Bea Reviews 52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You by Brett Blumenthal

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: December 28th, 2011
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Whether as New Year’s resolutions, birthday wishes, or daily promises, most everyone vows at some point to make a major life change. But change is easier said than done, especially when it comes to better managing our wellness amidst the chaos of everyday living. Fortunately, wellness coach and award-winning writer Brett Blumenthal has devised a way to inspire and motivate her readers to live healthier and make positive changes in their lives. Although Blumenthal’s method is not a quick fix, it is a surprisingly simple one: make one small change per week, for fifty-two weeks, and at the end of a year, you’ll be happier and healthier. After all, it is the small changes that are the most realistic, instead of trying to overhaul your lifestyle all at once. 52 Small Changes addresses all areas of wellbeing, including nutrition, exercise, stress management, mental wellness, and even the health of one’s home environment. By guiding readers through these changes at an easy, manageable pace, Blumenthal provides an engaging roadmap to lasting results and “a happier, healthier you.”

Bea Reviews The Novel Cure: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin

Publisher: Penguin Books 
Format Read: paperback
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 30, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Publisher's Weekly
"Delightful... elegant prose and discussions that span the history of 2,000 years of literature."

A novel is a story transmitted from the novelist to the reader. It offers distraction, entertainment, and an opportunity to unwind or focus. But it can also be something more powerful—a way to learn about how to live. Read at the right moment in your life, a novel can—quite literally—change it.

The Novel Cure is a reminder of that power. To create this apothecary, the authors have trawled two thousand years of literature for novels that effectively promote happiness, health, and sanity, written by brilliant minds who knew what it meant to be human and wrote their life lessons into their fiction. Structured like a reference book, readers simply look up their ailment, be it agoraphobia, boredom, or a midlife crisis, and are given a novel to read as the antidote. Bibliotherapy does not discriminate between pains of the body and pains of the head (or heart). Aware that you’ve been cowardly? Pick up To Kill a Mockingbird for an injection of courage. Experiencing a sudden, acute fear of death? Read One Hundred Years of Solitude for some perspective on the larger cycle of life. Nervous about throwing a dinner party? Ali Smith’s There but for The will convince you that yours could never go that wrong. Whatever your condition, the prescription is simple: a novel (or two), to be read at regular intervals and in nice long chunks until you finish. Some treatments will lead to a complete cure. Others will offer solace, showing that you’re not the first to experience these emotions. The Novel Cure is also peppered with useful lists and sidebars recommending the best novels to read when you’re stuck in traffic or can’t fall asleep, the most important novels to read during every decade of life, and many more.

Brilliant in concept and deeply satisfying in execution, The Novel Cure belongs on everyone’s bookshelf and in every medicine cabinet. It will make even the most well-read fiction aficionado pick up a novel he’s never heard of, and see familiar ones with new eyes. Mostly, it will reaffirm literature’s ability to distract and transport, to resonate and reassure, to change the way we see the world and our place in it.

Library Journal
"This appealing and helpful read is guaranteed to double the length of a to-read list and become a go-to reference for those unsure of their reading identities or who are overwhelmed by the sheer number of books in the world. "

It's almost burning time!

On Monday, I talked to the research nurse in charge of the study that I'm participating in. I was approved and accepted into the research study back in April. I was sick enough but not too sick. :D But, I had been on prednisone too many times in a 12 month period so we had to wait three months, hoping I didn't need any prednisone in that time period, and then within that new 12 month time frame, I'd have an acceptable number of prednisone doses. I'm now 2 weeks away from that magic one year mark. I WILL stay off prednisone for the next two weeks. I WILL! Now, that might seem easy, but my allergies are a trigger for an asthma episode, as is humidity (it's summer where I live) and stress. Trying not to stress, about anything, will stress me, lol. So, it's not impossible that I develop an asthma episode in the next two weeks, which would mean going on prednisone, which would mean pushing back the surgery.

Once I hit that lovely, delightful, magical one year mark, I go back to the asthma specialist and repeat previous tests to ensure that I'm still a match for the study. If those results come back acceptable, then we set a date! Right now, the earliest possible date is July 24th, a mere month away. Squeeeeeeeeeee!

