I have been through a great deal in my life; relationship failures, choosing the wrong men and even a strained relationship with my mom but my health? That's a different story. I fought pass two brain tumors, but nothing prepared me for the aftermath, and I do mean nothing.
See, things after my radiation went well, or at least they seemed to be going well. I didn't have nearly as many problems as I did when I had my brain surgery and that was a good sign. Life seemed better but something was in the works for me, and I had no clue what was about to hit me. During my time of battling with my health, I had some changes occur and they were hard to accept and deal with. When I had my brain surgery, I developed food sensitivities that would trigger chronic migraines and after radiation, the food sensitivities got worse causing a lot inflammation within my body. It took a while to realize what was happening, but my cousin and a good friend of mines were the ones to actually help me figure things out. The first time I became sick, chronic migraines became a tenant of mines that refused to leave and the second time, the migraines came with a friend-inflammation. The migraines would get so severe, I would literally be in bed for days at a time not even wanting the lights to be turned on.
My team of doctors thought it would be a good idea to prescribe me oxy in which took care of the pain just like that, but the treatment backfired when I became addicted without even knowing it. It wasn't until I ran out of my medication, that my primary doctor at the time seen how bad my addiction was. I was in 80-degree weather, and I went to see him in a trench coat with a straw hat on because I was having chills, which is a side effect of having a withdraw. I only experienced having one because it took so long for me to see him because of how backed up they were so getting an appointment was almost impossible to have. I could have died when he took me off cold turkey. I was angry but how else was he going to fix my situation? Oxy was the only things that really took the pain away. As time went on and using different supplements, my migraines went from being constant to being triggered and the question then was why?
The main thing I kept thinking was... I have children I want to live for and if something were to happen to me who would care for them?
The triggering of my migraines became worse, and my cousin was on me nonstop about what I was eating. I first thought it was silly but a dear friend of mines who is a nutritionist asked me the same thing and that's when I became concerned. I started a food diary like they both suggested and kept track of everything I was eating. As time went on, I eventually had to go to the doctor because of uncontrollable swelling in my feet. The swelling in my feet and legs were so bad, I had to use my cane just to help me walk. My new doctor at the time, did some testing, and my results showed a lot of inflammation throughout my body, and she couldn't tell me where it was coming from but as time went on the truth would be revealed.
I began to notice I ate a lot of meat, especially chicken and I also noticed how bad I felt after I ate it too. I was very in denial about this discovery because I love meat! What saddened me the most was... it wasn't just chicken; it was beef, turkey and pork and I barely ate pork. The only thing that did not seem to bother me was fish so that's what I ate. Another thing I notices is my migraines weren't occurring when I ate just meat, they were happening with things like peanuts, pineapples and foods that contained to much sugar. When it came to my health, I had to make a decision about how serious I was going to be about it. The main thing I kept thinking was... I have children I want to live for and if something were to happen to me who would care for them? Amilyah would have her dad but what about my love bug? I even tried to space out how much I ate meat but every time I had even just a little, it would send my body into a spiral. I couldn't believe it, I really had to change my diet and my new diet consisted mainly of fruits and vegetables. Making the conscious decision to really stick with this change of diet is was saved my life that and the will of God because there's no telling what jam I could have gotten myself in had I refused to listen to my body and the people around that has my best interest. It's been months and I must say... I haven't walked with my cane not once and I don't plan to. I am a mother that loves her children and I want to be around for them and in good health. Although I must confess, changing the way I eat has affected my weight and that's something I can't afford to lose but I do feel better. Life is different when you go from eating whatever you want to monitoring what you take in but it's worth the sacrifice. I have two children depending on me for their every need and it's not easy especially as a single parent. Despite what I go through and what comes my way, I live for them, and I will continue to as long God gives me air to breathe and grace to make it through.
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