out the window. My 1st day of being a vegetarian almost went out the window as well. I just wanted comfort food, and something I could taste. I had some leftover homemade chicken noodle soup with dumplings that I wanted more than anything else yesterday evening. But I hung tough and didn’t cave in to my omnivore tendencies.

Day 1 had to be the most unhealthy eating day I can remember in a long time. Just goes to show you that vegan-ism or vegetarianism isn’t always about health. Lol. I started out good. I had a slice of my homemade whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and a sliced banana on top. As my misery set in with my allergies, I ended up eating microwave popcorn and diet 7-up for lunch…the yogurt and fruit I packed for lunch was the last thing I felt like eating because of my sinuses and drainage. I came home and almost heated up some soup for myself, but Joe saved me. He came home from work and made us grilled cheese on whole wheat bread. I am counting the potato chips I ate with it as mental health food….I needed some comfort!! Lol. And they were meatless….so bonus! And I had some mixed nuts with some M&Ms tossed in, again as a mental health necessity.

Today I did much better. Poached a couple of eggs on toast with my homemade bread. Went to the doctor and got a prescription, then headed over to The Merc to look for a vegetarian lunch for Joe B and I. The Merc is going to save us this week, I think. I got a bean and kale soup that was sooo good. Joe B liked it too, but his comment was, “This needs some ham hock in it.” Hahahaha. I also picked up a black bean and quinoa salad, and a root vegetable pot pie.

I am off to the store at some point to buy ingredients to make a vegetarian lasagna. I have locally produced vegetarian patties by Hillary’s Eat Well in my freezer in case I run out of time or energy to create a vegetarian meal. I am trying to focus on eating healthy and not just meatless. I’m also hoping to learn some good stuff this week about our eating habits and consumer habits. And I am hoping to get my amateur photography skills some practice and take pictures of some of the stuff I cook. Wish us all luck!

 

7 Weeks Post-THR

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on February 5, 2016

I am just a little over 7 weeks out of my hip replacement surgery and I’ve hit a wall. I’m still progressing, I just feel physically like I got run into a wall. Physical therapy is hard. The past 3 sessions have left me exhausted and sore. I feel fine while I’m doing it, I don’t feel like I’m overdoing it….I’m very careful about that. But when I leave, within an hour of my session ending, I feel like like crud. Yesterday was the worst. I almost didn’t go because I had muscle soreness from Tuesday’s session, but I thought I would feel better after I went. I did feel better for about 45 minutes. Lol. The joint feels fine, there isn’t any pain in the joint itself. It’s all muscle soreness. But it feels different than before my surgery…it feels achy….almost like when you are getting sick.

My kids have had a couple of viruses the past 2 weeks. Maybe I’m just fighting those off. Also I feel like I’ve been super busy at work ever since going back full-time last Wednesday. Maybe I’ve just run myself down. Either way, I’m home today and resting and recuperating and trying to get better.

After my friends saw my Facebook post, they answered with much encouragement, and a suggestion that I may not be eating enough protein to fuel the tissue growth that is occurring in the recovery from my surgery. I was already starting to look at my protein intake as one of the reasons for the muscle soreness and fatigue. So I started a protein shake…and if anyone knows me, they know how I hate having to default to a shake, I would much rather get it from real foods. But I needed to do something quick, and the shakes actually helped!

6 Weeks Post THR Follow-Up

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on January 26, 2016

I’m free!!!! No more compression tights!! I can drive, I can make my commute to work, I can start taking my Advil again, I can flex my hip beyond 90 degrees as long as my knee abducts out, and I can start walking, stationary biking, swimming and doing the elliptical for exercise!! (As my energy and muscle strength allows, of course.) He plucked that little string that was stuck in my incision scar right out with no problem. I guess it was some of the incision material they used to stitch me up that didn’t dissolve and made its way out of the scar tissue.

I was hoping to get clearance to start practicing to dance again. However, he said no impact exercising until after my next follow-up in 10 weeks. So I will be dancing traditional for my head dance gig at KU on April 2nd. I’ll be ready. And I can start getting my flexibility back so I can tie my own shoe!!

Overall he was very pleased with my progress. I can go back to iron supplement and my Omega-3 supplement. I got to see my first x-ray with my new hardware. Not quite ready to post any pictures like that however. It was cool though.

