Over the river and through the woods...

One of the best reasons to live where I live is the beautiful hiking trails that are nearby to my house. Several trails in town are paved and my favorite one is on the other side of the Mendenhall River from where I live. There is a section of it that is unpaved and is called the "Horse Trail". Many residents walk their dogs on these trails, and I am no exception. While on the paved portion of the trail, you are required to keep your dog on-leash (but hardly anybody does... being a strict rule follower, I do). If you divert on to the horse trail about a quarter of a mile down the paved part, the dogs can go off-leash. Noni and Lijha love it. It is quite a good walk as it goes up and down hill a good portion of the hike. Once the trail merges back with the paved part, we cross the path and take the fishing access trails to go down to the river. Lijha loves playing in the water. Then we continue the loop back to the start of the horse trail (but on the river side) and head back to the car. It takes about an hour to do this hike and I've done it for 4 days in a row so far (yay me!).

I haven't really had time to fit this one-hour walk into my day, but I have made the time. Mostly as a weapon in my fight against fatigue. Getting myself moving helps my joints and keeps me active. I am very careful to not overdo it and completely exhaust myself. It is slow-going, but I have felt my over-all energy levels increasing day by day.

It doesn't hurt that the woods are amazing to walk in and the setting is so peaceful. There are hazards, such as bears, that I have to take into account. Bears have been spotted recently in the area of the hiking trail. However, I keep up a steady stream of conversation with my dogs (or if I happen to go with a friend, I talk to her, so I don't sound crazy). I've heard that constant noise alerts the bears to your presence and they generally stay out of your way. You have problems when the bear doesn't know that you are there and you take it by surprise. The dogs are also key because they can tell when wildlife are in the area. They haven't alerted to anything yet, so I think I'm safe.

Silver lining? Not only am I getting my exercise, but the walk tuckers out the puppies so I can focus on my homework after the walk without interruption. A tired puppy is a good puppy :)

Fighting Fatigue...

One of my many challenges in life is my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed when I was 17, after 4 years of constant knee pain and inflammation. As I have aged, my RA has started affecting other areas of my body. One thing that I have noticed about my RA, is that it focuses on areas that have been damaged in the past. The knee that started it all was severely bruised when I hit it on a rock while floating down the Yellowstone River the summer I was 13. When I was 20, I was in a car accident that damaged my C2 vertebrae (well, damaged isn't quite the "right" word for it, but it is constantly out of alignment, and only frequent chiropractic adjustments keep it in place). Other aches and pains of crept up throughout the years. I have problems with my left hip and my right ankle (I keep spraining it in my sleep, go figure)... You get the point. Whenever I have a flare-up, the pain is focused in these "damaged" joints throughout my body.

My flare-ups seem to be weather related. Anytime we have a long stretch of nice weather, my body gets used to it. As soon as the weather changes, the sudden increases and decreases in barometric pressure cause me great pain. I was "blessed" with this experience this past Saturday. I had to get out of bed to take care of my dogs, but as soon as they were out and fed, I went back to bed. Fatigue swept over me and I slept for most of the day. I had no energy and any movement would cause excruciating pain. Yeah, it was a lot of fun... The good thing about these types of flare-ups, is that they usually only last a day. The excruciating pain dissipates as I get used to the new barometric pressure. 

Not that this experience is new, but it is getting rather irritating. I have been researching options for increasing my energy levels to fight the fatigue that is an almost daily companion now, but it is difficult. It seems that the only answer is rest (and medication, which is another post altogether). As much as I know that rest is the best thing for me, it isn't a reality. I am the wife of a pilot. That means that I am basically "single" for half of my life while he is off flying somewhere. Not that I begrudge my husband his career, it's just a fact. I am forced to be completely self-reliant a good portion of my life. I have to take care of our dogs, I have to go to work... I am also enrolled in school and working on my Bachelor's Degree. My life is busy and I have little to no time to rest. I notice a difference in my health when I have a 3-day weekend. It seems to take about that long to recharge my batteries.

So, I am at a cross-roads... Do I keep going at the pace that I am going, knowing that when I get home I will be too tired to do anything (chores, homework, walk the dogs, exercise, cook)? Do I reduce my hours at work to allow my self to get enough rest at night and still feel like I have the energy to do everything else in my life? Do I quit my job to work for myself so I can dictate my hours as my energy levels fluctuate?

The only thing I know for sure is that I need more time to rest, either time to take a nap during the day or more time to sleep at night. Until then, I'll just raise my sword and shield (lightweight, of course) and battle my every-day fatigue.

The reasons behind getting healthy...

I have always considered myself to be rather health-conscious. I stay away from McDonald's as much as possible, I gave up drinking Diet Coke, and I have a V-8 instead of a candy bar in the afternoon... But with all of my denial about "it's OK if I have "this" because I haven't had "this" for a while (not remembering that I just had "this" in my denial-induced binge of 2 days ago), I still wasn't fully prepared for the diagnosis that I received recently...

• As a child, I was (as my mom put it) "Disgustingly Healthy." I didn't have any allergies. I didn't have any major illnesses. Outside of a few trips to the emergency room for my broken arm and stitches needed from time to time, I didn't start having problems until my mid teens. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. After trying several medications with no positive results, I chose to treat with ibuprofen as needed and modify my diet.

• Later in life, I found that I was hypoglycemic. I tend to get shaky when I don't eat. When I tried diets that restrict carbs, it was worse. I decided that oatmeal for breakfast was a good thing.

• After I got married, I gradually gained 50 pounds over 10 years. I convinced myself that the weight gain was genetic and that I couldn't really do anything about it.

• I have been told by my doctor that my gall bladder doesn't work the way it should and that I'm not producing enough bile to break down the fats in my diet. I naturally stay away from anything too fatty to compensate for this, but that isn't good for my RA, which is helped by adding Omega-3 fatty acids (and all the other Omega- fats) to my diet. My cholesterol is higher than normal because I'm not digesting the fats properly. There is a suppliment that I get from my doctor to help my gall bladder along, but I am not very consistent with taking it.

• Throughout the years, I have developed several allergies. We had to get rid of our cats and I have a sensitivity to my dogs. I sneeze explosively when exposed to dust, mold, or fragrances.

• This past winter, I was exposed to mold in my kitchen cabinets. That exposure caused bronchitis and asthma. Through my treatment for the bronchitis and asthma, my doctor decided to do blood work to determine what I am allergic to.

• The test results came in... I am allergic to eggs... Research done thus far leads me to believe that I have a mild egg allergy that affects my resperatory system. My doctor believes that my sensitivity to my dogs, dust, and fragrance are a result of the egg allergy leaving my system compromised (basically, my body reacts to everything because it was left susceptible from the egg allergy).

So, now that I've gone through the background, it is time for me to get off my butt and change my lifestyle. I need to come up with a diet plan that takes all of my issues into consideration. I believe that diet can control illnesses when done properly.

So, join me as I try to figure this out. As I try new things, I'll post product reviews and recipes. I'll also catalog a daily diet/activity diary, but this is primarily for my records, to help me keep track of everything. If it is helpful to you, my reader, than great!