Two weeks down.
If you missed the background information, go here and then here.
It's time for the weekly update.
Here's the summary -- eating whole foods and whole foods only is hard. Stinkin' hard.
It takes a ton of time to plan and prepare meals and to pack lunches for school. Social eating is almost nonexistent. Eating out, extended family dinners, reunions, church potlucks, and funeral dinners have all been a struggle. I have been intentionally avoiding situations where I have to say..."I'm doing this action research project on myself...".
In case you were wondering, the honeymoon "excitement from starting something new" has worn off.
That is the bad news.
The good news is that this strategy is working (either that or I want it to work so badly that I have convinced myself that it is working!). My pain and discomfort are decreasing and my energy level is increasing. Again, this is hard to measure, but I honestly feel that great gains have been made this week. Enough gain, in fact, that I am going to continue on and collect data for at least one more week even though I could technically stop at this point.
Which makes me either:
1) Very committed to this little project.
...or....
2) Borderline crazy.
I'll let you know next week.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
The Value of Time
A couple weekends ago we went on our maiden voyage with our new (to us) camper.
I debated about this purchase for quite some time...the money....the time....the upkeep....not to mention, is it the "right" thing to do? There are so many good causes and ministries we could give that money to. We need to be more diligent about saving for college. Is this the right way to use our money? It was a tough decision.
But honestly, so far -- and by 'so far' I mean a grand total of 48 hours of camping -- it has been so worth it.
The boys LOVED it.
The weather was beautiful.
We had our own space.
We spent time together.
There is that key word.
Time.
It seems like such a minor thing. However, in our world of jobs, grad school, church, school for the kids, homework, chores, Fire and EMS training, and the general busyness of life, time is a precious commodity.
The lake is a perfect place for our family. No Internet, no email, no meetings, and no fire/EMS calls. No interruptions.
Just time together....playing, laughing, talking, spending time with grandparents, enjoying God's gorgeous creation, making memories.
So far, so good.
Two happy boys after helping with set up.
Time at the campground park...
...and on the boat with grandpa and grandma.
The fish were even biting (sort of...).
It takes a special talent to get the poles all tangled up when reeling in the fish.
The little guy loves catching fish.
His brother hides behind the "gross fish blocker" in case a fish decides to get feisty and flop around. Heaven forbid a fish comes close to him.
I have no idea where he gets this foolish trait from, but just so you know, I would have been right there with him if I hadn't been taking the picture.
And when fishing gets boring...UNO.
Thank goodness the blue-green algae ban has been lifted.
It may have been a bit cool for jet-skiing, but they weren't going to let that stop them. I honestly have never in my entire life seen anyone jet-ski with sweatshirts on. This takes tacky to a whole new level.
As we were packing up to head home, I noticed the boys sitting together playing so nicely for a really long time. I was so impressed that I ran to grab my camera to capture the moment.
And...then I realized what they were doing.
Eh, what harm is there in a little sibling-roping?
No tears.
No hitting.
No blood.
No fighting.
It's all good. I'm going to call it quality time.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Action Research - Week One Data
If you have no idea what this post is about, and wonder why I am rambling aimlessly about a research project....click here.
It is time for the week one update.
I know you have all been on pins and needles just waiting for my data collection information.
Week one has been filled with mixed emotions. Eating a whole foods diet has been hard - but not as hard as I thought it would be. There is always an element of excitement about starting something "new", which is what I think has carried me through this week.
For the first 5 days, I noticed no change whatsoever in my energy level or pain level. However, at the very end of the week I all of the sudden realized I was feeling better.
My energy level seems to be increasing. I keep trying to evaluate why this is -- is it really from a fairly drastic change in diet? Or am I getting more sleep? Am I less stressed in other areas of life? It is difficult to know, but the bottom line is that my energy level is better.
I am working hard to keep all other factors - sleep, exercise, daily routine, etc. - unchanged in order to have the most accurate results.
Enough for now.
Hoping for even better results next week.
And for the will power to stay away from junk food.
It is time for the week one update.
I know you have all been on pins and needles just waiting for my data collection information.
Week one has been filled with mixed emotions. Eating a whole foods diet has been hard - but not as hard as I thought it would be. There is always an element of excitement about starting something "new", which is what I think has carried me through this week.
