Today, I'm sharing about my recent surgery and what's changed in my life because of it. Although my close friends and family are all aware of my story, it doesn't mean that I needed to share it publicly. However, I really do feel like it's a turning point--for not only me, but for my whole family. And, if by sharing, it helps to encourage others to make some positive changes, then I'm all for that.
On March 15th of this year, I had a hysterectomy. But first, let me back up a bit. In June of 2016, I had a partial hysterectomy because I had endometriosis. Endometriosis or "endo" happens when the lining of the uterus (womb) grows outside of the uterus, usually onto the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and outer surface of the uterus. It is a common health problem that is growing everyday and currently affects 1 out of every 10 women in America. In fact, lately, I've even seen a couple of TV commercials warning women about endo.
Let's back up even further. In October of 2015, I came home from a lovely lunch, where I had just celebrated my 45th birthday with my sweet girlfriends. I started to feel a dull pain in my lower abdominal area. At first, I thought it was pain due to ovulation but it didn't go away after a couple of days. The following week,
I made an appointment with my doctor and long story short, after several more appointments, ultrasounds, blood work, and biopsies, I was told that I had endometriosis. In fact, I not only had endometriosis but I also had a large cyst growing on one of my ovaries and scar tissue (from endo build-up) on my fallopian tubes.
I was told that eventually, surgery would be in my future. Happy birthday to me, right? 😕
After much prayer, consultation, and fear (I had never had surgery in my life at this point), I decided to have that first surgery. That was in June of 2016. In addition to the removal of the large cyst, they also removed one of my ovaries and both of my fallopian tubes. My doctor burned off all of the endo she could find (which was a lot). Apparently, even though I had only recently experienced the pain associated with endo, I was told that it was probably something that I've had since I was in my teens. I had spent six weeks recovering and hoped this chapter of my life with endo would be over, but I was wrong.
Less than a year later, the pain returned. The problem with endo is that it keeps growing because it feeds off the hormone, estrogen. And because I still had an ovary (and my uterus), I was still having my monthly cycles. I was back to see my doctor and after more tests, I was told that another large cyst had grown on my remaining ovary- again, a result of the endo. Thankfully, the pain was manageable and only occasional but the main concern was the growing cyst. Had I known that I would be back in surgery 22 months later, I probably would have opted to do the total hysterectomy the first time around but we were trying to be conservative and allow me to go through menopause as naturally as possible-- especially considering I was still on the young side (the average age of menopause being 51).
So, once again, I decided to have another surgery. This time, I could have opted to just have the cyst removed, leaving my one ovary and uterus in tact but after much prayer and consideration, I decided that I didn't want to be in this situation again and have yet another surgery going forward. That's why I opted for the full hysterectomy. I know that may sound drastic to some but I had spent over 2 years, in and out of doctors appointments, and I was ready to move on with my life. I have young children and wanted to get on with living. Even if it meant that I now, I had to deal with menopause. I figured eventually, I'd have to go through that anyway.
So here I am today. Praise Jesus, I'm feeling great! I ended up healing much faster from this surgery than I had expected. However, just a few days after surgery, I shared with my doctor that I was experiencing hot flashes, night sweats, and lack of sleep. Hello, immediate menopause. 😱
To my surprise, she quickly prescribed a pill for that. I'm a person who doesn't like to take any type of drugs. In fact, I did my best to avoid taking any pain meds after my surgery. To top it off, in doing some research about the drug she prescribed, it was an antidepressant and it came with all sorts of side effects. Um, no thank you.
This led me to research menopause and look for ways to naturally manage its symptoms. I kept reading the same thing in the holistic community which was this...
Let food be the medicine.
This made total sense me to me. When God made all the food, He made it good. He created it to nourish our bodies and give us everything we need to enjoy life, live it to the fullest, and even heal. Drugs and chemical medicines have only been around for the last century. And the way our food is processed today makes us highly susceptible to autoimmune diseases and overall health issues. I don't think anyone can deny that America is one of the sickest countries in the world. We have more overweight people and chronic disease than any other population. Why? Because of our diet. The Standard American Diet (or SAD) is rich in unhealthy fat, refined sugar, highly processed, and genetically modified foods. Compare that to the diet of other nations, such as Japan, for example, and you'll see a dramatic decrease in heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancer. That's because their diet consists mostly of vegetables and grains, with very little meat and no dairy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to discover the correlation between disease and food. Turns out my doctor was just doing her job. She was simply treating the symptom, rather than teaching me how to prevent it.
Well, needless to say, I never got that prescription filled. Two weeks after my surgery, I eliminated all meat and dairy products from my diet and focused on a whole foods plant based diet. And you know what?
