It’s been a HARD 6 weeks- here’s why!

Wowza!! The last 6 weeks have been brutal.  As some of you remember back in January I became ill out of no where and ended up being diagnosed with a bad Group Beta Strep infection (more here).

For the most part since then I’ve been ok but around the beginning of May I was finding myself getting fatigued easily and super unmotivated.  I was passing it off as being busy and not worrying too much about it. Then the day after Mother’s Day my Father-in-Law had emergency heart surgery.  This was happening at the same time as one of my best friend’s babies was fighting for his life in a hospital and I was finding myself totally exhausted.

What a LOOOOOONG road we ended up being in for!

My husband went to help take care of his Dad after being released from the hospital and I woke up in the morning literally feeling like I was dying.  I couldn’t even wait the hour for my husband to get home and take my to the hospital.  I couldn’t move without being dizzy, felt super feverish and chills and totally exhausted even though I had slept all night.  Most alarming was intense heart palpitations. I tried to talk myself down thinking maybe I was just really overwhelmed with everything going on.  When I felt so horrible I almost had my son call an ambulance we decided it was time to go.  A friend came and god me and my hubby met us at the ER.

After lots of tests I was diagnosed with mono!!!  Who gets mono as an adult?  Apparently lots of people!

I was the 4th person in the ER that day with a mono diagnosis and the doc said she doesn’t usually see 4 people a month in our town.

So I spent about 10 days not even being able to get out of bed.  Slowly but surely I started feeling better.  Now I’m feeling well about 75% of the time.  Last week and this weekend were super busy.  Tonight I’m laying in bed writing this post and working and feeling totally exhausted.

Mono is horrible.  I would never wish it on anyone.  I had no idea it was possible to be so tired so long.  Even getting up to go to the bathroom was tough and I had no appetite.  I’ve lost 10 pounds (and don’t really have any weight to loose!)

Fortunately we have a great community of people to help us.  Friends chipped in to watch our son, people brought meals and we were covered in prayers.  This was TOUGH but good timing.  Had it happened when I taught I’d have had to find subs, had it happened when I was in the store I’d have had to get shifts covered.  Everyone I work with now just told me to rest and wait.  I’m down some money now but will make it all up!

We also discovered that my thyroid is off again while I was in the ER.  I’ve battled with hypothyroid for about a decade and went off my medication a few years ago.  It was under control with diet until we moved last year.  Ever since then I haven’t really been able to get things under control.  I’ve been prone to a lot more bugs, tired a lot and having a lot more emotional imbalance.

I’m convinced I wouldn’t have gotten mono had my thyroid been better.  I would have been sleeping well and been in much better shape.  So, I’ve started on the Autoimmune Protocol (aka AIP) and am about 4 weeks in with that now.

AIP is tough- it eliminates pretty much all allergens, all grains, nightshade veggies and very limited fruit  This is a great AIP “grocery list” of what is and is not allowed- http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/06/02/paleo-aip-grocery-list/.  However, when I’m feeling well I am feeling really well.  My mood is WAY better than it has been in ages and I’m more motivated than ever to get well.

I will follow a strict AIP diet until the end of July and then go get my thyroid checked again.  If it’s balanced I will begin reintroducing foods, if not than I’ll keep going.  Most likely I will never eat grains or nightshades again and than makes me sad but is worth it for my health!

There aren’t many AIP meal plans out there so starting this week I’m going to post every Monday what I ate that week with recipes for other AIP’ers out there.  (this will include what I bring with me for a week in the mountains!)

It’s going to be a long journey but I’m ready to heal my body and take on the world.  I’m ready to be well enough to enjoy time with my son, and to work enough to help with our debt and not be exhausted.

Thanks for all the love, prayers, meals and encouragement everyone!  Don’t let it stop- I need motivation to stay on track!!!