For the first 5 days, I noticed no change whatsoever in my energy level or pain level. However, at the very end of the week I all of the sudden realized I was feeling better.
My energy level seems to be increasing. I keep trying to evaluate why this is -- is it really from a fairly drastic change in diet? Or am I getting more sleep? Am I less stressed in other areas of life? It is difficult to know, but the bottom line is that my energy level is better.
I am working hard to keep all other factors - sleep, exercise, daily routine, etc. - unchanged in order to have the most accurate results.
Enough for now.
Hoping for even better results next week.
And for the will power to stay away from junk food.
Friday, September 14, 2012
When God Speaks Through Facebook
It's been awhile since I have been online. However, this past week I realized that multiple family members check in via this blog and have wondered where we have gone.
And since there is nothing more frustrating than a blog that is never updated {cough, cough....}, I decided I better pull things together and get going again.
So I went through some pictures and devised in my mind some ideas for a few clever little posts about...
....our weekend at the lake.
....or how crazy my day was.
....or the fact that if I step on ONE.MORE.LEGO this week, I may just throw them all away.
But before I ventured over to Blogger, I checked in on Facebook first.
A friend's status said this:
September 11th gained a new meaning for me today. It still represents courage and strength. It represents pride and a bond between people that love each other that is amazing. And today it represents heart wrenching loss. Today my sister lost her courageous fight with cancer. Never have I been more proud of someone. I have a hole that will never be filled. Today I lost my best friend and I will never be the same. I love you so much {sister's name}!! I cry for you tonight!
For just a moment, time stood still. My heart broke in a million pieces for my friend. I knew that her sister was battling cancer and that things hadn't been good as of late, but I had no idea that she was so close to the end.
Suddenly my weekend at the lake, my to-do lists, and the infuriating legos didn't matter so much.
I continued scrolling down through facebook and soon saw this status posted by another friend:
We live in a crazy world where it feels like things just don't always make sense. We see loss and disappointment all around us and sometimes we wonder why didn't God answer this prayer or that prayer or why is this person suffering.
As a man of faith, I trust that God's plan is perfect and timed perfectly. As a man, I know that sometimes God's timing and my timing don't line up and I can find...
As a man of faith, I trust that God's plan is perfect and timed perfectly. As a man, I know that sometimes God's timing and my timing don't line up and I can find...
myself feeling lost or discouraged. I think at some point, as a faithful person you have to put your faith in God, His Plan and His timing. There is peace in that surrender to Him.
In my spiritual journey over the last few years I have changed the way I pray. I firmly believe God can and does work miracles (PRAISE THE LORD!!) for us. But I also know that His plan doesn't always include that miracle we prayed for or we know our fellow Brothers and Sisters are praying for.
When I pray, I ask God for these 3 things:
1. The miracle or outcome I hope for.
2. That God's plan overrides my own and others wishes, as His plan is always the best
3. That God provides peace for myself and others who need to live with item number two. With that peace will hopefully also come some wisdom.
Getting to 3 is much easier if you can find it in you to surrender to Him and be His child. Let God be God and you be his child. Seek comfort in His plan. Seek wisdom in His timing.
I don't know who this if for, but God put this on my heart today. May this reach you in the way He needs and provide comfort for your Spirit.
In my spiritual journey over the last few years I have changed the way I pray. I firmly believe God can and does work miracles (PRAISE THE LORD!!) for us. But I also know that His plan doesn't always include that miracle we prayed for or we know our fellow Brothers and Sisters are praying for.
When I pray, I ask God for these 3 things:
1. The miracle or outcome I hope for.
2. That God's plan overrides my own and others wishes, as His plan is always the best
3. That God provides peace for myself and others who need to live with item number two. With that peace will hopefully also come some wisdom.
Getting to 3 is much easier if you can find it in you to surrender to Him and be His child. Let God be God and you be his child. Seek comfort in His plan. Seek wisdom in His timing.
I don't know who this if for, but God put this on my heart today. May this reach you in the way He needs and provide comfort for your Spirit.
By this point, I am seriously fighting back the tears. Not very successfully, I might add.