Short Blog Entry on Cooking

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on January 23, 2016

Since I can’t workout like I did pre-THR surgery, maintaining my health depends mostly on how I eat. I am not cleared to take my iron supplement yet, and I can’t take a multi-vitamin or any other type of supplements such as Omega-3 (doctor’s orders until my follow-up). I really have to try to get my nutrients from the food I eat.

Tonight I cooked hamburgers (lean grass fed beef from a local butcher) on whole wheat buns, baked sweet potato fries, and a green salad with diced apples, red onion, cucumber, celery, and I made my own apple vinaigrette dressing with local honey.

I’m finally getting the hang of making my own salad dressing. Sometimes I add Dijon mustard, or I change up the type of vinegar I use. It’s much easier than I ever imagined, and it’s fresh.

I didn’t really plan on making everything from scratch because this was just supposed to be a quickly prepared meal. I thought about grabbing a bag of frozen sweet potato fries, or a bag of pre-washed salad mix. But Sara wanted to try slicing and baking a sweet potato, and the head of lettuce was on sale. it worked out nicely because Joe B is a good sous chef. Everything tasted so good.

And I’m just thankful I have energy to cook more regularly now. That was really a killer, not feeling up to cooking. My family has missed my cooking and I’ve missed it as well. I enjoy it. It makes me even more thankful for all the meals that were delivered to us from friends because it kept us from living on fast-food or takeout in the weeks immediately following my surgery.

Post-THR Surgery: 5 Weeks & 4 Days

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Originally posted to my Facebook page January 22, 2016

Post-Hip Replacement Surgery: 5 Weeks and 4 days.

This week I finally got to do what resembled a workout in PT. I got to lift weights (hamstring curl, leg extensions, leg press, all double then single leg), some chair squats holding a weight, and climbing steps holding two 5-lb hand weights. In addition to my 10-14 minute warm-up on the recumbent step machine.

Today I got to ride a bike!! Even if it was only for 5-minutes, I pedaled like I was late for work. Hahahaha. And then I got to walk 5-minutes on a treadmill.

And now….I am really sore. Lol. It all kicks in at once. One minute I feel great. The next…I’m laying down for a nap.

I’ve been off all pain meds for 11 days. Those yucky meds are slowly working their way out of my system. It’s crazy how quickly your body can develop a dependence on Schedule 2 medications. I tapered for a week, then just stopped taking them last Monday night because I didn’t need anything for the pain (because I didn’t have any pain). Wednesday morning I had a withdrawal headache….just like the one I had the ONE time I tried to quit coffee. Lol. I’m lucky that’s the only withdrawal symptom I had, and that it only lasted for one day. By Thursday I felt fine. I know other people have far worse symptoms, so I feel lucky.

I discovered last week that someone, at some point, didn’t pull a little string out of my incision…like a string from a piece of gauze got stuck in the scab and never removed. So I have about a 1/8 inch piece of string stuck in the scar tissue of my incision. It freaked my physical therapist out. My doctor, not so much. He said as long as it’s not bothering me, they’ll deal with it at my follow-up appointment.

(Btw….If anyone wants to see a 10-second video clip of them removing my staples, let me know. Haha. I’m saving it on my phone. Maybe I’ll YouTube it. Ha.)

Speaking of my appointments, my 6-week follow-up is next Tuesday. I’m looking forward to driving again (freedom!!!). I’m REALLY looking forward to throwing these compression tights away. I’m looking forward to taking Advil again…and my iron supplement. I’m curious what restrictions might be lifted…like when will I be able to bend at the hip beyond 90 degrees? When can I start working out on a bike, elliptical, or water running or swimming? Or return to the weight room? Or the big question for me now…WHEN can I sleep on my right side again????

It feels weird and great at the same time…that my right hip joint feels so relaxed. I can take a full stride with no pain, no impingement. It’s been years since I felt like that. I get worried sometimes, thinking it’s going to give out on me, or start to hurt. But nothing yet. I can move it laterally with ease. I’ve not been able to do that since late 2011.

This has been an experience. A positive one. I feel much better going into my next surgery knowing what to expect, and knowing how to prepare.

1-Month Post Hip Replacement Surgery

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Originally posted to my Facebook page January 11, 2016

1-Month Post Hip Replacement Surgery:

I am walking unassisted around my house. I only resort to using my cane when I get tired or if I start to limp. I tend to try to favor my right leg when I walk without my cane, not because it hurts, but because I anticipate that it will hurt. Lol. I have to really focus when I walk a longer distance to not limp or otherwise favor my surgical side.

