Coping, Stress and Anxiety Summit Giveaway

I'm not sure how many times I can say this but, "where did the time go?!"

This year has been a busy one between traveling, work, organizing the GP Walk, home life, and of course my own self-care.  The summer is coming to an end and I hope to have some time soon to share more stories, updates, and photos.  However, today I have a wonderful giveaway and event that I am very excited to tell you about!  

SmaryPants Wellness Package Giveaway

"We are on a delicious mission to put health in reach of more children and grown-ups by bringing simplicity and sanity to our supplement routines."

As someone with digestive trouble, you most likely know how difficult it can be to get the important nutrients in when eating food and even drinking at times can be such a challenge.  We are advised to take vitamins but how do we do that when many of them are enormous, chalky, hard to swallow pills, ones that come back up with fish-burps, or require 4-6 a day?!  And can we trust the ingredients and the bio-availability?

4th Annual GP Walk & Ride!

The last few months have been busy and though I've been a bit absent on the blog there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.  Aside from the advocacy work I do with ThriveRx (supporting others with living on enteral and parenteral nutrition support), the next GP walk has been in the making.  

This year will mark our 4th annual event, it's hard to believe how far we have come since the first walk, small but immensely effective, in 2012. Due to personal plans in August and September the walk will be held on July 25th, again here in Bellingham, WA.  We've added bike riding as an options so the official name of the event is now: 4th annual Walk & Ride for Gastroparesis and Digestive Health.  Now that's a mouthful but pretty much covers our intentions!  

Webinar: The Dysmotilty Diet in Action

ThriveRx will be hosting a live webinar this coming Wednesday, February 11th at 1pm EST (10am for my friends out here on the west coast) - The Dysmotilty Diet in Action.

One of our clinical dietitians at ThriveRx, Kristen Roberts, will present an overview of the dysmotility diet and I will be sharing my personal experience in addition to tips for how to put this into action.  Topics include the important components of nutrition - protein, carbohydrates and fats - and how to think about this when it comes to dysmotility.  Other areas to discuss include diet when it comes to SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and a brief look at FODMAPs.  So first step, click here to register.  A link will be emailed to you prior to the online event for signing in day of as well as after, just in case you missed it and want a chance to check it out later.  Oh, and the best part - a live Q & A at the end of the presentation!  Kristen has a lot of experience with dysmotility and I'll be on the call to answer questions as well about my own experience over the years.

Now we know how challenging it can be to figure out what to eat.  What each of us tolerates varies and may even change day to day for each individual which can easily drive a person mad (trust me I know).  However, having some basic guidelines to start with can make a difference.  Having support can make a difference. 

Looking forward to (and a tad bit nervous!) to this opportunity to work with Kristen.  So please join us as we talk about some ideas and continue to walk this journey together.

Taming the Fire

The Super Bowl is about to begin and after buzzing like a bee around the house, preparing for a few guests who are super fans.  I'm not exactly what you would consider a football fan, but I can't help but get caught up in the emotions of anticipation, excitement, and the hooting and hollering that that belt from my husband and our friends.  Plus, it was a great excuse to get a super cute team hoodie and make some funky earrings to match!

Today isn't the best day symptom wise.  Sleep has not been great and to top it off I'm on my period, a time when GP can rise above and beyond my control. This tends to begin the week before and last the first few days of, followed by my best days - hunger, energy, the strange yet joyful feeling that the beast finally decided to give me my freedom back.  To make today work, I must prepare, aka "get my game face on."

- Upon wakening, I took a few minutes to focus on deep breathing followed by some simple stretching in bed.  This must happen quietly before our pups hear my feet hit the floor and trample me down for immediate attention...and most important of course - food.  

- With the endless bowls of snacks, most of which would make me sick, I followed the same routine of a small, complete breakfast (today it was 1/2 cup oatmeal mixed with cooked and strained blueberries plus 1 scrambled egg), which (cross fingers) will most likely settle.  

- After laundry and cleaning, I tossed my lavender-infused heating pad in the microwave and allowed this to calm my belly for a time. 

- Prepared a snack for myself later, balanced of course, for the game: my favorite gluten free crackers, slices of avocado and oven roasted deli turkey.  While other's may be chugging their beer I will be sipping my homemade broth, especially if eating is a challenge.  

- Find something to do with my hands to keep my mind off wanting to snack non-stop like many tend to do during the game.  Today I'll be knitting.  

- Don't be afraid to ask others to help with the clean up because let's face it, I'm not the super multi-tasking hostess I once was. 

- Enjoy the day for what it is, not for what I can't do...like gorge on snacks and have an adult beverage.  Friends, laughter, crying (whether we lose or win I'm betting there will be a tear somewhere!), and really just being a part of something.

Now these are just my own ways to deal and prepare.  If you know much about GP then you probably know that there is a huge spectrum of what we individually can tolerate on our day to day routine. I do believe we can all benefit from...

Rest

   Laughter

       Movement

            Community

                Deep breathing

                     Asking for help

Emotions can fly all over the place on a difficult day, on a busy day, a day that seems overwhelmingly overwhelming.  If we let those feelings take control of our body's need for balance, then trouble lies ahead.  It's a bit like stop, drop, and roll.  What happens if you catch on fire and don't do follow this practice?  Not good!  With GP, it's like a match inside just waiting for an opportunity to strike.  And I know for myself I try to do everything in my power to prevent this, and when it does strike, when the flames want to engulf me, remembering the list above helps to cool down the heat.  

