Despite the fact that it's Spring Break (yay!) I have been pretty stressed out. Yesterday, I had a follow up appointment for my scoliosis.
I've had scoliosis since I was in high school, but didn't really pay it any attention until a few years ago when I noticed two things - 1. I was having more and more back pain and 2. I was getting shorter.
Funny as it sounds, getting shorter is what prompted me to finally go to the dr. That and the fact that I went in for a chest xray for pneumonia and the presiding doctor almost fell over when he saw my curve.
Suffice it to say, the curve has gotten much much worse. It actually makes my head spin to look at it and think that my spine is making letters of the alphabet. Well, yesterday I got the news that I had been dreading since I was first diagnosed - I was most likely going to need surgery.
I wasn't surprised, but I was bummed. The thought of having a rod strapped to my back is not appealing. This gave me a lot to think about.
Before this groundbreaking news, I was thinking about my eating style. For several months (maybe 7-8 total) I was eating a wheat and dairy free diet. I had had two different allergy tests, one saying I was allergic to wheat and dairy, one saying I wasn't. After a while, I swallowed my pride and tried eating leaving out the best two ingredients in the history of food.
It turns out, I felt significantly better. The last 2-3 months though, I have gotten completely away from this eating plan and I am really starting to notice the differences.
So, last night I decided to go back to eating without wheat and dairy. No more comfort eating. No more quick and easy eating. Now, I know that there are thousands of recipes out there for my types of allergies, but here's the catch - I don't have time.
I don't have the time to bake bread from scratch. I don't have time to create a crazy healthy meal made from exotic ingreadients. I commute one hour each way with my two ADHD kids. I have homework to do (which is a completely different experience with ADHD kiddos), baths to give and sleep to sneak in. I DON'T HAVE THE TIME to create this food.
So, I have made a decision to find easy ways to eat wheat and dairy free.
With the addition of the news about the back surgery, I also comtemplated how I could make it go easier. I decided (see what I mean, lots of decisions going on) that I will wait a year to do the surgery (provided the doctor says it's ok) and take the year to get in better physical condition.
In a previous life, I used to be in decent shape. With the recent health issues I have had, paired with kids and just life, the only shape I have right now is round. To combat this, I plan to do a year long fitness program to help me and my body get ready for surgery.
I'll update the plan here soon!