Tag: mental clarity

Life Post Treatment

Life Post Treatment

I have never really been one to want to take a bunch of drugs.  If I have a choice, I will always choose a holistic approach. A vitamin or supplement approach first before turning to the world of prescription medication.

That being said, I do believe there is a time, place, and benefit to prescription drugs and using it them as a last resort has always been my preference.

Until breast cancer.

It is incredible how two words…one that used to remind me of something sexy (breast) and the other a horoscope (cancer). But when combined become deadly and lethal in an instant and have me reevaluating my whole take on life and prescription medications.

I still use supplements first, however I am now in a position where if I want to live, prescription medications will need to be taken for the next ten years…and to be fair, it is still all a gamble as to whether it will work for me or not…but I am not willing to take the chance to go the road without it.

So, you are probably wondering what am I rambling on about here?

Tamoxifen.  This old drug is very effective in treating hormone receptive breast cancers.  This drug works by blocking estrogen in your body.  Basically, I was told that the estrogen in my body is what keeps producing cancer cells, so we need to block them.  Like a bodyguard or the bouncer at a bar so to speak.

Being that my cancer really loves estrogen, the answer is Tamoxifen to help me.  Here is the kicker…you know what else loves estrogen besides some cancers?

OUR BRAIN! Oh yes, the brain loves estrogen and without it, I have begun to feel like I am walking around in one big brain fart.  I go to sleep at night and honestly wake up unclear what I did the night before or when I went to bed.  Kind of like Groundhog Day! This used to be fun when I was in my twenties and had gone out the night before partying.  This is not fun in my late forties after having gone to bed at 9pm after a cup of tea and have no reason not to remember what I did the night or day before!

Even some days trying to remember what I wrote about last and then blogging what I think is an awesome topic, only to discover I wrote nearly the same blog a week before. Frustrating and time consuming to say the least!  The lack of estrogen to the brain can feel very debilitating at times.

So, how does one live with this?

Well…there are A LOT of checklists and calendar entries.  I do my best to write most things down and calendar them.  I take all my vitamins and supplements to help with the rest of my body feeling great and I do my best to not make myself wrong when I do honestly forget things and people must remind me or correct me.

My husband is a saint to put up with my brain in the shape that it is.  He asks me to do something a certain way and I say “sure!” and then, almost immediately do it the opposite way to what he said.  It has taken him some time too to realize that I am not doing this to upset him.  I just honestly don’t remember him saying something or I know he said something, I just cannot remember what it was.

This all can be very frustrating to say the least.  That being said, the silver lining is I don’t always remember all the bad stuff in life and if my socks go missing long enough, I just buy new ones!  Oh and this whole memory loss thing did get me to write a book too so I would remember…You are welcome! See! Silver linings everywhere!

Win Win!

 

Slip and Falls and Silver Linings

Slip and Falls and Silver Linings

I have found in my life that looking for the silver linings in any event no matter how terrible can bring about something good IF you are willing to look for it.

Admittedly, I am not a doctor, but I am fascinated by healthcare in all forms.  While I lean towards more of a focus on what most call “alternative healthcare” I do take an interest in understanding it all. Read on to discover where it all began…

Once upon a time…okay never mind… I am not Cinderella but this story does have a happy ending…continue…

When I was 19 years old, I was waitressing in a very busy breakfast restaurant.  At the height of a busy Sunday rush, I walked into the serving area not realizing the ceramic floor was wet. I slipped and came crashing down on my back with all the plates I was carrying shattering all over.   I couldn’t get up right away.  I couldn’t move. I felt paralyzed with pain. In that moment, my life and everything I thought I knew shifted.

I saw my medical Doctor the day after the fall and was given pain medication but no real plan on what to do.  In the hours, days and weeks to come my condition grew worse.  I couldn’t go back to work because the constant walking and then strain of lifting anything gave me horrendous back pain. All I would be given is something to take the edge off the intense stabbing discomfort radiating from my neck and spine.

I wouldn’t work for nearly a year.  I literally couldn’t work.  I was now dealing with how groggy and unclear the medication made my brain on top of the constant physical discomfort. My doctor told me that my injury to my back was bad enough that I would most likely struggle with back problems most of my life.

My mental health was deteriorating from this news and laying around all day in pain just made the bottomless pit of despair seem to be growing bigger and bigger by the day. I felt helpless.

Was this what the rest of my life now looked like?

After about 6 months of this constant pain, complaining and feeling like a victim of all my circumstances, I was sitting with my employer at the time voicing my upset and he turned to me and said,” you need to see my chiropractor.”  He immediately got up from the table, went into his office and made me an appointment for the next day.  He didn’t ask me if I wanted to. He just did it and honestly, I was desperate to feel better and couldn’t handle the thought of where my life was currently heading.  Pain pills. Chronic discomfort. Constantly feeling unhappy.  I knew I had to try something different…Anything!

The next day I was sitting in the chiropractic office that was a small room with a weird looking table in it.  A nice (and I could tell right away POWERFUL) woman walked in.  She asked me lots of questions. She listened intently to my answers.  She took the time to educate me on what was happening with my body and what to expect out of this treatment.  She was honest.  This wasn’t going to be a one session, and all is well again.  This was going to take time and if I did the treatments and the recommended exercise she gave me to do at home, I would get better.

And I did.

That Doctor was Dr. Christine Majeran, D.C.

As I was increasingly getting better, stronger, I still knew I didn’t have enough strength to go back to serving full time. I had to continue to build up strength to lift things.  People don’t think about what it takes to be a server.  You are on your feet all day and you’re carrying many heavy plates.  It is exhausting and hard work to do.   Tip your servers well! They deserve it! Trust me!