These two friends are high school classmates of mine. I have no idea if the second wrote his post specificially for the first. I do know that it made me think. A lot.
When is the last time I really stopped to think, really THINK, about how God answers prayer? When is the last time that I prayed intently that God's plan overrides my own? Sure, I have said those words lately, even when praying, but have I really, REALLY meant them?
Because, honestly, while I know in my heart of hearts that God's plan is exactly what I want, I can get pretty caught up in my own well-laid plans.
Here's the thing. I am immersed in Christian education. We have daily conversations about God's will for our lives. I am constantly focused on the students' goals and dreams, academic performance, and spiritual growth. I KNOW the right answer in my head and my heart; unfortunately, my moment-to-moment actions do not always show that I desire God's plans to squash my plans into the dirt.
While still absorbing the impact of my friends' posts, I continued to scroll through my Facebook newsfeed.
I noticed that another friend (ironically, a third classmate from high school) had posted a link to her recent blog. I read the first paragraph:
Here's the thing. I am immersed in Christian education. We have daily conversations about God's will for our lives. I am constantly focused on the students' goals and dreams, academic performance, and spiritual growth. I KNOW the right answer in my head and my heart; unfortunately, my moment-to-moment actions do not always show that I desire God's plans to squash my plans into the dirt.
While still absorbing the impact of my friends' posts, I continued to scroll through my Facebook newsfeed.
I noticed that another friend (ironically, a third classmate from high school) had posted a link to her recent blog. I read the first paragraph:
My priorities are
way out of whack. Prior to my trip {to Haiti} I really thought I had it pretty together.
I thought my priorities lined up with what scripture said and I thought my life
generally reflected that. Now I know better. I have let too much of my life be
consumed with the distractions of my culture and surroundings. I worried about
what others thought of my hair, my clothes and my home, about what they thought
about me. I woke up each morning, wrote out my to do list and got it done.
Usually at the cost of sitting down with a friend and building a relationship.
Ouch.
Let me say that again.
OUCH.
She wrote it beautifully. It was exactly what I needed to hear. In fact, all three posts were exactly what I needed to hear. All different, yet powerful. All different, yet intertwined.
I have no idea what changes this will bring about. They may only be little tweeks.
Or it may be something big.
I don't know yet.
But I do know one thing....God uses whatever means He wants to speak to people.
Even Facebook.
Ouch.
Let me say that again.
OUCH.
She wrote it beautifully. It was exactly what I needed to hear. In fact, all three posts were exactly what I needed to hear. All different, yet powerful. All different, yet intertwined.
I have no idea what changes this will bring about. They may only be little tweeks.
Or it may be something big.
I don't know yet.
But I do know one thing....God uses whatever means He wants to speak to people.
Even Facebook.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
A Little Homework Project
I never thought I would be using my blog for a homework assignment.
Never say never.
Sorry to drag you along with me, but my original plan didn't work out so well.
I'm in a great class right now called Inquiry and Research. We were assigned to do an Action Research Project on anything our little hearts desired. Since we are a group of Education-junkies, one would think that we each would have chosen to do our projects in our schools on something education related.
One would be wrong.
We have been immersed in grad school for so long, that when presented with the opportunity to do a little Action Research on our personal lives, many of us jumped at the chance.
Here is our assignment in a nutshell:
Back to my little project.
Part of the data collection piece includes qualitative data and quantitative data. Quantitative data is right up my alley. Numbers, statistics, right and wrong, black and white. That part will be easy.
Qualitative data, on the other hand, is descriptive in nature, with no happy little numbers to define the results. Qualitative data can be acquired in a variety of ways....including surveys, journals, interviews, blogs.....
Aha....a blog.
There was one I knew I could do.
I had this goal of setting up my own little project blog to track the data of my action research strategy. A week or so into the project, I got a little overwhelmed with setting up an entire blog just for that.
So, here I am, prepared to make you follow my study.
Here is a short history on what I am doing:
Back in 2009 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Liver Disease. It sounds terrible, but the vast majority of people live normal, fairly non-symptomatic lives even though they have a liver covered with cysts. They are watching me for Polycystic Kidney Disease as well, which is much worse, but so far things are holding steady.
