Although my tummy has given me considerable trouble the last few months both before and after the emergency appendectomy, I can still find things to eat at Trader Joes. The other evening it dawned on me that I could barely survive without a Trader Joes nearby. For one thing, it is much smaller than the Safeways and Albertsons of the world and therefore more manageable and less of an energy drain to shop there. Our local Trader Joes also has benches in the store even though it is small. Much appreciated during all those potsy shopping trips.
If I go at night the lines are typically short and the aisles uncrowded so I can read labels if need be. I also like Trader Joes because their products are typically less processed and contain more natural ingredients with names I can actually pronounce. They also have a nice selection of organic products at competitive prices. It is a great place to shop if you have issues with food allergies or intolerances. I am allergic to sulphur dioxide, often used to preserve dried fruits with. Trader Joe's products are clearly marked with the allergens so I don't have to hunt through the whole ingredient list to figure out if I may be allergic to something or not.
Here's a list of my favorite Trader Joes products, in no particular order. If you try a product you don't like from Trader Joes, they will gladly take it back, no questions asked. So your purchases are essentially risk free. A nice way to try new things without having to worry about wasting money on something you may not like. That said, you wont need to return any of the items on my list! I recommend the following without reservation:
Lately I have been at a loss for words. This past week has been better health wise but more emotionally draining than I could have ever imagined. Last SuperBowl Sunday started out with some bad news: my great aunt passed away at the age of 89. She lived a long and happy life and up until the last years her wits were all in tact. Her name was Betty but as kids we fondly referred to her as Betty Boop and she proudly embraced the nickname. Although her passing did not come as a huge shock, it still filled me with a stinging sadness. My mom and I managed to go out shopping for a little bit in her honor. Betty was a shopaholic and a half. I knew she wouldn't want everyone to be moping around upon the news of her death so I figured it would be best to get out of the house for a bit and try to remember the good times.
When we returned home a few hours later, I checked my email and my Facebook account and clicked on a link to a breaking news story that left me screaming in horror. A local murder suspect whose wife has been a missing person for months blew up himself and his two young sons that Sunday afternoon. I remember feeling the same way I felt on 9/11: for a split second thinking it was an accident but then all too soon realizing that it wasn't. This disturbed man had deliberately murdered his own sweet and innocent children. This story hit particularly close to home because I am friends with a family friend of theirs and have been rooting for those two little boys ever since their mother's disappearance two years ago. It was a shocking, heartbreaking day. Our whole community is still grieving the loss of these two little boys and will be for quite some time to come.
Maybe it was all the emotional stress, the fact that I can never seem to shut my brain off after traumatic events, or the fact that I don't seem to sleep much during stressful times, but my emotions seemed to manifest themselves physically this week. I passed out in the shower for the first time. I don't normally pass out. I can usually tell when I'm getting close and sit or lay my butt down before it happens. I felt very lightheaded and disoriented in the shower and attempted to get out but then found myself waking up on the shower floor with the warm water running over me. I also managed to break my plastic shower chair in two on the way down so I imagine I didn't fall too gracefully. I have been a bit sore ever since and I assume it also had something to do with the heat of the shower.
I did not go to the doctor immediately afterwards but I did schedule an appointment with my electrophysiologist (the soonest I could get in is March 1st) to report my passing out to him and to obtain the results of a yearly echocardiogram that I am going in for later this week. My last echo was done in 2008 and the geneticist who diagnosed my EDS recommended that all EDS patients go in for an echocardiogram at least every other year as a preventative measure to detect any structural cardiac abnormalities.
Tomorrow I have an interview with an SSI representative to determine whether or not I am eligible for any benefits. My lawyer informed me that my hearing for disability is another 9 months to a year away so that I should take the SSI interview for now and cross my fingers that it goes through. I have a very small retirement account from my old employer that may render me ineligible for benefits at the moment. And quite frankly, I resent having to "spend up" my hard-earned retirement earnings at a 50% loss simply to obtain the benefits I have previously earned by working. Either way I hope to have more information tomorrow and I'm really hoping that there is some positive news around the corner.
On a brighter note, I'm finally ready to resume Dr. Levine's exercise protocol for POTS and have a hunch that my results will be promising since my symptoms have responded positively to exercise in the past. My laparoscopic appendectomy scars are barely noticeable anymore, in fact they're almost gone! My skin healed very nicely after the surgery and I am pleased that I didn't experience any major complications in the healing process. The surgeon has cleared me to start exercising again at any time! I am glad that nasty old appendix is outta me and extremely thankful that I made it through both the surgery and the recovery successfully!
Let's see...what else have I been up to lately? Still working part time from home although it's a challenge some days I feel like I am finally making some positive progress at work. In my spare time I have been catching up on a lot of shows: Pit Boss, Dance Moms, Teen Mom 2, Revenge, America's Supernanny, Hoarders, Intervention, even a new one called Mud Cats. It's like TLC's Hillbilly HandFishin' but better! There are still a handful of other shows, new and old, that I also intend to catch up on in the near future. I figure vegging out in front of the television will be a nice way to recover from the rigorous exercise my body is about to endure.
I am also hoping that the exercise regime will serve to distract me from my own emotions right now. I have a really hard time trying to wrap my head around the concept of death and the finality of it all. I really need to pour myself into something so that I don't have so much time to think about all the injustices and cruelties in the world. If anything positive came out of this week it is the fact that I appreciate my own family more. My two little cousins are the same age as the two boys that were murdered. Their family will no longer get to play with them or delight in their youthful energy. Although my cousins are rambunctious and have extreme behavioral problems at times, this weekend I found myself able to overlook that and just be thankful for their presence.
Here I sit somberly on the eve of Valentine's Day and I can't help but think that Heaven gained some good ones this week. My great aunt Betty, the young Powell boys and the inimitable Whitney Houston. These losses leave me deeply saddened and I have spent a disproportionate amount of this past week with tears in my eyes. The following song says it all.
