STRESS and ENDO

I always thought I handled stress EXTREMELY well.  Because I grew up in a family of 9- imagine the steady culture of chaos- I hardly even notice when life begins to spiral out of control.  In fact, I've always thought that deadlines motivate me.  I may be aware of stress in my life, but I keep calm and manage it well.

Now I've come to the realization, that while I may mentally handle stress well, physically I do not.  I think that's apparent by the state my body was in 5 weeks ago before the surprise laparotomy.  I no longer have dilusions that stress doesn't effect me.  As it happens, there appears to be a direct link between stress and endometriosis. 

CAFFEINE

[here]

I have the kind of love affair with coffee they could write books about.  Okay, so maybe that's a gross exaggeration, but I literally cannot do anything in the morning unless I've had my morning cup, and I fantasize about how awesome my next cup is going to be.  All the time.  I used to consume much, much, more, but I'm learning to live in moderation these days, so I've reduced my intake to one cup daily.  With an occasional second half cup.  Give or take.  I know that some women who follow the endo diet completely eliminate all forms of caffeine, and when I first started intersearching (internet researcing) this condition and the associate diet, I developed an overpowering fear that my doctor would tell me to quit coffee.  M's doctor has been trying to get him to quit for years.  I just KNEW it was coming.  However, when I asked Dr. Stalling about it, she told me in moderation it is fine.   That was the happiest day of my life.  Another exaggeration, but you get it.  It was like rainbows and unicorns happy.

LYCOPENE

I recently caught wind of a study (which I cannot find in its original form but is referenced in places such as [this] and [this] and [this]) performed by researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, that suggests a diet high in lycopene can help inhibit the growth of endometrial lesions.  Certainly not an authoritative or extensive study, the results were extremely promising- Should we all go out and grab some tomatoes then?  Well, tomatoes aren't the only source of lycopene.  Follow [this] link to see what the top-ten lycopene-rich foods are!

TOM PETTY WAS ONLY HALF RIGHT

"The waiting is the hardest part."  I would get this song stuck in my head quite a bit during the past few years of anticipation and hope, month to month, waiting to see if I'd become pregnant, then waiting for the time when we could try again.  The constant cycle of anticipation, waiting, hope, waiting, anticipation, waiting... I'd joke about how wise Mr. Petty was when he wrote those words...also, because it gave me a reason to reminisce about the first concert M & I ever went to in the early years of our life together.  <3  With a childish naiveté I really thought waiting was the hardest part; that I would get what I wanted and that having to wait for it would indeed be the worst part.

JUICING TO SHRINK ENDO?

Thanks to hoghugs.com for these great ideas on juices!  I already love to juice, but I get a little stuck on which fruits and veggies to put together.  Over at hoghugs, she claims the juicing can help shrink endo implants.  Well, I technically (hopefully) don't have any at the moment, but I figure, it can't hurt, right?

1. kale, spinach, apple, carrot, wheatgrass, lemon
2. apple, carrot, pineapple, celery, lemon
3. parsley, kale, apple, broccoli, lemon, dandelion
4. orange, carrot

LINK BETWEEN FATS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS

Since I'm still laid up on the couch working hard to recover, I've been reading extensively about the one thing that is dominating my thoughts these days.  I have begun to navigate the vast collection of scholarly articles available via internet and am specifically interested in articles concerning the diet-endometriosis connection.  In THIS article, scientists investigated the link between dietary fats and incidence of laparoscopic-confirmed endometriosis.

Useful Blog Resource

Just discovered a great blog that presents updates on endometriosis research and news, complete with a free library of articles from medical journals.  Take a look!

Endo-update.blogspot.com

NaPro Surgery

One thing I appreciate about NaPro Technology is that the surgical techniques are geared toward preventing adhesions from returning.  I don't fully understand how this works, but I do get the idea that NaPro surgeons are focused on this aspect of treatment as opposed to general endometriosis excisions which simply aim to remove the lesions.  I'd love to research this further, from an actual source, not by second-hand internet sources.  But until then, I thought I'd share a graph I came across on the naprotechnology.com   website:

 

TOO MUCH, TOO SOON

Today is 12 days since my laparoscopy-turned-laparotomy, and I am once again confined to the couch, five pounds lighter than before surgery.  Listen to the people who advise you against doing too much too soon!!  Days 1-7 I literally did nothing except lay on my back watching the entire Game of Thrones television series.  Unable to stand, sit, or even move without difficulty, I tried to be patient with the healing process.  But my discharge instructions were woefully ambiguous: "Resume activities as able."

SERRAPEPTASE and NATTOKINASE

These are two supplements I've heard of (thank you, cureendo.com) that have been used in Chinese and alternative medicines to dissolve scar tissue in the body.  I've already ordered my supply and am waiting for these to be delivered.  I'm hoping that using these along with keeping to an anti-inflammatory diet, I will be successful in slowing the return of the lesions, at least long enough for a successful pregnancy.  Because, you know, pregnancy is a cruelly one of the best treatments for the disease. 

Reducing Toxic Load

Not long after starting my internet "research" crusade, I began to learn about the problem of xenoestrogens, or chemical compounds, either synthetic or natural, that imitate estrogen when absorbed into our bodies.  Given that endometriosis is an estrogen-fueled disease, those effected can benefit from reducing our estrogen and xenoestrogen exposure.