When I have that date, I'll post it. Heck, you'll hear me shouting in joy all the way around the world.

Now, the surgery is not a cure for asthma. Nor is there a guarantee that it will, in fact, provide me any relief. BUT...I have nothing to lose. We have tried everything else, I'm on a boatload of meds, yet asthma still rules my life. It's worth a try. Now, I just need some allergy relief and then I'd be downright healthy.

So, please, if you wouldn't mind, cross your fingers, pray, send positive vibes, and so on, that everything works out for me. It will be much appreciated.

IT'S OFFICIAL! I'M GETTING MY LUNGS BURNED.

I know, I know, most people don't get excited about being burned. Hey, you already know I'm weird. :P

But THIS burning is good for me. As I posted back in January, there is now a surgical procedure available for people with severe asthma that involves sticking a specially designed catheter tube down the lungs and burning off layers of smooth muscle. This should result in fewer asthma flares and attacks, and the ones that do occur should be milder. It's not a cure, but it should make life a little easier.

The surgery was only approved in 2010 in the US (I'm not sure if it's available outside of the US yet) and, unfortunately, is not covered by insurance companies yet. But, my regular asthma specialist referred me to a doctor at a research hospital who is running a follow up study. The study is a 5 year long study; the study pays for the surgery and then follows me for 5 years afterwards to track what the results are. The surgery is done in 3 parts, each one approximately three weeks after the preceding one. So, since January I've been seeing the new specialist, following the regimen she laid out for me, and undergoing tests. The research parameters for being accepted into the study are strict and if you don't fall exactly within them, you don't get in. Well, I made it! I'm sick enough to need the surgery, healthy enough to undergo it, and my test results fell within the study protocols.

The only hitch is that I can't have the procedure until July at the earliest. There's two reasons: 1) I have to be healthy for 60 days and 2) I was on prednisone too frequently between July of 2011 and January of this year. That puts me slightly over the acceptable number of incidences so we have to wait several months. If I do have an asthma episode that requires me to be on prednisone, it won't disqualify me; it will postpone the surgery date.

So, for the next three months, I will be a paranoid hermit. I'm heading into prime allergy season and my allergies trigger my asthma. My apartment windows are closed, it won't be too much longer before I turn on the A/C, and I will spend as little time outside as I possibly can. That last will be tricky when I'm at work, I'll need to find a balance.

Three more months. Oh please oh please oh please!!!

Lung Update

So today I went back to the asthma specialist who might do the lung surgery. I was supposed to see her last week but she had to cancel. I did go in and get the testing done that she had ordered, a chest X-ray and a pulmonary function test, the full length version (it had been about 3 or 4 years so she wanted a baseline).

We reviewed those results and the results of the tweaks to my regimen. There was minor improvement, enough to be encouraging, for her anyway. I was less sure but she seemed pleased. I got excited thinking that maybe now we could talk surgery dates but no, not yet.

Apparently, and this was NOT made clear to me at our first visit, if I am approved for this surgery, I will be part of a research project. So, my next step is to meet with the research protocol nurse for, oh yay, more testing and screening. Those, according to the doctor, will be at their expense, not mine. The really awesome news? If I am approved, I don't pay for the surgery, they do. :) Although the procedure was approved by the FDA in 2010, most insurance companies are not covering it yet, so if I want the surgery, I need to meet the protocol requirements. Oh please, oh please, oh please!!!!

So, still no firm decision, much less a date of any kind, but slow progress forward. The research nurse had today off so I'm waiting to hear from her to set up an appointment. There's a part of me that wishes I had picked a doctor at a hospital closer to home. It's a 52 mile round trip, with traffic it can take up to 90 minutes to get there, and parking at the hospital is not cheap. Add in the time I miss at work for each appointment and it's rapidly getting expensive. But if I get the surgery, and the surgery works, it will be worth it.

in my last blog post about my lungs, I mentioned a 3D model that the doctor had showing asthmatic lungs versus normal lungs. I remembered to take a picture today.