Sunset on "fire" captured on the bay last night, a fire filled with beauty and hope.

What do you do to stay balanced?  

Wishing you well today, 

Stephanie

Coming up...Dysmotility Diet in Action Webinar!

Another New Year - The Good, the Bad, and the Motivation to Get Through It All

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."

-Confucius

Another year has passed and tomorrow we start again.  Around this time, at least in the last 8 years, I've said to myself, "This will be the year, I will find an answer, a way to finally feel better."  That is always the New Years resolution...feel better.  And then what immediately follows, "What if this is my best?  What if I can never eat normal again or get off nutrition support?"

It's human nature to compare ourselves to those around us.  I realized this during my first yoga class, my freshman year of college at Wichita State. Yoga with Flo - yes that was her name and that is exactly how she moved, even at the age of 70 (and she still teaches, my dad took her class at the YMCA!). She would always remind us we are exactly where we need to be at that moment.  "Wow, I'll never be able to fold forward like that", I thought.  A lifetime of tight hamstrings and bad posture made touching my toes seem impossible.  But it was through training of the breath and the mind, that whenever I so badly wanted to be as flexible or graceful or athletic as the person next to me, this was who I was and exactly where I needed to be.  Don't get me wrong, those thoughts creep in but I learned to acknowledge them and understand my own realistic determination.  Fast forward 5 years to a hot yoga studio in Bellingham, WA and it happened, my fingers actually wrapped around those wobbly, big toes and a bolt of accomplishment shot through my body.  

Though I long for the days of a yoga routine being life's biggest challenge, the memory reminds me of similar emotions we all go through.  When the future of wellness feels like asking for the moon and stars.  It seems incredibly impossible, unrealistic.  But I won't give up.  By that I mean I won't let the myriad of challenges stop me from dreaming and living the best I can.  

2014 was a crazy year.

• The temporary PICC line in my arm became a more permanent central line in my chest.  I'll share more about what a daily routine on TPN looks like in the future.  For now, know that it takes time, patience, and being more careful with your body than you can ever imagine. 
• I started a new job as a Nutrition Consumer Advocate for ThriveRx.  It's been an absolute blessing to work with others around the country and help to educate and support people also living on tube feeds and/or TPN.
• For a short time in the spring I actually felt better but it was short lived.  Despite eating more, weaning down to 4 nights of TPN resulted in a near 10 lb weight loss.  Back to 6 days and maintaining. 
• 3rd annual GP walk in September was a success, more GP'ers showed up than ever before!
• Participated in the Bellingham Traverse on the kayak leg with my husband.  Challenging but after having so many procedures, tests, tubes and lines, I felt like anything was possible.  Days of sleeping followed this race but it was worth it.  
• Traveled to California and Kansas to spend time with family, good and bad days but again, so worth the effort.

I continue to struggle with severe pain at times, bloating, chronic constipation, fatigue, dizziness, and the ability to eat enough.  To most people (nearly everyone) this is mostly invisible, so on the days I'm not strong enough to handle it or I turn down invitations, trust me, it's me not you.*

Balancing the bad with the good keeps me going and what I suggest to you as well.  Find what brings you joy, even in the smallest of things.  Short walks, time with friends and family, helping others, big goofy dogs, learning to accept help, good books and movies, they all bring me enough joy to make it through the day.  

As far as resolutions go, and I always say this, but I really do want to write more, both here and one day in a book.  So much to share but motivation and routine is the key. 

Hope to see more of you in 2015 and wishing everyone a "better," healthier, happier year.  

-Stephanie


*Added Thoughts - January 1st, 2015

This post was written the morning of New Years Eve.  With plans to join good friends to bring in 2015, I ended up having to take my own advice about turning down invitations.  It actually started with T not having a voice post Seahawks game so it wasn't just me this time!  However, not wanting to disappoint the people I love is probably the hardest part about backing out.  My stomach took a dive in the afternoon, draining any energy to get dazzled up for a party.  Following 2 days plus the morning of feeling pretty good, it's so hard to explain the sudden change (even we don't get this).   My request is that people understand how challenging it can be when not feeling well to not only socialize but to also be around food and/or drinks.
Missing out is upsetting to say the least but we made the best out of it, cuddled with the pups, made some tea and watched How I Met Your Mother for some laughs.  I was in bed by 11pm but T came in and for a midnight kiss and opened the shades so I could see the giant explosion of colorful fireworks right outside our window!
Resting today and again, looking forward to better days ahead for myself and all the friends I have out there who can relate to this life.
-Stephanie 

Baked Breakfast Sausage

In the last post I interviewed Crystal Saltrelli for her new book Eating for Gastroparesis, to which I promised to share her and her families favorite recipe - Baked Breakfast Sausage.  Of course I had to experience it myself so last week I made it exactly as she shared on the book cover, served with her Quick and Easy Pancakes (pg.92) and added a small serving of Daily Green Juice (pg.94).  The recipes were all quite simple and the best part was that it made enough to freeze for last minute meals in the future.