Naturally Curvy

Glandular fever, or mononucleosis as it is known in the States, is an infection by the Epstein Barr virus which is a herpes family virus. And, like other herpes viruses, it stays in the body even after you have ‘defeated’ it.

Glandular fever becomes dangerous when it causes swelling of the liver and/or the spleen. However, most people get ‘really bad cold’ symptoms for one to four weeks and then it goes away. For the majority of the population, the first time is the only time they will ever have to deal with it.

But I wouldn’t be making this post if I was in the majority of the population, now would I?

About 6% of people get glandular fever more than once. A relapse or recurring glandular fever means that the immune system is less than ideal and needs to be strengthened in to keep the glandular fever symptoms at bay.

The thing that pushes me into glandular fever zone is stress. If I have an Achilles heel, it’s stress. I’m not good with dealing with it, letting things go and all the other coping mechanisms. I have been careful since being laid up for about two months last year and made an effort to keep my stress levels from crossing that line.

Unfortunately, I internalized a lot of stress this week and look! Crimson crescents (a sign of GF) have appeared in my throat along with the exhaustion for no reason and bloody blazing headache.

Greeaaaat. And I was just getting back to normal after being completely healed from gallbladder surgery.

The good news is that I know what to do now. I recognize the symptoms, have caught them early and am now dosing myself with plenty of rest and heaps of vitamin C. Given that I now recognize what’s going on, I have no doubt that I won’t be laid up for as long as I was and it won’t get as severe as it was last year.

It’s always something, isn’t it?

Yawning and probably flirting heavily with the thought, “Maybe I could just skip today…” Having successfully gotten yourself out of bed, now it’s time to get dressed even though the bed seems to be calling your name… You are finally outside or at the gym, and now it’s tempting to just do a short workout instead of a regular one… Time to get exercising…

It’s often quite hard in itself to get yourself exercising, let alone sticking to a routine. Because of this, an injury might be a relief to you mentally, but it can be devastating to you workout routine. Any injury sees you with the possibility of not getting back into exercising after you have healed. One of the most frustrating things I have been dealing with after my surgery is the ‘six weeks no strenuous activity’ rule that I have to obey.

The best way to keep yourself from giving in to giving up is to stay as active as you can even when you are injured. Doing that is easier said than done…

Here are a few ways you can exercise even if you have injured a part of your body:

*Do stretches. Stretching is a great form of exercise that often feels so, so good.

*Concentrate on what you can move. If you have injured your upper body, do exercises with your lower body, and vice versa.

*Try new small exercises. There are foot and hand exercises, neck exercises, ankle exercises… Start doing some investigating to see just how much you can do.

*Remember that everything counts. From tapping your toes to tightening and then loosening your muscles repeatedly, every little bit can help – even if you are keeping up the mental aspects of exercising regularly.

With Australia Day said and done, and with the husband back at work…

…I meant to consider today my new Monday for the week.

…I meant to get out of bed at 9am.

…I meant to start the day with my yoga DVD (thanks again, Jenera! I love it.)

…I meant to prepare a nice breakfast to start the day with.

Instead? I overslept for some reason, despite the fact that I went to bed early last night. My ideas for yoga and a nice brekkie flew out the door when I started ambling around the house with moderate pains and a bit of a sick stomach – signs that I overdid it yesterday.

It’s so easy – too easy – to forget that it has only been about a week and a half since I had surgery. The surface scars are healing nicely, but the incisions underneath mean I still need to take it easy. It seems even walking the normal distances I used to walk takes it out of me something fierce.

As the weight I lost after surgery is piling up, I hate to sit back and ‘take it easy’ on myself, despite knowing that’s what I have to do to heal properly. But I can’t really afford uncomfortable, sleepy mornings like this very often, either, so I guess I will do what I must.

Bleh.

Lately I have been thinking about my body, where I’ve come from on my journey to health and where I am going.

In all my thinking, I have come to hypothesize that there are two kinds of fats:

1. Idle fats
2. Work fats

Idle fats are the fats you lose by eating less. No, I’m not talking about fasting or anything like that. I’m talking if you count calories and stay in a healthier range or if you go on meal replacement like I did. These are the fats that leave you when you have less calorie consumption and little to no additional exercise or movement.

