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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Eh? Speak into my good ear please!

Finally finished all of my hearing tests, including checking the pressure in my inner ears. Good news: there is nothing mechanically wrong with my ears. What I have is neuropathic hearing loss. Oh, the interesting things lyme can do to the body.

Had another procedure done to check out why I'm having tummy trouble. The doctor told me that I am "a varient of normal," meaning that I'm abnormal without being abnormal :) I got a huge kick out of being called a varient of normal. More tests to be done and I know we'll get answers. For all we know, the tummy trouble is a side effect of the IV med I'm on.

Speaking of meds. My pain and fatigue have been thru the roof! I've been doing a lot of crying because of pain which is not normal for me. It takes a lot for me to cry from pain. I'm deep in a flare and I don't know if all the IV treatment is doing anything at all. Maybe the best thing would be to just treat symptoms and ride the flare out. Sooooo, I went to my primary doctor yesterday to talk about the pain and to get referrals to a pain management doctor and a rheumatalogist. I lost it in the exam room when she was examining me to see which areas were tender. Oh that was bad! She put me on a strong muscle relaxer. Let's just say it's a medication that I did not respect in the past. I was scared to take it and desparate for my body, not my emotional mind, to be able to have some relief. I don't expect the pain to magically be taken away by a pill; that is totally unrealistic! I took it and I got this fuzzy headed feeling which I didn't like. Amazing because that is the feeling that I used to chase! I was grateful when that sensation abated. My body was able to breathe! I think having some relief I did too much so I'm hurting today. This medication makes my pain just tolerable and I'm wondering if adding a mild opiate would give me a better quality of life. I'm not jumping on that train just yet. I want to give myself a couple of days with this medication and see if doing less is all I need to do. One day, one moment at a time. This is all new to me. Every time I have taken the muscle relaxer I have called my mom and checked in with her, told her how I was feeling physically and emotionally and how much I was taking. I am being completely honest and accountable. What a life I live!

Peanut Butter is sick. He's not deathly ill by any stretch of the imagination. Just sick enough for me to worry :) A touch of a respiratory infection. Two weeks of antibiotics and he'll be fine. If only my medical crap was that simple. I'd be lost without that little guy. Oh wait, he's not so little. He weighs in at 2.85lbs! My man's dog weighs 4.4lbs. My guinea pig is almost as big as his toy poodle! Craziness. It's also crazy that my manly man would be soooo in love with an apricot toy poodle :)

In the kitchen: Made some YUMMY zuccini carrot muffins. The recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker. I came up with a way to sweeten them without using any sugar. I wish I had pictures of them. Actually, I haven't eaten them all so I can still take a picture. They are amazingly good.Totally vegan, gluten free and sugar free! I really astonish myself in the kitchen. So here's the goods:

Zuccini Carrot Muffins:

3 cups barley flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt, fine
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
3 tbsps fresh ground flax seeds
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp almond milk with 1/8 tsp apple cider vinegar added to it ("buttermilk")
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp almond extract
2 cups shredded zuccini
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup raisins, divided
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raw, hulled sunflower seeds

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or use paper liners (I was able to make 17 muffins). Set aside.

In a blender or a food processor combine 1/4 cup raisins and "buttermilk." Puree until the milk looks brown. Stain mixture thru a fine mesh strainer and discard "pulp." Add enough almond milk to get back to 1/2 cup milk (does that make sense?). Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flax seed meal, "buttermilk," vegetable oil, applesauce and almond extract. Mix thoroughly then add zuccini, carrots, raisins, nuts and sunflower seeds.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together. Make sure all of the flour is thoroughly incorporated into the batter. It might look like you need more liquid but be patient. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins with a standard ice cream scoop and place pan into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. I started checking my muffins at 15 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer toa wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

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