Living la Vida Lupus

Hey ya’ll, I have to admit, when I started blogging,  posting a monthly conversation was not what I had in mind, but it is better than bi-annually (tee, hee, hee).  My original goal was to post three times a week, lofty goal, right?!?

Enough self- recrimination… what shall we discuss today?

If you are a FB friend you know that my husband recently had kidney stones, again. He was in the hospital for three days, but luckily passed the one causing the obstruction a few hours before his scheduled surgery. He is still waiting on the analysis of his stones so the doctor can prescribe some medication to help him stop producing so many. He is a kidney stone making machine!!!

Well, as you may or may not know, I am an advocate for preventative care (not pharmaceuticals), I think food, and exercise, herbs, vitamins, minerals, and common sense are the best medicines. Ok, calm down…we are talking prevention here not curing cancer. I agree there is a time and place for prescription medication.

The following information is from a friend of mine, she is an herbalist and a regular member of my Zumba in the Circuit classes.

Kidney stones can form when urine contains too much of certain substances. These substances can create small crystals that become stones.

The biggest risk factor for kidney stones is dehydration.

Kidney stones may not produce symptoms until they begin to move down the tubes (ureters) through which urine empties into the bladder. When this happens, the stones can block the flow of urine out of the kidneys. This causes swelling of the kidney(s), causing pain. The pain is usually severe.

Supporting supplements:

Remember to drink a lot of water (lemon or lime added to the water can be helpful).

1) Marshmallow (not the bags from the grocery store, duh) - there are many testimonies of this helping relieve the pain of passing stones better than morphine. This herb coats the tubes so that the passing can be tolerated better. Take 3 capsules every 2-3 hours as needed for pain/discomfort. If pain is excruciating, you can take 4-5 capsules every 3 hours. (Take this supplement with food if you have severe hypoglycemia.)

2) Hydrangea – used to break up the stones. Take 3 capsules 3 times a day for 3 weeks.

3) Vitamin B-6 and Magnesium - may be helpful in prevention of kidney stones.

Remember, I am sharing information concerning this topic. I am not a medical practitioner in any form or fashion. Do your own research, be an informed consumer, and your own health advocate.

From my moderate amount of online research it doesn’t seem that persons with autoimmune disease are any more likely to suffer from kidney stones than anyone else. They obviously don’t understand the stress of having a husband who seems to be going through child birth! Kidney involvement in Lupus rarely causes discomfort or pain. Do keep in mind that along with our brain the kidneys are potentially the most serious organ involved in lupus because they may be “silently” involved – meaning the patient does not know there is disease process going on.

Be sure to friend me on FB! Include a message that you are a member of the Lupus community, Zumba, friend or foe (just kidding about the last one, surprise me).

Hugs and kisses,

Ruby

God bless America!

It’s ok to leave a comment below, really.

Hey Y’all, it is rodeo time hear in H-town, Texas, and I can’t think of a better time to get back in the blog saddle.

Wow, it has been a while since we had a conversation. A lot has happened. The short and sweet of the past few months…I became unemployed on December 22, 2010 due to health reasons, you know what that means don’t you? No unemployment, almost half of our income gone (yikes). So, as I have been reeling from all the changes in my life our conversations have fallen by the wayside.

The exciting news is I am no longer transitioning into the role of fitness professional. You guessed it; I jumped in feet first in January. I will be updating my “about me” and “Zumba, baby” tab’s shortly to reflect my class schedule (big cheesy grin).

So, what shall we talk about today?

I am at Starbucks working on my music playlist for tonight’s classes, that’s correct, I said classes, plural. You can tell I’m excited, right?

I hope y’all don’t mind me sharing my new life changes along with our autoimmune, health and fitness topics. You know things like budgeting, less stress, getting a good night’s sleep, taking afternoon naps (on an as needed basis only, lol), grocery shopping during the week when it’s less crowded, our granddaughter sleeping over during the week, yard work, not worrying about sick days or annual leave, two hours of commute Monday thru Friday. Wow, this list could go on and on. It’s all part of the Lupus life.

The main thing I want to share today is “It’s ALL Good!”

Ok, that’s it for now. If you have been missing our conversations, are a new participant or want to offer a topic suggestion, please leave a comment below.

And as always…

Thanks for following as I live life with Lupus,

Ruby

I do believe that in Tennessee and probably in Texas, this is known as “making hay when the sun shines”, you can correct me if I am wrong…oh, never mind about that last part.

If you don’t already know, this is exceptionally true for lupies! We never know how we are going to feel or what might incapacitate us at any given moment. I may have a perfectly marvelous day today and not be able to get out of bed tomorrow because of some kind of pain, muscle or joint, or perhaps some other strange malady. Before I was diagnosed with lupus I had paralysis in my left hand. For six months. My doctors finally decided to attribute the paralysis to some kind of virus…true story!

So for those of you with autoimmune disease I don’t think I have to tell you twice to “get while the gettin’ is good”. And for those of you who love someone with an autoimmune disease, now you will understand why we might leave the sink full of dishes to rush off to Zumba class. The dishes will be waiting for our return, unless they miraculously do themselves, because we might not feel like exercising when the next Zumba class rolls around.

Grab your board when the surf is up ya’ll and thanks for following along as I face life with lupus,

XOXOXs Ruby

I’m Baa-ackkk, did ya miss me? Did ya, did ya, did ya?

Hey ya’ll, I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but I have been off the radar again. The good news is I just read an awesome article about “Back Sliding”. The article was written by Carolyn B. Ellis.

