Journal: Change within the changeless

[Faith]

I haven't written a journal since I was about 8, so this should be interesting 🤔. 

 

Lots of change happening lately. At work my boss has left and so now my new boss is technically my supervisor, but doesn't no what  I do really. There good and bad aspects to that. The good is she can't get on me about much because she's clueless, the bad if I need help I can't go to her. So far it's working, but it's only been about 2 weeks. 

 

On to why I really decided to create this journal. I had a CT scan done recently that measures the amount of calcium in your coronary arteries to see if my high cholesterol should be treated with medication. Its called a coronary artery calcium CT s

and plaque thats hardened has calcium and thats what they can measure, but not the soft plaque.

 

For about 7  years my HDL "good" cholesterol has been very high, but I was told it would counteract my "bad" cholesterol, this year they both got to an all time high and total is 302. Hence the reason for ordering the test. My doctor said if the test doesn't show much plague build up, then no medication, but we'd see what is showed. 

 

Well, holy hell, the nurse called me and told me that my calcium score is significantly high and I have extensive plaque. She went on to say that I'm being referred to a Cardiologist for further treatment. I can't get in to the cardiologist until Jan 5th. I don't know if they will want further testing (stress test, angiogram) or just lifestyle change with medication?

 

Anyways, I already quit smoking 5 years ago and stopped drinking any alcohol over a year ago, but I'm still unhealthy since I never exercise and ate what I wanted. Plus, I was drinking diet soda from morning to night. All this has to change, because just from my cac score my risk for a cardiovascular event has gone up 25-29% in the next 5-10 years. One thing this test doesn't show is if there's any actual "blockage" anywhere, but I do know that the LAD artery (aka The Widow maker) has the majority of the plaque and one other artery has the rest. 

 

I've already renewed my YMCA membership the other night. I have not been there in a few years! I went to the store and bought fruits/vegetables, grain bread, brown rice, chicken. I did meal prep for next week's lunches with rice, ground turkey and cabbage/broccoli sauted (which I've never done before).

 

It's a start. 

 

 

 

 

[Mandy]

Sounds like a really great start! ❤️

[Faith]

3 hours ago, Mandy said:

Sounds like a really great start! ❤️

Thanks!

 

 

I haven't been on a treadmill in so long I wonder if I'll remember how to work it? 🤔 

[Faith]

I went to the ymca tonight. Nothing crazy, just the treadmill, but ugh, I started getting aches and pains. I'm outta shape. 🥵

 

[Mandy]

@Faith Does the YMCA have a pool? 

[Faith]

1 hour ago, Mandy said:

@Faith Does the YMCA have a pool? 

It does, but I never used it when I had my membership before.  I believe there's only certain days/times you can use it for regular swimming.  I have a pool (closed now for winter) and I'm very sensitive to water Temps. If it's too cold I literally can't do it.  Not sure if the ymca heats there pool.

[Faith]

Damn, walking on the treadmill has flared up a nerve in my neck that's been a bit pinched for years, even with regular chiropractic adjustments. I think swinging my left arm while walking has pissed it off. So, I need to try not to do that as much. Lord, if it's not one thing it's another. 

[Loop]

@Faith

 

Check out the vagus never book in my profile, it really works with the nerves in the neck a lot, it is reversing a lot of injuries for me, mental & physical as one. Corkscrew neck from car accident whiplash is really starting to unravel. When the nerves of the neck are out you might think the root of a pain is somewhere it really isn’t because of the nervous system not being able to communicate properly with the brain. 

To be honest I have never liked chiropractors, I feel most of them are non-sense, not saying yours is, I just don’t trust the field, especially if your chiropractor does any quick twists with your neck I would be questioning that. Some are good if they integrate it with something else, but only then in my opinion, and even then, I still don’t like chiropractic, and this is coming from me, the god of spinal injury, chiropractic just made it worse, a lot of their methods are quick fixes that don’t last, or cause issues later on, I like osteopaths, in my experience they are more holistic and usually use softer methods that take time but are long lasting lifetime fixes that are worth it.

 

[Faith]

1 hour ago, Loop said:

Check out the vagus never book in my profile, it really works with the nerves in the neck a lot, it is reversing a lot of injuries for me, mental & physical as one. Corkscrew neck from car accident whiplash

I don't understand how this book is doing that?