One day while at my treatment I was so happy to share that I was feeling so much better but still frustrated that I wasn’t strong enough to lift and get my job back. Dr. Majeran  turned to me and said “I have an opening for a receptionist here at the office.  You will need to meet my husband as well who is the other Chiropractor here but if all goes well in your interview, the job is yours.”  I was gobsmacked!  This was awesome! How did I just go from being a patient to a possible employee in this GLORIOUS place of wellness?!

This terrible situation I found myself in when I fell is now turning out to be the catalyst to a lifelong journey of learning and being within healthcare.  I must admit, I have loved every minute of it!

Working with everyone at the First Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic in Moose Jaw those many years ago was incredible.  I learned so much about chiropractic care and the nervous system. I learned that chiropractic is not just for pain but for overall health and wellness!  I learned all the different techniques in chiropractic and even became a patient educator at one point.  During this time at the office, they began to expand their practice and brought in a Naturopathic Doctor.

There was so much more to learn!

See, once I started to feel better in my body from the accident, I no longer needed the pain medication and I began to feel that I wanted to fuel my body with vitamins and supplements and take on other “alternative” treatments to see how much better I could feel.

This discovery of Chiropractic and Naturopathic medicine was all coming at a time where my marriage at 19 years old was falling apart. (That is a whole story for another blog post! Stay Tuned!)  There was a ton of stress on my nervous system from the fall and from the ongoing stress of a failing marriage.  The glue that held me together became chiropractic and naturopathic medicine.  It fueled my soul.  Gave me strength to keep moving forward.  Gave me strength to move on.

It also gave me a much-needed paycheck!  But that was just a bonus to all the other benefits I was receiving!

See, had I not fallen on that floor that day I am not sure what my life would look like today.  Also, I love it when someone tells me that I can’t or won’t be able to do something. It pretty much fuels me to prove them wrong!

At 30 years old, I started teaching Zumba full time and for someone who had a back injury that technically “should be” living with chronic pain, I am pretty sure my medical Doctor at the time would be shocked to know I was shaking my hips all over the city! This was definitely not a career path I am sure they would foresee me doing for over a decade now!

I mean, come on! Tell me I can’t DO something!

I DARE YOU!

Like I said, I truly believe that silver linings in any situation DO exist.  IF you are willing to look for them!

Looking for a recommendation for Chiropractic care in Moose Jaw or Toronto?  (I know, that seems like very random places to to know about…but I do!)

Contact me and I am happy to provide you information.

 

 

Do You Sleep Procrastinate? I Can’t Remember….

Do You Sleep Procrastinate? I Can’t Remember….

My best ideas come in the middle of the night. A 3 AM wake up and my mind is full of great ideas that will solve world problems.  Okay, maybe not those kinds of great ideas but things like how to market a book to the masses, what to write about that will have people laughing and support those dealing with so much.  Then I think to myself during this 3 AM wakeup “I will remember all of this in the morning and go right to work!”

Only thing is once my eyes open, I have used the bathroom and come downstairs, I have completely forgotten what that magical thing was that I was going to write about and know that I should have gotten out of bed at 3 AM to write about it but that just seems absurd at the time.  I always convince myself that I need more sleep and should go back to bed and deal with it later.  Only thing is when later comes, I cannot remember what it was I was thinking about.

I have sleep procrastination. Is that a thing? I think it might be.

I refuse to get out of bed because that would be “crazy” to do at that hour but then I am totally lost and accomplish nothing the next day but sitting there trying to meditate and remember what it was that was going to have me get a Nobel prize for what I thought of in the middle of the night.

I think maybe I am related to the likings of Deepak Chopra or Ghandhi… Okay, maybe I am not related to those two…okay, maybe not “maybe”….I am not.  By morning I am once again just a prairie girl living out her life under the big city lights of Toronto.   But I really do think my amazing thoughts in the middle of the night could possibly solve world problems or at the very least, have you, the reader, smiling and laughing and ready to take on your day knowing that you are not alone.

Please tell me I am not alone in this? 

On top of the sleep procrastination I have (that is my term now, no one steal it!), I have brain fog.  Brain fog IS a REAL THING! It is caused, in my case, originally by chemotherapy and now by Tamoxifen.  I share about this in the book, but I also feel the importance to share about it here.  So I don’t forget!

Brain fog is not only caused by medications.  As our hormones begin to change after forty (and in some cases before) brain fog can become more prevalent.  The term ‘Brain Fog’ is characterized by a persons confusion, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus and mental clarity.  When my brain fog is really bad somedays, I imagine there is a little dark rain cloud hovering over my head like you may have seen in cartoons where the character is really sad.  Only my little cloud is blocking any genuine clear thought patterns.

I have found that physical activity helps move that little cloud! Exercising in some way, even for 30 minutes can make a world of difference.  Maybe a 30 minute walk in nature or cranking the radio and dancing in your living room.  Maybe hopping on a yoga mat and stretching out your body.  Really anything to get yourself moving can also get that little rain cloud opening up so the sun can shine in!  There are also vitamins you can take that possibly your body is lacking that is causing it.  For that, I recommend you see a Naturopathic doctor and work with them to discover what is right for you!

If you experience brain fog, know that you are not alone. I completely understand and there is support out there for you.   If you experience sleep procrastination, know that  you and I are the most BRILLIANT people at 3 AM and it is just too much for the world to handle, so go back to sleep.  We will be awesome just for being awesome and we will allow others to win the Nobel prizes.