Just When I Thought I Was Better...

My stomach is having troubles. It's probably because of all the fresh, raw vegetables I've been eating lately. Yesterday at lunch I put together the most amazing salad, full of greens, avocados, tomatoes, broccoli, and carrots. I was eating it, thinking how decadent it tasted, but then realized it was a salad and good for me. Well, I was wrong and had a long night with a stomach ache as a result.

Fortunately, I met with my naturopath today. She said at this point in my recovery, I should continue to be careful about eating raw veggies. The chemo has disrupted a lot of things in my GI tract. When I eat raw vegetables, my stomach has to essentially cook them to digest them. For now, she encouraged me to take a less-is-more approach to raw veggies. It's hard to think that something that is so good for me can also be bad. But, if I can prevent another long night, I will try. A salad full of greens will probably be okay for me, but the harder to digest veggies (like raw broccoli  carrots, cauliflower) should be added in slowly as I recover.  She also mentioned that during the winter months, it's normally easier on our bodies to have only about 20-30% of our vegetables raw since our bodies are working hard on dealing with the dark and the colder temperatures. I see a lot of soups in my future.

My naturopath prescribed some more supplements for my recovery. When I'm done with my B6 vitamins (which will help with my neuropathy recovery), I'll switch over to a multi-vitamin. Then she suggested a supplement to help with my immunity, and another one that will help with my muscle aches and to support my health through radiation. (I won't bore you with their names.) She also gave me a sample of a fish oil supplement to see how I do with it and recommended Melatonin at a high dose which also boosts immunity and inhibits cancer cell growth. When I first went to see her, I was hesitant to take many pills. Now after chemo, knowing how effective it was at tearing down my immunity and wreaking havoc on my blood counts, I am willing to do as much as I can to help rebuild my body.

I'm heading out for a quick walk with Sugar. Fresh air always makes me feel better. I need to get out there before it gets too dark, and that happens really fast out here in Washington.