Hey Everybody... I'm Diet Queer*...

Hey Everybody... I'm Diet Queer*...

Dude. Can we talk about how much all of us are in each other's business about what we EAT?!

Then... add to that a cancer diagnosis and people REALLY want to know what you eat, what you don't eat, and why you do or don't eat something in particular. Whew! It's a lot.

At a recent party someone asked me, "Oh, are you vegan?" I said no.
Someone else said, "Are you gluten-free?" Again, I said no.
Then a third person wanted me to explain my diet.
I flippantly answered, "Actually, I'm Diet Queer.* I don't fit into any category."

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We're back!

I feel a bit like a broken record, but thank you for all of the prayers and many ways of support you all continue to give to Josh and me. (And no, it’s not “Josh and I,” in case you were wondering… I graduated with an English degree… which does come in handy, Dad! See?!) 

Here are answers to the Top Ten Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) we’ve gotten since we returned:

1. Are you happy to be home?

Yes… and no. Of course we love seeing our family and friends, but reverse culture shock and other things have made it difficult...

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Praises!

Praises!

So for months I've been asking for prayers... this is the non-exhaustive list of answered prayers that Josh and I have come up with...

  1. My immune system has responded extremely well to the Fever Therapies here... my white blood cell count is over 26,000!
  2. I've gained 7 wonderful pounds... and let me tell you, this takes A LOT of chewing... chomp, chomp, chomp of the vegetables!
  3. ...
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A Day in the Life...

A Day in the Life...

A typical day here looks like me going down to the basement to get Kneipp Therapy... very warm water on my legs, then very cold water on my legs... it's supposed to stimulate and support the immune system. Then we have breakfast and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I go to the Infusion Room for an IV (detoxification or liver support or vitamins) and on Mondays and Fridays I also get Ozone Therapy (they take 100ml of blood, add ozone, and then give it back to me). On Tuesday mornings I've been getting the Fever Therapy IV and on Thursday mornings (and the rest of the afternoons) I have relaxing treatments in the basement such as Biofeedback, Brain Light, AHT (Auto Hormone Therapy), Lymphatic Massage, Magnet Therapy, Liver & Spleen Electrotherapy, and Reflexology... 

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Food in Germany

Food in Germany

So far all of the food we have eaten here has been at the Hufeland Klinik... and oh... my... goodness is it good! Imagine having the best quality food prepared excellently for you and then served beautifully... then times that by 10 :)  Seriously, as someone who has avoided dairy (milk products like cheese, butter, cream, etc) for years, it’s refreshing to see how easily they can accommodate my dietary restrictions...

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We're in Germany!

We're in Germany!

Our favorite thing so far is being able to amble across the road from the Klinik into a park that has every fabulous thing that we have ever seen at a park before, all in one big tree-filled park: river complete with paddle boat rentals (check), life size chess boards complete with old men serious about the game (check), fountains and water show choreographed to music (check), music stage (check), apple and pear trees (check), beautiful rose garden (check), exercise circuit with some strange thing that makes you "moon walk" (check), built in playground musical instruments (check) and our favorite a simple walking labyrinth (check). And just past the park you walk through an old castle gate into a fantastic little town with cobble stone streets, old churches, and lots of boutiques and cafes...

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Thank You!

I realize that it has been 4 weeks since the last journal entry here and I'm sorry about that. The news we received post-surgery was harder than expected and not knowing what our next step in this journey was going to be, made it difficult to write a journal entry. Thank you, thank you, thank you for each and every prayer along the way. I have needed all of them... 

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Surgery Blessingway Prayer Circle

Surgery Blessingway Prayer Circle

My friend Jenah reminded me about the "circles"... have you read this? I've purposely let this news out slowly because I don't want people to barge into my life telling me negative stories or contradictory advice and the like... I really like these 2 articles about the circles or rings of people surrounding me: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/07/opinion/la-oe-0407-silk-ring-theory-20130407 and http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2015/06/02/our-family-cancer-manifesto

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Hello beautiful friends...

I have some news to share... in January 2015 I felt a new lump in my right breast... no biggee because I have lumps all the time... it was still there in April 2015 so I saw my doctor... on May 1, 2015 I had an ultrasound and they wanted to biopsy the lump and a lymph node... on May 28, 2015 I had the biopsy... on June 1, 2015 I was told that it was cancer and the lymph node was clear. So crazy. So weird. So doesn't-make-any-sense... I know...

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