 

The vagus nerve works on parasympathetic nervous system. It controls body functions such as your digestion, heart rate and immune system. 

 

The book says it helps with:

 

My neck issues started over 15 years ago when I had multiple seizures in a parking lot. When I would come to I'd get up trying to walk and fall again when a seizure came hitting the back of my head many times which knocked a cervical vertebrae out of alignment which can't be fixed other then with regular chiro adjustments. Ive been seeing my chiro for 15 yrs. Even with that it can never go back fully in alignment without surgery.  I'm not sure which nerve is pinched but it's been causing my problems for about 2-3 yrs now. The only other thing that gives relief is trackion I do at home. 

 

Anyways, neck issues also run in my family. My dad, aunt (dad's sister), my sister all have had neck surgery. 

[Loop]

 

@Faith

 

When the nervous system is clear you can actually work on physical bodily problems, when it isn’t you cannot even perceive the body properly.

 

The book is more than just the vagus nerve, it talks about a bunch of different nerves. I go to an osteopath who showed them to me, she likes to integrate it into her practice. In the book he talks about how when he was doing body therapies with people they wouldn’t last, unless he did the vagus nerve exercises first, then did massage & other modalities. Then their injuries started to ebb away consistently. 
 

17 minutes ago, Faith said:

which can't be fixed other then with regular chiro adjustments

Not saying you should stop doing that, but what if there was another way? A more permanent one? I’d be exploring that, I can understand if you feel you found you way though, just making suggestions. 
 

20 minutes ago, Faith said:

My neck issues started over 15 years ago when I had multiple seizures in a parking lot. When I would come to I'd get up trying to walk and fall again when a seizure came hitting the back of my head many times which knocked a cervical vertebrae out of alignment

 

Dam that must have been scary, I really feel for you, I used to be so messed up from car accident injuries I was literally walking into walls when I would try to go through a door. 
 

The book talks about the cervical vertebrae, particularly that the top most ones alinement have more to do with emotions & what one is thinking about then what is going on in the world. The exercises are very gentile and work on re-aligning them.
 

29 minutes ago, Faith said:

Even with that it can never go back fully in alignment without surgery.

That is what the doctors wanted to do on my spine & brain, but they didn’t, and I’m here. I wanna tell you to not get caught in the beliefs of the modern medical system, but I can understand your @Faith in it 😂. I have none for it, it just chopped me up into pieces and spit me out like a wood chipper, they wanted to give me opioids to help with my spine, didn’t care for exploring permanent solutions. Most of the healing I had to do myself/ not with modern medicine by learning about and exploring different healing modalities.

I honestly believe the vagus nerve exercises in this book are some kind of holy grail, it is more than the things it says it treats. 
 

[Mandy]

18 hours ago, Faith said:

Damn, walking on the treadmill has flared up a nerve in my neck that's been a bit pinched for years, even with regular chiropractic adjustments. I think swinging my left arm while walking has pissed it off. So, I need to try not to do that as much. Lord, if it's not one thing it's another. 

Where I go the pool is well heated and it's even too hot for lap swimming IMO. I love being warm but am just used to swimming in really cold lakes here and love the extra calorie burn of cold water. Still love it though. You get used to cold water quick. 

 

Not sure if your neck issue is caused by arm movements or impact but if it's impact looking into swimming might be just the thing. It feels like therapy for the joints and exercise all in one. 

 

Myofascial release massage, and different acupuncture methods like cupping can also be great to use especially when you first start working out.  https://www.healthline.com/health/pressure-points-for-neck

[Faith]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:29 AM, Loop said:

When the nervous system is clear

I don't know what you mean by this? Also, how do you know mine isn't "clear" ?

 

On 12/19/2022 at 8:29 AM, Loop said:

I honestly believe the vagus nerve exercises in this book are some kind of holy grail, it is more than the things it says it treats. 

 

I might look into it at a later time. I've got cardiac issues that are my top priority atm. Maybe after I hear what the cardiologist has to say, then I can focus on something else.

 

I stopped swinging my left arm while walking on the treadmill and my neck stopped hurting and the shooting pains down my arm stopped. 