I had my 2nd session of outpatient PT this morning. I did a lot of walking sideways, and stepping sideways on and off a step. That was a little more difficult than what I’ve been doing to date. Plus I had to hold a ball between my knees while getting up off of a chair using my leg power only. Up to 9 minutes on the seated stepper machine, and 2 laps around the 2nd floor….I am very sore and I anticipate sleeping very well tonight.

My therapist told me to continue doing my home exercises. My energy comes in spurts and is lasting a bit longer. She said right now it’s a matter of building muscle and stamina…once those start getting built back up again, my energy will stick around longer.

I’m having to peel the steri-stips off my incision scar because they are stubborn and not coming off on their own. Lol. They gross the Swirlies out if they see the tape.

And I worked 4 hours today before I tapped out. That’s not bad. I’m going to shoot for another 4 hours tomorrow, 5-6 if I feel good. We’ll see. But it feels really good to start getting back into work-mode.

2 weeks from tomorrow and I’ll be free!! I’ll be released to drive and Joe B will no longer be Driving Miss Daisy. Lol.

Random Thoughts Post-THR

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on December 30, 2015

All 21 staples are gone! I got pictures and video…lol. Didn’t hurt, just 3 of them stung a little. Have to wait 24 hours to shower without the saran wrap, AND I can try to sleep on my right side. Waiting on a call-back from the doctor to see if I can lose the compression tights, and trying to schedule my outpatient PT starting next week.

My therapist had me walk all the way down the hallway and back without my cane, and added a hip flexor stretch, mini-squats and balancing on one leg to my PT exercises. She said I’m doing great, that many patients she works with are still using a walker only. Don’t worry….I’m only doing as much as I feel I can. When I get tired I rest….even when I just feel like it, I go lay down. Lol.

Later….the same day…..

It’s time for a green smoothie. It’s easy to eat well when you feel good physically and emotionally. It’s tougher when you don’t feel well…even though that’s exactly the time your body needs good food the most.

Just a random nutrition thought. Lol.

December 31, 2015 Facebook musings….

Whoo hoo!! Made it into the front seat of my car!! I’ve been riding in the middle seat of the van ever since I was sprung from the hospital. Seat is pushed all the way back and it was easy-peazy getting in.

More random thoughts….January 2, 2016

Yesterday was slightly challenging. Some woman starting blowing up Joe B’s phone yesterday morning and woke me up, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. Ended up being a wrong number. Poor thing was trying to get a hold of her mom, who used to have Joe’s new number. The early phone calls made me feel tired all day. I did my exercises and got all out of breath…which was frustrating and slightly embarrassing. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m recovering from major surgery and things will get easier with time, rest, and healing.

My sister took over making the New Year’s cowboy bread. She told my dad she is still an apprentice, but I think she is catching on quickly. Her bread turned out really good. And she made some awesome beef barley soup that Sara really liked.

After dinner my mom said “You look really tired Shelley.” So I went to lay down. Around 7:30pm I fell asleep and slept until 11:40pm!!! I guess I was tired. I can’t believe I slept that hard for 4 hours…a 4 hour nap!! But I felt much better.

Now I’m wide awake. And FaceBooking. Looking for recipes. But I feel great. Lol.

And later….the same day……

Damn. I almost made it out of the house without my compression tights. I was using my grabbity-grabber 3000 and got myself dressed and then Joe pulled the detestable tights out of the dryer. Lol. Damn.

2 Weeks Post Hip Replacement Surgery

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This was originally posted on my Facebook page on December 29, 2015

Yesterday marked the 2-week post-surgery date.

I am using a cane 95% of the time and only the walker when I get tired. My physical therapist added some new exercises onto my regimen, including hip raises and what feels like chair squats. Yay! And I have been cleared to walk short distances unassisted. I had felt like I could walk unassisted for a few days but I also know it will make me very sore, so it’s just short jaunts for now.

I had a bruise at the top of my calf on the surgery leg. Appeared out of nowhere but it didn’t hurt. The PT lady said that type of bruising is normal on the surgical leg, and she was quite surprised that I didn’t have more bruising around my ankle or other parts of my leg. I have been concerned about blood clots so it worried me a little, but glad to hear it was normal.

I am heading to the hospital for my last blood draw to monitor my blood thinners. Hoping to be off of them in a few days.

I really miss my ibuprofen. I had a wicked headache Sunday night that I couldn’t take anything for, except Tylenol or my painkillers, but I had to make sure I took them 4 hours apart. And Tylenol does nothing for any kind of pain I have, even before the surgery.

