For some time I have had this blog page and never had a creative use for it. Many of you have sent me messages suggesting I should take you on a journey and many of you have asked about my health. Why not take a journey on both? I am really not one to talk much about myself, but after having this last surgery and getting to know more about life, I feel it would be great to share both with you.
Today is actually the 31st day since I had the surgery removing the two tumors and my thyroid. The scar still heals and even itches as it heals but that isn't what has made this an interesting journey thus far. The first night they let me eat and the nurses were telling me I was to totally take salt out of my meals. Salt? One nurse described to me it would cause me to bloat up and swell, a function that our thyroids help prevented.
31 days later and ZERO salt picked up, things have changed. Who would really look at salt as being so bad since it added so much flavor to your food? I mean do we really think things taste that bad so we throw a blizzard of salt on our food? I would say yes to that at the way I have seen people of this last month drowning their food in salt.
To be honest, I thought I was going to go crazy not having salt on my food, not getting that familiar flavor that I so craved. Ok, I never really drowned my food in it, but I did use it enough to tell a difference when I don't use it. Food started to taste bland and sometime just horrible, but I am doing my body good according to them.
Today, 31 days salt free, I ate a raw carrot and for the first time I tasted this carrot like never before. It was like FOOD PORN! I know that sounds bad, but when you are starving and you watch some cooking show you are doing some wild things too that many would tell you looks just like porn. My taste buds dances and celebrated a flavor I have long forgotten. Sure I have eaten carrots before, but when you dowse your food in salt your taste buds seem to die off and food doesn't taste the same. However, now that I have gone this long I have started seeing many different changes in food and drinks.
Two days ago, I drank my first Dr. Pepper since surgery. I vowed to just totally cut them out, but his headache hit me hard and nothing would take it away. Someone suggested a soda and so I opened a Dr. Pepper. WOW, the flavor was out of this world. I taste it like never before and it was like winning the lottery in your mouth. (FYI, I never finished the drink but it did take the headache away.) The very next day I wanted to experiment with taste since I could see things were different already so I tasted a Coke. Again a huge WOW in my mouth as I realized that soda is very strong flavored. Now I can see why they say if you put a screw in one over night it would be eaten up by the Coke. Don't know how true it is, but I will say the flavor was powerful and totally different.So I guess the interesting news there is our food has many amazing flavors without us changing them with salt.
As for health, I would lie if I told you I was 100%, I don't think I will ever be, but I will say I see changes there too. For example, the tumors on my thyroid destroyed many things for me such as giving me neuropathy along with other unhealthy bouts in my body. I got mood swings, changes that affected others, and some changes that well, I will never get to take back. I will say that I am getting a better use of my legs back and don't suffer as much pain in them as I did before and I have less numbness in them too.
A major side effect from all this is I have a large Vitamin D deficiency. What does that mean you ask? It means for my body, I will get sluggish and sleepy quite a bit, they say the calcium won't absorb as it should, and other things. They do plan on attacking it, but it won't be until they see how the thyroid replacement meds work on my system. Once they have some idea there they can attack the Vitamin D problem and hopefully get me back on my feet and running circles once again.
I will try to do this daily as many say I should, and I am sure it won't be as long as the first but it could be fun and maybe a learning process for myself and others who may be in the same boat. Maybe it might even help someone who like me didn't know they had tumors on their thyroid until they were extremely large.
So comment, let me know what you think, ask questions, or what ever you feel, I will respond, and like I said, hopefully we can learn together.
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