As cysts grow and change, the most common symptom is pain/discomfort. The cysts can also cause a person to feel full faster (some days I almost wish for this one...), have low energy level, and just overall not feel great because the organs are working harder to flush out all the junk we put in our bodies.
Anywhooo...I have been feeling a little less than stellar lately and have been experiencing some pain. Short of doing another CT scan, I don't actually know that the pain is coming from PLD. The symptoms match and the location of the discomfort matches, but beyond that, who knows.
While researching PLD I came across diet suggestions to help with these symptoms. The "research" varies on the exact things to eat, but the overall idea is the same.
Whole foods.
No shocker there.
Stay away from anything processed and packed with preservatives. No refined sugars, etc., etc.
This makes sense. My liver and kidneys already have to work a bit harder due to the cysts, and adding all of the chemical junk cannot be good for those organs.
So here we go.
Quantitatively, my pain/discomfort is off and on, but reaches around a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. I will be rating this each week.
Qualitatively, my energy level is relatively low. I have to push myself to get motivated to be active. I am sure there are a plethora of potential factors, but I am going to try not to alter much in my world except for the diet. The goal is to see if my energy level will increase over the next few weeks. I will be posting weekly to track my progress.
It will not be thrilling or exciting, but homework is homework, and you, my friend, get to embrace it with me!
The research begins now.
Never say never.
Sorry to drag you along with me, but my original plan didn't work out so well.
I'm in a great class right now called Inquiry and Research. We were assigned to do an Action Research Project on anything our little hearts desired. Since we are a group of Education-junkies, one would think that we each would have chosen to do our projects in our schools on something education related.
One would be wrong.
We have been immersed in grad school for so long, that when presented with the opportunity to do a little Action Research on our personal lives, many of us jumped at the chance.
Here is our assignment in a nutshell:
- Pick a problem.
- Determine who will be a part of the action research.
- Devise a strategy to implement.
- Determine two things the strategy will effect.
- Collect data.
- Analyze data.
- Determine action based on the data.
Back to my little project.
Part of the data collection piece includes qualitative data and quantitative data. Quantitative data is right up my alley. Numbers, statistics, right and wrong, black and white. That part will be easy.
Qualitative data, on the other hand, is descriptive in nature, with no happy little numbers to define the results. Qualitative data can be acquired in a variety of ways....including surveys, journals, interviews, blogs.....
Aha....a blog.
There was one I knew I could do.
I had this goal of setting up my own little project blog to track the data of my action research strategy. A week or so into the project, I got a little overwhelmed with setting up an entire blog just for that.
So, here I am, prepared to make you follow my study.
Here is a short history on what I am doing:
Back in 2009 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Liver Disease. It sounds terrible, but the vast majority of people live normal, fairly non-symptomatic lives even though they have a liver covered with cysts. They are watching me for Polycystic Kidney Disease as well, which is much worse, but so far things are holding steady.
As cysts grow and change, the most common symptom is pain/discomfort. The cysts can also cause a person to feel full faster (some days I almost wish for this one...), have low energy level, and just overall not feel great because the organs are working harder to flush out all the junk we put in our bodies.
Anywhooo...I have been feeling a little less than stellar lately and have been experiencing some pain. Short of doing another CT scan, I don't actually know that the pain is coming from PLD. The symptoms match and the location of the discomfort matches, but beyond that, who knows.
While researching PLD I came across diet suggestions to help with these symptoms. The "research" varies on the exact things to eat, but the overall idea is the same.
Whole foods.
No shocker there.
Stay away from anything processed and packed with preservatives. No refined sugars, etc., etc.
This makes sense. My liver and kidneys already have to work a bit harder due to the cysts, and adding all of the chemical junk cannot be good for those organs.
So here we go.
Quantitatively, my pain/discomfort is off and on, but reaches around a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. I will be rating this each week.
Qualitatively, my energy level is relatively low. I have to push myself to get motivated to be active. I am sure there are a plethora of potential factors, but I am going to try not to alter much in my world except for the diet. The goal is to see if my energy level will increase over the next few weeks. I will be posting weekly to track my progress.
It will not be thrilling or exciting, but homework is homework, and you, my friend, get to embrace it with me!
The research begins now.
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