Carolyn reminded me that:

• Progress is never a straight line. Often it’s a matter of one step forward, two steps back.
• Backsliding after we’ve started some new habits or set new goals is common.
• The choice you make after you’ve “fallen off the wagon” that is critical.

The best of intentions can get crushed by procrastination, old habits or disempowering thoughts. Here are a few tips Carolyn gave to get (me) back on track.

1. Celebrate Your Awareness

Do you immediately launch into self-recrimination and judgment when you backslide? Instead of beating yourself up, choose to celebrate your awareness. Within the seeds of the breakdown are the keys to creating a lasting breakthrough.

Action Step: Come up with a positive mantra or affirmation to use when you discover you’re out of integrity with your goals. Try “Hey, I’m curious about what took me off course,” instead of “Hey, you loser, you blew it again!” Love yourself forward.

2. Patience is a Virtue

In a world addicted to instant gratification, creating empowering new habits and thoughts takes discipline, repetition and, often, time. How many years did it take to create the bad habit in the first place? A few decades perhaps? Is it so unreasonable to think it may take you a few weeks or months of focused intention and action to unlearn a lifetime of mental programming?

Action Step: Catch yourself when you get impatient and stop. Impatience is a quality of the ego-self, not the Higher Self. While sometimes a permanent shift can just take a split second, often we simply need to be more patient with our process.

3. Think Outside the Box

Einstein said it best when he observed that trying to solve problems at the same level of thinking that created them is an exercise in futility. It’s like trying to hammer a nail, when the only tool you have is a saw. Breaking out of deeply ingrained subconscious patterns often requires thinking outside the box.

Action Step: Realize there’s a lot you don’t know you don’t know. Work with a coach, find an accountability partner, or connect with like-minded people who are achieving the success you want to create as a way to break loose from old patterns.

I hope ya’ll like Carol’s advice as much as I do. FYI, Carolyn B. Ellis is the founder of ThrivePrinciples.com and BrillianceMastery.com. To learn more about the life-changing THRIVE Principles ™, visit www.ThrivePrinciples.com

Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with Lupus,

Ruby

In closing, I have never met Carol, but her article lifted me up, so I decided to lift her up.

Gluten Free Love…

Hey ya’ll, I am totally off course with my posts, please bear with me as I attempt to get back on track. If anyone is reading you will love this conversation though.

I recently shared that I would be teaching Zumba classes again next month <sad face> lost my studio space. So, I am back to the drawing board. Oh, well, the time slot that was available wasn’t ideal anyway, probably for the best.

My “Test Don’t Guess” project is not going well…I have a follow up appointment with my doctor tomorrow for labs. I will update you on that adventure. The good news is that I am maintaining the weight I have lost, just can’t seem to lose any more.

Sport is getting an attitude because I haven’t been posting his page. Jeesh, celebrities!

I know you have been hearing some buzz about gluten. We have discussed gluten a little bit in previous conversations. Remember? It causes inflammation and autoimmune disease is inflammatory…yes, my lips are moving…no, I am not saying blah, blah, blah, I am sharing some really good news with you if you love popcorn. Following my hormone balancing food plan doesn’t really include popcorn unless it is organic and then only one cup…why bother, right? Well I found a great popcorn fix today. Maybe you have already tried it, but just in case you haven’t it is called “Just Honest Popcorn” and sold by the Rocky Mountain Popcorn Company. It is portion controlled, comes in several flavors, is gluten and nut free, hot air popped, no trans fats, and you can actually read the list of ingredients! Check out their website www.rmpopcorn.com , http://twitter.com/RockyMtnPopcorn , and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187228145243&ref=search .

Let me know if you try this yummy product and more importantly let Rocky Mountain Popcorn Company know.  They say their product is “Real and good. Good and real.” I have only tried the Butter flavor so far, but look forward to investigating the other flavors, except Kettle Corn, there is just something messed up about sweet and salty popcorn, yuk.

Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus,

Ruby

Check out www.hersilverlining.blogspot.com , Tiffany is blogging about living la vida lupus too! She has a lot of great information.

Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus,

Ruby

This year my husband and I went together…we got a boy, nine years old. Shopping with boys is so much different than shopping with girls. We had a great time, ate pizza (not on our food plan), and figured out how to read the chart on a package of boys socks. 

I really love to participate in activities like this because I remember when I needed assistance with my kids. You know it’s funny, but for the most part kids are ambivalent to financial circumstances. The year my kids dad left (after 16 years of marriage), we were in such financial straits. As I think back now I am not sure how we survived. I remember the two youngest having to be in the free lunch program. I had to giggle the other night when I asked our new friend if he had participated in the program the previous year he said “no” that last year his family had been rich. It says a lot about our economy and the resiliency of our youth. 

So, anyway, there was no blogging Monday night. 

Tuesday night I worked on my post, but alas as luck would have it…I couldn’t get the dang pictures uploaded. I had been on such a roll with the pictures too. So about an hour after my bedtime I through up my hands in frustration and there was no blog post that night either. 

Wednesday evening I was preparing for a Personal Training session I had scheduled for Thursday night. I will share more details about that project at a later date. But on Thursday night there was no post because I was working out with two clients! 

Friday night, hey what can I say…it was Friday night. 

That it for updating tonight. I am going to attempt once again to get the photos inserted in last Tuesday’s post so I can share it with you tomorrowJ 

Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus, 

Ruby