Friday, September 14, 2007

New blog about the MP

Amy Proal, a scientist and MP patient, has a new blog, Bacteriality. So far, blog includes interviews with scientists involved in researching L-form bacteria and explanations of Th1 diseases and of the Marshall Protocol.

I highly recommend this blog to anyone looking for info about the Marshall Protocol who has found the study site confusing. Amy has a gift for lucidly explaining the science to the uninitiated (and the initiated too). Talking to Amy was the scale-tipping event that made me decide I must pursue the Marshall Protocol.

I haven't even read the entire blog yet. There's a lot there. But I'm going to read a little every day until I catch up. Way to go, Amy!!

Happy Friday

We were grateful this morning to have no more cleanup from Humberto than picking up some tree limbs. Some of them were rather large, but the only damage was an old terra cotta flowerpot on the deck that was shattered.

Things got a little more interesting when the power went out at 1pm. We were not reassured by the recording at Entergy that said that power should be restored for most people by tomorrow. (According to the Enterprise website, by 1pm they had restored about 60%.) Fortunately our power came back on about an hour later. So many things to be grateful for!

I am still feeling pretty good after my cleanse, and managing to eat right, which allows me to avoid low blood sugar, weight gain, and alimentary distress (as Amelia Peabody would say).

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Humberto via satellite

And here is an animated gif of the satellite/radar image of Humberto moving over the area this morning:



Well, if you want to see the animation, you'll have to go here.

What? We had a hurricane?

When I went to bed last night, there was a tropical storm out there in the Gulf about to move ashore somewhere nearby. But I didn't even know that-- last I'd heard, it was only a tropical depression. It wasn't even raining hard in Beaumont yesterday, just sprinkling, barely enough to clean my windshield of lovebugs. In fact, I think, as I drove through the swamp yesterday (aka 105 through Bevil Oaks), that the lovebugs were winning over the raindrops.

Anyhow, when the phone rang for the fourth time this morning from enquiries to see if we had survived the storm, my cat moaned and covered his eyes with his paw, but I gave up and got out of bed. I was trying to sleep in from being out late (for me) last night at choir practice after a completely exhausting day--make that week so far--but it was not to be. Not that I expect any sympathy from those who have to go out into the world every day, but--well, I can't think of a positive way to state it, so I won't.

The short version: for us out in Pinewood, the storm hardly registered. We got the outer bands sometime between 3 and 4am and all we lost were dead tree limbs from Rita that hadn't come down yet (and needed to). We only got 2.2 inches of rain and the drainage ditch isn't even half full. That is a great relief to those who live in the lower parts of Pinewood and Bevil Oaks.

It was a very compact storm, with high winds only covering about a 15-mile radius. It came in very close to where Rita went ashore, and passed right over Beaumont and areas south and northeast of Beaumont before moving into Louisiana. There has been some flooding in Beaumont, Nederland, and Vidor. Local news story here and image gallery here. About 100,000 people lost power.

MC day 11

I decided to end my fast today. I remembered another event (the Symphony) this weekend and I want to be able to enjoy going out to eat before the concert, plus my three other events next week. So my third Master Cleanse was only ten days, but that's nothing to sneeze at. I do feel better, and am very glad I did it.

However, feeling better often leads to me doing too much--you'd think I'd have learned by now--and so I am very, very tired. I hope two days will be enough to rest before the merry-go-round starts next week, not that I've been resting this morning.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

MC day 10

Day 10 on the Master Cleanse, and trying to decide how far I want to go.

There are no fewer than three food-related events I'd like to attend next week, and I can only decline two of them. The one I can't avoid is a family birthday party on Sunday. It is tempting just to stop with a traditional 10-day cleanse, but another part of me feels that if I've taken this much trouble already, I ought to go forward in order to reap further benefits.

Maybe I'll flip a coin.

