It has been years..5 years!..since I last posted on this blog. I wanted to do a new and completely unrelated, natural beauty blog, so stumbled upon this one, saw that some people are still reading these posts, even this week, and felt that I should write an update.
So..updates of my life.
I feel so amazing. Wonderful. Healthy. Happy. Alive!
Yes, I have a kidney transplant, am an insulin-dependent diabetic, have a COPD (bronchieactasis - diagnosed last year), a hernia from my surgery, sciatica and nerve entrapment problems in my arms. But all of these things are totally surmountable when I look outside and see the colors of the trees and flowers. I hear the blackbird singing in the trees and I feel connected to life. I see my darling 15 year-old cat blissed out in the sun and I couldn't be happier.
My kidney function is very stable. I have tests done every 3 months. I take anti-rejection medication every 12 hours and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, (unless there is some miracle of modern science, which is not entirely out of the question). This has all become extremely routine.
I was never comfortable with my first name so I started going by my middle name about 4 years ago. Gary and I were married almost 3 years ago..we just celebrated 8 years of being together. I'm still in regular touch with my charismatic and wonderfully amusing kidney donor, Tim. That's something that makes me incredibly happy.
I eat a mostly vegan, 95% organic, plant-based diet now. It's so much easier for my diabetes control. I have green juices (kale, celery, cucumber and lemon being my all-time favorite!), cereal from chia seeds and fruit and homemade almond milk. I drink banana, maca and green tea smoothies instead of coffee. I make vegan raw mayonnaise from cashews and I use my dehydrator to make veggie burgers from fresh vegetables and seeds. This weekend I made a raw strawberry cheesecake from strawberries that we picked ourselves at a local organic farm on Saturday, the Summer Solstice. I am not a purist and on weekends am tempted by my husband's bags of crisps/potato chips, snippets of tasty Dutch 'belegen' cheese and the very occasional coffee...OH how I love that coffee!! :) I enjoy being balanced.
I go twice a week to work out (the cardio works wonders for the COPD) at a local physiotherapy fitness center. I also do a lot of activity outdoors and at home. This includes lots of sit-ups to try to rebuild my muscle tone in my lower abdominal wall..and get rid of that ridiculously persistent Prednisone belly!! (At least I don't get those erroneous and embarrassing pregnancy congratulations anymore).
For my nerve entrapment problems I luckily found some great videos by these generous people at Kinetic Health:
Nerve flossing
These videos make are clear and just make sense - they have helped me by 80%.
The diabetes is the biggest challenge..I really can't believe this disease and how it must affect so many people. I feel very sad for the elderly diabetics who live alone and need help with it. And the children who have to grow up with it. Taking care of it is like gambling. It's so much guess work and requires incredible discipline. I've had a couple of scary low blood sugar episodes. I haven't had many high blood sugar problems, mostly due to my diet. My diabetes is a rare form (MODY 5, diagnosed 3 years ago by a genetic test. And guess what..? MODY 5 is a type of genetic diabetes that also affects the kidneys! So I finally have an answer as to why I was born with one kidney and why my kidney failed). MODY patients are generally thin (check) and their blood glucose is only affected by food intake (oh yes, so true).
All in all, maintaining a lifestyle that is meaningful to me is the key to my happiness. I am very lucky to be able to follow these paths that I see before me. I am so grateful to my husband for his support and humor. And to my lovely pussycat, Present, (aka Prezzie), for helping me be present for all these years. The laughs I get from seeing her pounce after a string on the bed every night..well, that's joy concentrate to me.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you all health, joy and love.
Louise
So..updates of my life.
I feel so amazing. Wonderful. Healthy. Happy. Alive!
Yes, I have a kidney transplant, am an insulin-dependent diabetic, have a COPD (bronchieactasis - diagnosed last year), a hernia from my surgery, sciatica and nerve entrapment problems in my arms. But all of these things are totally surmountable when I look outside and see the colors of the trees and flowers. I hear the blackbird singing in the trees and I feel connected to life. I see my darling 15 year-old cat blissed out in the sun and I couldn't be happier.
My kidney function is very stable. I have tests done every 3 months. I take anti-rejection medication every 12 hours and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, (unless there is some miracle of modern science, which is not entirely out of the question). This has all become extremely routine.
I was never comfortable with my first name so I started going by my middle name about 4 years ago. Gary and I were married almost 3 years ago..we just celebrated 8 years of being together. I'm still in regular touch with my charismatic and wonderfully amusing kidney donor, Tim. That's something that makes me incredibly happy.
I eat a mostly vegan, 95% organic, plant-based diet now. It's so much easier for my diabetes control. I have green juices (kale, celery, cucumber and lemon being my all-time favorite!), cereal from chia seeds and fruit and homemade almond milk. I drink banana, maca and green tea smoothies instead of coffee. I make vegan raw mayonnaise from cashews and I use my dehydrator to make veggie burgers from fresh vegetables and seeds. This weekend I made a raw strawberry cheesecake from strawberries that we picked ourselves at a local organic farm on Saturday, the Summer Solstice. I am not a purist and on weekends am tempted by my husband's bags of crisps/potato chips, snippets of tasty Dutch 'belegen' cheese and the very occasional coffee...OH how I love that coffee!! :) I enjoy being balanced.
I go twice a week to work out (the cardio works wonders for the COPD) at a local physiotherapy fitness center. I also do a lot of activity outdoors and at home. This includes lots of sit-ups to try to rebuild my muscle tone in my lower abdominal wall..and get rid of that ridiculously persistent Prednisone belly!! (At least I don't get those erroneous and embarrassing pregnancy congratulations anymore).
For my nerve entrapment problems I luckily found some great videos by these generous people at Kinetic Health:
Nerve flossing
These videos make are clear and just make sense - they have helped me by 80%.
The diabetes is the biggest challenge..I really can't believe this disease and how it must affect so many people. I feel very sad for the elderly diabetics who live alone and need help with it. And the children who have to grow up with it. Taking care of it is like gambling. It's so much guess work and requires incredible discipline. I've had a couple of scary low blood sugar episodes. I haven't had many high blood sugar problems, mostly due to my diet. My diabetes is a rare form (MODY 5, diagnosed 3 years ago by a genetic test. And guess what..? MODY 5 is a type of genetic diabetes that also affects the kidneys! So I finally have an answer as to why I was born with one kidney and why my kidney failed). MODY patients are generally thin (check) and their blood glucose is only affected by food intake (oh yes, so true).
All in all, maintaining a lifestyle that is meaningful to me is the key to my happiness. I am very lucky to be able to follow these paths that I see before me. I am so grateful to my husband for his support and humor. And to my lovely pussycat, Present, (aka Prezzie), for helping me be present for all these years. The laughs I get from seeing her pounce after a string on the bed every night..well, that's joy concentrate to me.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you all health, joy and love.
Louise