I haven't had one single hot flash since then and I'm sleeping much better through the night. Hallelujah! Plus, I've lost those extra pounds that I couldn't seem to lose before. At my post-op appointment, I informed my doctor that I was planning to focus more on exercise and diet, instead of taking any prescription meds. Interestingly enough, while I was there, she showed me the images from my last surgery. We compared them to my first surgery and she was utterly amazed at how very little the endo had grown to other parts of my body. Remember the first time, she had to clean up all the endo because it was so prevalent. In fact, I was classified as having stage 4 endo at the time. She said this time around, she could hardly find any! Her exactly words were, "I felt like I was operating on a different person. The transformation was quite remarkable." She then asked me, "What did you do in between your first and second surgery?"
You guys. I changed my diet! Although I wasn't strictly vegan, I tried to eliminate inflammatory foods like cheese, pizza, sugar, processed food, red meat, and alcohol. I even stopped drinking wine about a year ago (and you all probably know that I loved my red wine). The images from my first and second surgery, along with my doctor's comments served as even more fuel to light my fire. The more I dug, the more I learned. I discovered that diseases could be REVERSED by the power of food. I find that so amazing and fascinating! Isn't God so smart to put the medicine in our food?!
I don't know about you but there is history of cancer in my family. Both my parents had cancer and my father passed away just 2 short years after having been diagnosed at the age of 73. Looking back on his life and eating habits, he enjoyed all the red meat and excessive alcohol. Could that have contributed to his health? Most definitely. I grew up eating the SAD myself- which included all the processed foods, packaged lunch meats, sugar, and lots of cheese. Perhaps this led to my early menses and eventual endometriosis?
My motivation and inspiration to use food as medicine is not only about my health but more about my family as a whole. They are worth it! Morgan and I are considered "older parents" with young children. My prayer is that we can live healthy, long lives, enjoying and engaging with our kids. And Lord willing, we can be around, not only to see our grandchildren one day but to be actively involved in their lives.
We are 7 weeks in from making the change to a whole foods plant based diet (except for Zach). He's a picky eater but we're slowly trying to transition him. Morgan and the girls decided to jump in with me. We all went cold turkey and have never looked back. At first, I'll admit that I was a little intimated by it all. It felt like a whole new education and there's a lot to learn and de-program yourself from. Today, being the one who shops and cooks for my family, I'm feeling like I've started to find my groove and make some good strides. I'm enjoying the discovery of new recipes and I'm learning that every bite of food that I put in my mouth is a conscientious, proactive, intentional decision towards health. And guess what? It's also been very tasty and enjoyable! Vegan food is not all about salads and tofu. Although I love salads and tofu, there is actually so much more real, wholesome, nourishing, yummy food!
Perhaps what has surprised me the most is the enthusiasm I see from our girls. They're at that age where they are growing in discernment and learning to make wise choices for themselves. They want to be healthy and they can see the value of nourishing their bodies by making conscientious choices. Plus, for them, they are compassionate animal lovers. Truth be told, now that they understand (and have seen) what animals must go through to end up on our plate, it's much easier for them to choose otherwise. I understand that most people don't even think about their food in this way and I get it. I was exactly the same. Most of us were trained from very early on to think of food as just, well, food.
Everyone has different reasons for eating a plant based diet. Some do it for their health, some do it for the impact on the environment, and some do it for their compassion towards animals. I don't share any of this with you to make you feel uncomfortable or guilty in any way. I'm only sharing because I hope someone who is reading this will be inspired to take charge of their health and make some positive changes in their own lifestyle. Whether it be to eliminate meat and dairy altogether or just go meatless one day a week. I hope you research for yourself because there is SO MUCH information out there linking food to disease. Knowledge is power and we all have the ability to empower ourselves and make healthier lifestyle choices.
I think a lot of Americans are OK with taking various prescription drugs and we just accept the fact that with age, comes disease and overall health problems. I've always felt that God was trying to teach me something through this trial, perhaps even prevent me from something in my future. Today, I'm feeling so grateful for this eye opening change. It's been a GIFT and something I probably wouldn't have changed if it wasn't for my endo and hysterectomy.
No doubt, I'll be sharing more about our plant based eating journey in my future posts so consider this your heads up. 😉 In fact, coming up, I can't wait to share some of our favorites foods with you lately!
Lastly, over the weekend, I saw this...
Check out the new food item at our local Costco food court.
If you look closely, the new Al Pastor Salad Salad is made with plant based protein, not meat.
Times are changing. How nice to have options. 😊
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