I'm a bit tired and grumpy today. I had several unexpected physical chores yesterday after two other big days, and everyone else in the house was tired and doing chores too. Today I have choir practice and had planned to do some errands and go to Curves. We'll see how much of it I get done.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

MC day 9

For the first time on a cleanse, I've started feeling an energy boost. Well, sort of. Usually I feel good after the cleanse, but a lot of people report having lots of energy during the cleanse, as soon as the first few days are finished. I've never had any energy during the cleanse, though I do feel better. Yesterday afternoon, I went to town to run several errands. When I was done, I was in the vicinity of Curves, so I went in for a short workout.

This is significant for several reasons. One, I haven't been to Curves at all since about April. It's just been a rough summer. It's been so rough that I haven't left the house much at all and when I do go to town to run errands, I have to rest for days afterwards. So the fact that I both wanted to go to Curves and was able to go after a few hours of running errands is unheard of.

Also, my caffeine addiction is gone. I went without coffee and had tea instead this past weekend. It was hard the first day, because I really craved it--I hadn't realized how much I crave it--but the amazing thing is that the third day, the craving completely went away and I didn't even bother to have any tea. And I didn't have a headache! Nary a twinge! Usually if I miss my morning caffeine dose, I have a severe headache by 3pm. And on my first cleanse, when I quit coffee cold turkey, I had headaches.

Maybe getting decaffeinated and the energy boost are connected. Perhaps I'll try staying off coffee, at least for a while, after this cleanse is over. Then again, perhaps not.

In other departments, my joint pain is gone, my skin has cleared up, old scars are fading, and my edema is mostly gone. I'm starting to look forward to preparing and eating the right kinds of foods after the cleanse.

Monday, September 10, 2007

MC day 8

Here I am on the 8th day of my detox cleanse. A "normal" MC is ten days. Last time I went 19 (plus four days to get back onto solid food). This time I plan to just listen to what my body says and go on as long as I'm feeling good about it.

One thing I've done differently this time around is that I've had fewer servings of lemonade, and I've been making it less sweet. Lately I've been having to force myself to drink the recommended number each day. I am drinking lots of water. I have not had a low blood sugar episode yet on this cleanse.

Had a big day yesterday. After singing at church in the morning (including a small solo), my church choir sang for a special mass yesterday afternoon at the Cathedral-Basilica for couples celebrating their 25th wedding anniversaries this year. We did the same music as we'd sung in the morning, and it went really well. That church is such a joy to sing in! It was a nice anticipation for us of our concert next month.

Afterwards, most of the group went to Rio Rita's for dinner. Normally I would have been all over that like a duck on a junebug, but I really didn't think I needed to watch my friends drinking and eating Mexican food while I drank water.

Friday, September 7, 2007

MC day 5

Today is a good day MC-wise, but I am grumpy. It is probably a detox sypmtom, but I am wallowing in it. I know I'll feel better this evening.

I have not had enough energy to go to town to do errands. My low-grade fever is back.

I spent some time this morning catching up over at the MP study site forum. My brain is on information overload, but I was a bit disappointed to see that there really isn't any new news since I last logged in a month or two ago. In fact, they haven't posted anything new in the News forum since November. Last time I requested a news update (they have an important orphan drug application at the FDA, as well as other ongoing FDA-related activities) I got my nose bitten off. In fact, it seems like every time I've posted there, whether a question or even a joke, I've gotten my nose bitten off. Having pretty thick skin, I haven't lost any sleep over it, but it hasn't exactly encouraged me to hang around and offer moral support to other patients. Oh, well, I'll go back when I get started myself on the MP.

I was supposed to get new patient forms in the mail this week from a doctor that I hope will try the MP with me, but guess what, it didn't get here. One of my planned errands is to go by his office and fill out the paperwork so that I can get an appointment scheduled. But I'm too tired to do errands. It's frustrating.

