It's hard to believe that I have come to this point in my life, where my focus will shift from taking care of the elderly, to taking care of myself. I guess it's possible that I will be called upon to fill in some shifts as-needed, when a one (or more! of the caregiver(s) get sick, or take a vacation) but from here on out, there will be no regularly scheduled shifts filling up my HUGE, desktop style calendar, hanging on the kitchen wall. My mind is saying, "This can't be happening!" But, my body is saying, It's about time, girl!
This morning, as I readied myself for my "last" 8 hour caregiving shift, I felt a headache coming on. Then, the "anxiety tingle" started to spread throughout my chest. This is my favorite client, she (and her primary caregiver, her husband (i.e., the best caregiver/kindest and most generous man I've ever met!) have become like family to me. If I'm not needed as a fill-in, I will stop by for visits, because I've come to love them both so very much.
In the meantime, I'm doing my best to eat healthier, using food as my medicine. I'm trying new recipes, eating more wild-caught tuna and salmon, increasing my fruit and greens intake considerably with green smoothies. I look at the big pile of kale and spinach in my blender, and think about how much easier it is to consume those greens in a smoothie. I'm cutting down on hours worth of chewing (but still rinsing and flossing all those green bits and pieces from my teeth.) That's the worst thing about eating greens…not letting everyone in on my "secret" with the "bits, 'o green stuck to me teeth." At least I'm flossing more regularly. That's a healthy habit, too!
Yesterday, I told you about the concert we were going to attend, featuring Park Stickney. Let me tell you, that was sincerely AWESOME! My husband did agree to arriving at the venue very early, but it ended up being overkill (at least I had PLENTY of time to go to the bathroom before the concert started! 🤣
After that, we snuck into the balcony, for a sneak-peak view of the concert hall, and then just said," What the heck, let's just see if we can get into the hall. The doors weren't locked. At first we sat way in the back, but Park noticed us, and personally welcomed us to his concert. I told him that I was sure a million people would show up, so I made my husband get us there early. He laughed. Then we asked if he would mind if we moved up to the front row, while he continued to work on tuning his harp. He said, "Come on down!" So we did. When he was finished tuning, and going off-stage for a while, he told us, "If anyone asks why you're in here before the doors officially opened, just tell them you're my aunt and uncle. "Where are we from?" My husband asked. "Arizona," said Park. My husband has been to Arizona MANY times, because one his aunt and uncles moved there many years ago, and his dad invested in property there. I've visited Arizona three times, so we told Park that we could "fly with" that ruse! I actually tried it on a UC student, but then started feeling bad, when she asked if we flew in from Arizona that day. I thought it best to burst her bubble and tell her the truth! But I blamed the whole thing on Park, for whom we had the swiftly passing gift of being related to. And, he made us so proud.
Anyway, back to being practically retired, and working diligently towards healing. There are always obstacles on the path to healing, and most of them have to do with money. Naturopathic doctors and/ or chiropractic doctors are not cheap, especially when they start piling on the supplements. I have a few friends who have collected their own pharmacy of supplements, sometimes so many suggested at once that you would never know which ones were helping (if, indeed, any of them were bringing about noticeable improvement). I know that many of those supplements end up collecting dust in some hidden corner of the house. If you can afford them, it's great to be able to give them a try, but I'm not in a position to purchase supplements that have no testing to back them up, I will only try items with reliable results, and those are going to be expensive, too, but if I can read studies that verify good results, and/or my daughter has experienced healing from them, I'll buy them.
That issue is another reason I really like the "food as medicine" plan. We've all got to buy food, and while I might have to spend a bit more for organic options, the extra outlay is minimal in that regard. And just a few weeks into my healing plan, I am definitely noticing improvements. And, when I get to a point where the brain fog has lifted considerably, then I will KNOW, without a doubt, that I am moving in the right direction (and I can hardly wait until I see signs of that!) In the meantime, please forgive me for forgetting your name, or your birthday, or missing the lunch plan we made months ago, and join me in praying for my healing. I really appreciate the prayer. That is a tried and true "supplement, for whatever ails us!
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