I am, of course, the one on the far right, labeled "severe". See all those extra dark pink layers? That's the smooth muscle and the more asthmatic you are, the more of it you have. The surgery will burn away some of those excess layers, which should make my lungs less reactive and thus cause fewer flares and attacks.

So, more waiting, not something I've ever been good at. I'll update the blog as I know more.

Burning My Lungs

So, as many of you know, I have severe chronic asthma. It pretty much runs my life, and in November it put me in the hospital (not for the first time). My specialist, who I've been with for about five years or so, is at his wit's end. When I got out of the hospital, he suggested an option that's pretty much a last ditch effort. There's a surgery, bronchial thermoplasty, designed specifically for people with severe chronic asthma who fail to respond other treatments. It involves burning away layers of smooth muscle in the lungs, hence the post title. Asthmatics have an excess of smooth muscles, which contributes to the lungs' sensitivity. Decreasing the smooth muscles makes the lungs less likely to react to triggers, resulting in fewer attacks and exacerbations. A year ago, I probably would have said no, but after that hospital stay, I'll try just about anything. He doesn't do the procedure so I had to see another specialist who does.

I had the appointment today and it went pretty well. She thinks I'm a pretty good candidate for the surgery EXCEPT... I have to be exacerbation free for 2 months. I laughed my head off. "So, we'll be scheduling this for sixty days after I'm dead?" The problem is I have to be healthy enough to have the surgery, and the surgery itself carries a risk of causing an exacerbation. Sigh. But all is not lost. She added medicines to my regimen, tweaked a couple, and gave me some homework to do. I go back in a month for some testing and a follow up and then we re-evaluate.

While I was in the exam room, waiting for the doctor, I looked around and spotted a model on the counter. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was amazing. It was a 3D cross-section of a bronchiole (the part of the lung that's involved in asthma). It had four individual models of a bronchiole - a normal one, a mildly asthmatic one, a moderately asthmatic one, and a severely asthmatic one. Oh My God. Looking at it, and comparing the bronchioles, erased any remaining doubts I had about the surgery. The differences were dramatic, and scary. Since I didn't think to take a picture, I did a Google search and this was the closest that I found.

Ugly looking thing, isn't it? :( So, for the next month, I'll be doing my homework, trying to get myself to a point where I can have the surgery and maybe have a normal life. I'll post an update after that appointment.

I Passed!

I don't share much personal information on here, I have other venues for that. However, I was so excited that I had to share. I already tweeted it.

So, what is the big deal, what did I pass? My three month check up with my main specialist. Now let me reassure those who don't know me, it's nothing terminal or fatal. I have various and assorted chronic health conditions, some minor, some moderate, and 2 major, related, ones that dominate and rule my life. I saw the doctor who handles those today and I am doing well. At my last check up, three and a half months ago, I was doing reasonably well so we decided to lower the dosage of one of my maintenance drugs. That went well, after the first week, and I am now on the lower dosage on a regular basis. I have been scarily healthy the past few months, a co-worker even commented on it. That made my day because my health issues have been a huge problem at work. My employer has been less than empathetic though they have made some accomodations.

Anyway, I've been doing well. No flares, some minor day to day to issues but nothing that caused me to miss work, call an ambulance, go to the ER, or get admitted. My 2 big goals this years are to avoid trips to the ER and being admitted, for any reason, to the hospital. The year's almost half over and so far, I've been successful. I'm absurdly happy and also scared. The pessimistic side of me keeps waiting for the other shoe to fall.

In the meantime, I am reasonably healthy and that makes me happy. :)

30 Things About my Invisible Illnesses

So, there are several different events and occasions happening this week. One, as mentioned in yesterday's post, is Book Blogger Appreciation Week. The subject for today's BBAW post was to swap places with another blogger and also interview each other. Since I wasn't on the ball and joined BBAW very late, this post is instead related to the weeks other commemoration: Invisible Chronic Illness Week. 

I am using the format that another blogger chose for her post on the subject.