 

On 12/19/2022 at 8:29 AM, Loop said:

I wanna tell you to not get caught in the beliefs of the modern medical system

Well, I'm a nurse. But, I also used my mind or tricks of the mind to stop the symptoms I was having from M. S. that I've had since 21 and yrs later my demyelination on MRI was reversing and lesions were shrinking, but that's a long story. I talked about it on Actualized shortly before being banned. 

 

Anyways,  thanks for the advice.

 

On 12/19/2022 at 9:32 AM, Mandy said:

You get used to cold water quick. 

I don't. Not now that Im older.😂 

 

Anyways, that's enough about my neck. 

 

[Loop]

2 hours ago, Faith said:

I don't know what you mean by this? Also, how do you know mine isn't "clear" ?

I don’t really know, and I don’t. 
It is a feeling in the body, doing the exercises reactivates different nerves. It is like any projected pain gets retracted and returned to a thought, & relaxation of body parts, better functioning bodily functions. 
 

2 hours ago, Faith said:

I might look into it at a later time. I've got cardiac issues that are my top priority atm. Maybe after I hear what the cardiologist has to say, then I can focus on something else.

 

I stopped swinging my left arm while walking on the treadmill and my neck stopped hurting and the shooting pains down my arm stopped. 

For sure, I just thought I’d let you know as you were mentioning the neck vertebra so I thought there might be a connection. 
 

Glad the shooting pains stopped ☺️

 

2 hours ago, Faith said:

Well, I'm a nurse. But, I also used my mind or tricks of the mind to stop the symptoms I was having from M. S. that I've had since 21 and yrs later my demyelination on MRI was reversing and lesions were shrinking, but that's a long story. I talked about it on Actualized shortly before being banned. 

 

Anyways,  thanks for the advice.

That’s sounds something that would be cool to read about. 
How does tricks of the mind work? What is tricking what? 😋

 

Welcome.
🙏🤍

 

[Faith]

8 hours ago, Loop said:

How does tricks of the mind work? What is tricking what? 😋

In a short paragraph lets just say I stopped talking about it, letting anyone else talk to me about it, taking the injection meds for it, seeing the specialist for it and acknowledging it ever was a thing and slowly signs of it disappeared and as I said yrs after doing this (about 5 yrs) my first MRI (since doing this) of the brain showed significant shrinking lesions and very little new demyelination.

 

 

[Faith]

I guess I didn't update this thread. Anyway, Cardiologist diagnosed me with coronary artery disease, but I did pass the stress test or my heart did. He put me on the Mediterranean diet and a  cholesterol lowering drug. I'm also switching off a medication that apparently can cause high cholesterol in some and titrating to another that may not cause it to such a big extent. I've lost 11 pounds on the diet so far, which is a plus! 

 

That's all for now!

[Faith]

I'm down 14 lbs now and pretty use to my new diet. I had yet another health scare. They thought maybe I had uterine cancer. 🤦‍♀️ I had to wait a week and half to get the ultrasound. I do have tumors in the wall muscle of my uterus but they are benign. Geesh.

 

Anyways, been keeping busy around the house doing some remodeling, which has kept me fairly active. I just spent a few hours yesterday painting the bathroom tile floor and doing grout lines. 

 

That's all for now. 

[Faith]

Today has given me a stress headache 😩 4 hours worth of meetings at work today, then wondering if I said everything perfect in each meeting so I don't look like an ass?!? Oh well, it's just a job. 

 

But, then while eating dinner our deer 🦌 friends came to get a snack which cheered me up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

❤️

[Faith]

My weight is down 21 pounds now and I have 12 to go for goal weight. I had another lipid panel done and my cholesterol is now 179. It was 302, so that is a significant drop. The diet, weight loss and medication is certainly doing the trick! 

 

I took yesterday off work for a mental health day.  Started off with a 60 min massage, then out to lunch, then 2 nature walks. It certainly did the trick. It shut down the blah-blah thoughts. 

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Faith said:

My weight is down 21 pounds now and I have 12 to go for goal weight. I had another lipid panel done and my cholesterol is now 179. It was 302, so that is a significant drop. The diet, weight loss and medication is certainly doing the trick! 

Wow that’s awesome! Congrats! 

[Faith]

@Phil Thank you!