I’m learning that the level of being positive, or feeling like my emotional health is on the upswing, is directly related to how I feel physically. That headache cause my mood to plummet, and then I slept poorly that night. I felt sick and miserable all day yesterday. I got 11 hours of sleep last night so I’m hopeful today will feel better all the way around.

I am enjoying the downtime. Haven’t had this much downtime since long before I had kids. If anyone has any good movie recommendations, please send them my way.

And I get the 21 staples in my leg removed tomorrow!! Hoping they will let me toss the white compression tights with them. Lol. I’ll be so happy to take a shower without having my hip wrapped in Saran Wrap.

I’m very thankful for all the continued prayers and well-wishes. You have no idea. It gets tough, especially when there are other emotional battles to be fought in addition to my surgery recovery. So we take it day by day. I’m grateful for all my family and friends, especially the ones with me physically everyday: Joe B, my daughters, my parents and my sister and nephew. It’s hard to let others take care of you when you’re so used to being independent and taking care of others. But I truly appreciate it. It makes me all emotional when I think about it, especially the caring and concern they show, but in a good way.

Day 10 Post Hip Replacement Surgery

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Originally posted to my Facebook page on December 23, 2015

Day 10 Post-Hip Replacement Surgery:

The good news – Physical therapy is going well. I got cleared yesterday to start using a cane! I still need my walker, it’s going to be a gradual increase of using my cane. Joe said he’s going to bead it. Awesome. And my PT exercises are getting easier every day, even though I’m surprised how tired I get afterwards. 3 more sessions of home PT and then after the New Year I start out-patient PT.

Today I start trying to cut my pain medicine dosage in half. I can stretch the current dose out to 6 hours between, now I’m back to every 4 hours, but only half the dose. We’ll see how it goes. I have to go to LMH to do a blood draw every 2-3 days to monitor my dose of the blood thinner I’m on. So I get to get out today sometime.

I get my staples out next week!! Then I can get out and about more without so much worry about infection.

I can sleep on my non-surgical side with a pillow between my knees, which is such a relief. I can also cook eggs for my breakfast and bake cookies, with plenty of rest during the process. I can hang out in the living room on the new furniture my mom and Joe B bought me. Little Sara has gotten good at moving my walker up and down the stairs. She is so careful with me. She waits at the bottom of the stairs as I head down, looking like she is ready to catch me if I fall. Lol. And Shelby is always thinking ahead of things I might need. I have very thoughtful and caring babies.

And movies….I’m getting finally watch a bunch of movies I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Finally got Joe B hooked on “House of Cards” so we are starting with Season 1. We haven’t binge-watched anything in years.

We have so appreciated all the meals provided by friends, organized by Makyla King. And Jeri Johnson for organizing the lunch at my house last week, and the early Christmas dinner she is bringing over tonight.

The not-so-good-news:  all the meds and the recovery process are giving me night sweats and occasional chills. I’ve woken up a few times with a damp shirt that needs to be changed. I don’t have a fever and I’ve talked to my home health nurse about it. All of my blood work is fine. It seems as if this is just something to deal with. It messes with my sleep though…I find myself waking up every few hours. I’ve been scrolling my Facebook and my Twitter in the middle of the night, that’s where all the recipe posts come from, in case anyone was wondering what my sudden interest in all kinds of recipes is…..

Wearing these white compression tights is getting old. Really old. And they have an opening in the top of the foot, yet my foot is supposed to stay inside. Shelby bugs me by moving the hole and making my toes stick out, then she laughs and takes off….lol. Smh….

I knew my emotions might feel like a huge roller coaster ride during the recovery process. It was a concern I expressed to Joe and to my doctors before my surgery. And I found I had good reason to be concerned. Had one really bad day where all I felt like doing was crying….for no reason. I had to read up on the night sweats and the roller-coaster emotions, and found out those are normal things in recovering from a traumatic surgery such as hip replacement. So that helped me relax a bit.

I still get tired easily and I go lay down as soon as I feel like that. I used to have a hard time resting when there was always something that needed to be done, but Joe B is doing so much, and the girls and my family are helping, where I don’t feel any kind of way about resting and getting better and stronger. And since Joe B’s area of expertise is health education, I told him that I was glad I married him….lol. He changes the dressing like a pro, monitors my meds, helps me move my pillows around so I can change positions when I sleep, and makes sure I don’t over due anything.

All in all, I’m making excellent progress. I’m glad I’m a homebody because staying at home doesn’t bother me.