But maybe that's just because I'm grumpy today. C'est la vie.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

concert date

Oops, I put the wrong date in the previous post for the concert. It is October 7th, not October 6th. It was originally October 6th but it got changed, for which I am thankful because I would not have been able to go on the 6th; my cousin is getting married that evening. So make it

7 October 2007
6:30p.m.
St. Anthony Cathedral-Basilica
Beaumont, Texas

St. Jude Thaddeus Chorale

We will present an all-Latin program, and I have two solos. More later.

MC Day 4

Today has been a good day, MC-wise. I have pretty much forgotten about food, forgotten I'm fasting, even. Making progress.

Otherwise, it's been a tough day. I have been doing some chores, but ordinarily I would hardly be able to do them at all, so it counts as a good thing.

Choir practice went well last night. Put October 7th (6:30p.m.) on your calendar for our concert at St. Anthony Cathedral-Basilica! I am singing some solos and the choir is sounding terrific!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

MC day 3

Today is Day 3 of my detox fast. It's called the Master Cleanse, and there is more info here. A few answers to FAQs I've had in the past about the MC:

The keys are fresh lemon and/or lime juice, Grade B (i.e., dark) maple syrup, good cayenne pepper (I get it in bulk), good sea salt, and good senna tea. I buy everything but the fruit organic at my local health food store, Basic Foods. In previous cleanses I've used organic fruit too and spring water, but I'm going with cheap fruit and Brita water this time.

I do a few things slightly differently from the purists: I allow myself coffee (gasp!) for the first few days, and plenty of herbal tea whenever I want it (instead of restricting to once a day), and I don't start on the "lemonade" until late afternoon. I have found that with my hypoglycemia and my anti-breakfast gene I don't want anything until lunch at the earliest. So I don't drink any lemonade in the morning.

No, I didn't buy the book advertised on the site; I bought the original book, which is still in print (and available at Basic Foods). I think however that Glickman's site is the best one about the Master Cleanse on the net, and I love the forum there. It was a significant part of my success in my first two cleanses.

I highly recommend the cleanse as an inexpensive and very effective alternative to a lot of detox products out there. But it ain't for sissies!

Anyway, Day 3 has been a pretty good day. I've had fair mental focus and haven't been hungry at all. I am still running the low-grade fever I've had off and on for weeks, and some sinus drainage, but that's pretty normal for me. I'm having a bit more edema than I like but that will go away eventually.

Tonight I have choir practice, and before that some errands to run. Gotta get moving!

Banana guards

I swiped this link from Susan:

http://www.bananaguard.com/

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Long time no post

It's been a while, so hello to all my blogger friends, and sorry for neglecting you. I hope y'all're all (as we say around here) well.

I have not been very well. I have not yet found a Marshall Protocol doctor, which is mostly my own fault for not trying harder. In answer to a question from an anonymous reader: no, I haven't implemented any pre-MP changes. They do not really recommend it on the website, the reasoning being that before you start doing things like reducing your Vitamin D levels (both diet and sunlight), you should have the "Benicar blockade" in place, because its entire purpose is to protect you from the effects of activating your immune system.

I have, however, made several lists and plans for what to do as soon as I have the written prescriptions in my hot little hand. Order the special sunglasses, buy blockout curtain liners and hardware, make curtains, buy gloves and hats.

Right now I am doing the only thing that's made me feel better in the past two years since my last relapse: a detox fast called the Master Cleanse. I'll spare you the gory details (which are not pretty) and just say that yes, by "fasting" I mean no solid food and no, it's not unhealthy or crazy. A standard Master Cleanse is ten days and I am currently on Day 2. I may go shorter or longer than ten days, but I will definitely do at least 5. Last time I did about 21 days if I recall correctly.

Answer to Anonymous's second question: I have law school certificates for international law and intellectual property law, but I don't hold any board certifications. These days I am a generalist, but I'm not really practicing right now except for helping friends and family. For example, I recently did a will, now I'm doing a trust, and I've written leases and provided advice regarding landlord and tenant law as well as divorce law. I make no pretensions that my advice was worth much more than my various relatives paid for it, but I have taken CLE courses in estate planning and "family" law.