30 THINGS ABOUT MY INVISIBLE ILLNESS(ES) YOU MAY NOT KNOW


1. The illnesses I live with are: 

Allergies, environmental - diagnosed 1984, reconfirmed 2006

Allergies, food - diagnosed 2002

Allergic eczema - diagnosed 2008

Ankylosing Spondylitis - diagnosed 1993

Asthma - initial diagnosis 1992, initial occurrences began in mid 80's

Depression - diagnosed 1985

 

Hypothyroidism -  diagnosed 1995

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: (refer to 1.)

3. But I had symptoms since: (refer to 1.)

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: accepting my limitations and asking for help. I still struggle with both of those; I've never been good at admitting weakness and will often go out of my way to deny it. As you can imagine, that's not a helpful technique. 


5. Most people assume: Oh, where to start? ** eye roll**  1) I don't look or sound ill or "off" so I must be healthy, 2) since I look healthy, I must be lazy, or a slacker, or (insert noun or adjective of choice) or I would ....more often. Again, insert activity of choice -  take out the trash, exercise more, etc.

6. The hardest part about mornings are: getting motivated. I'm not a morning person anyway so if I'm stiff, in pain, congested, coughing, short of breath, what have you, motivation is even harder to come by. 

7. My favorite medical TV show is: a tie between M*A*S*H and House.

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: another tie, this time between my nebulizer and my computer. The neb cuz I need it to breathe; the computer because I can still "talk" with friends and acquaintances, pursue certain hobbies, and even do mundane tasks such as paying bills. Those are all very important when I am not well; there have been days and weeks when the computer was all that kept me sane.

9. The hardest part about nights are: sometimes falling asleep, sometimes staying asleep. Pain and breathing problems interfere with sleep as do the drugs I take to deal with them.

10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins: On a healthy day,  20-30  plus 2 inhalers, a nasal spray, and 2 prescription skin creams. When I have a flare of any variety, add 6-10 more pills per day, and/or an extra inhaler and/or the nebulizer.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: haven't really tried any.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: probably something more visible though if I had a choice, I'd prefer none at all.

13. Regarding working and career: Oy. The allergies and asthma have had the biggest, and worst, impact on my work. I look normal so often coworkers forget or just don't believe that the limitations exist and are real. I have to fight for my rights to safe working conditions and to be out absent when necessary. 

14. People would be surprised to know: Hmmm, not sure. Maybe that I just want to be normal, that I don't like being ill so often and needing special accommodations. I just want to live a normal life.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: The limitations, especially socially. My food allergies and my severe asthma really limit where I can go, what I can do, even what items friends and family have in their own homes when I come over. It's one thing to stay home by choice because I'm an introvert but being forced to stay home, to stay away from stores, restaurants, public gatherings, etc. is HUGELY depressing for me. Hmmm, maybe that's what would most surprise people about me.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Safely travel on airplane AND safely be in a public gathering with people I'd never met who were willing ot accommodate my health conditions.

17. The commercials about my illness: Well, the ones for depression can be pretty depressing; the allergy and asthma ones tend to exclude people like myself who have the extreme forms.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I miss eating a whole lot of foods, I miss being able to go where I want and when, and I miss participating in walk-a-thons.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: See above

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: online discussion boards and book reviews.
 
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: do a walk-a-thon then go out for Indian food and have apple pie for dessert. 

22. My illness has taught  is teaching me: to ask for help, to accept help, and to be creative about what I can do.

23. One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "Oh, I thought just a little bit of spice would be ok for you!" AAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

24. But I love it when people: 1) offer to help without expecting anything in return and,  2) ask me how I am because they really want to know and they care about me.

25. My favorite motto, quote that gets me through tough times is: I don't have one.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Don't just sit back and accept it; see doctors, talk to them but also do your own research and ask questions. Look for help, accept help, be creative with solutions to your problems. Don't give up.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: people's reactions, especially my own family. I've been amazed at who has stood by me and who has failed me. 

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: surprise me with assistance and recently, I received a most unexpected gift by an unexpected person.


29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: Invisible is not good enough; all invisible illnesses, common and rare, need to become visible. 

 30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: encouraged that you took the time to read and to think about the topic.