Sure, when I was on meal replacements, I did exercise. But, it wasn’t all that strenuous, nor was anything I did kept up for very long. But I still lost idle fat.

Now I have come to a new place in my journey to health. I’ve done meal replacements, lost weight and now that has stalled. Why? Well, there could be many reasons. My thought? I have now hit the work fat.

Work fat is like its name; you have to work it off. You can’t lead your usual life with the usual motions and expect for this stuff to drop off. This is the stuff that requires exercise and hard work. This is the true fat, not sugar fat, that is the essence of burning fat to be able to work and survive.

I have lost 46 pounds so far, and I’m not ashamed to admit, that was pretty much all idle fat. I just plain didn’t do a lot of exercise.

Appropriately, I’m now halfway to my goal weight, and idle fat loss isn’t enough. Now it’s time to buck up the exercise and get to it.

This is going to be a heck of an interesting 45 pounds to lose.

I’ve been looking around the internet for a while now, and it is shocking how many people are sent home without any sort of dietary guidelines for post-surgery. ‘Eat anything you want’ is often said and the patient is left to figure out – often painfully – what foods work and what foods just don’t.

I am not an expert or even a doctor. Heck, I’m not even a week out of surgery. I’m working on instinct right now and trusting my intuition to tell me what my body needs right now. Add in a dose of common sense, and I might have a few things to say to help you calm down about what you eat.

Now for some tips:

*Don’t be afraid to eat. I know how it feels. You’re scared to put anything in your mouth. You don’t have a gallbladder! What that means is different for everyone, so it’s hard not to stress. But try not to because stress interrupts healing. Take a few breaths – deep ones if you can – and relax.

*Start slowly. It’s entirely possible that you’re going to have little to no appetite for a while. But that doesn’t mean stop eating. Your body still needs a lot of energy for healing. Try to eat a little something – even as small as a bit of bread – every few hours. Not only will you get used to smaller meals more often, this will help you avoid possible nausea.

*Avoid what caused attacks before. You know what put you into an attack, and it could be completely different than the next person. Putting/keeping those foods firmly on your don’t list is a good start to your new diet.

*Try a liquid or mostly liquid diet for a while. Take it easy on your digestive system by taking in liquids like fruit and veggies juices, soups and broths, etc. Every now and then I have a meal replacement shake just to make sure I’m getting good nutrition while my diet is more limited than it usually is.

*Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. As you read on my rant, there are people who have double cheesebugers less than a day after surgery and pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese just days after without any problems. Congratulations to them (I guess), but I don’t plan on abusing my confused and still healing body like that.

*Avoid (bad and high) fats, red meats, dairy and spicy things. Okay, so you’ve probably heard that one a million times before, but it bears repeating. Anything that would usually make your digestion work hard is going to be even more of a tough one now that you don’t have bile storage. Does this mean never? Not necessarily, but it would be a very good idea to give your digestive system at least a month of tame foods before going for the jalapenos.

*Test things slowly and one at a time. If you’re going to experiment, try little bits one at a time. Don’t have a steak with spicy barbecue sauce followed by yogurt for dessert. Not only are you likely to mess yourself up, you won’t know if it was the dairy or the barbecue sauce that really did you in.

And, just because I want to, here are some general tips I’ve learned from reading, talking to people and experience:

*Take it easy. You may feel like a million dollars a few weeks after surgery, but there is no heavy lifting or strenous activity for four to six weeks after for a reason. You will feel better before your body is done healing. Do it a favor and don’t stress it out before it is done.

*Listen to your body. Since having the procedure done, I am very thirsty nearly all the time. I don’t know why, but I’m not questioning it – I am drinking the water. Obviously my body needs it.

*Ask questions at check-ups. I was against surgery at first and asked the surgeons (and nurses, and people who have had the procedure, etc) every question I could think of until I was satisfied and calm. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel silly for asking questions. It’s your right.

The key thing to remember is that while you are healing and recovering, so is your body. Your digestive system has to start learning straightaway how things are going to work without your gallbladder.