Regular Headaches

I had some headaches this week that weren't migraines.  This is extremely unusual for me. I had them because my head hurt.  But to explain this, I'll have to back up a bit.

I have sensitivities.  I tried for years to pretend these sensitivities didn't exist, but learned eventually to treat them with care.

I have sensitive skin.  "Medicated" lotions hurt my skin.  I need extra emolient lotions, such as those with shea butter, to soothe my skin.  Jojoba oil also works well.

I have sensitive teeth.  I brush daily with Sensodyne and occasionally use the prescription toothpase my dentist gives me.  After any procedure, such as a cap or a filling, the affected tooth is extra-sensitive for weeks.

I have a sensitive scalp.  Many shampoos make my head itch.  I use Sebulex occasionally to fight the weepy rash that forms at the crown.  Enough about that.

And my food-processing system is also sensitive. I'm lactose-intolerant. I've got seasonal allergies and some food allergies. I'm allergic to Midol. I've got exercise-induced asthma.  I am big fun on vacation, where I can't walk too far and have to quiz waiters on the contents of my food.

But worst of all is my sensitive skin.  It's virtually translucent except for the freckles.  And when my immigrant parents, who survived World War II, found themselves living in Charleston, South Carolina in the early Sixties, they spent ages at the beach soaking up the sun and the surf.  Me, I burned to a crisp.  I remember burns that gave me fevers, chills, and shivers.  At the time, the only treatment was to apply cold cream and wait it out.

I was eleven when I noticed the first strange bump:  a pearlized patch of skin with a slight depression in the center.  It sat there, to the right of my nose, neither changing nor healing, until I was nineteen and living in a college dorm.  I'd exit the shower to the sounds of other girls crying "Ewww..."  My spot had bled in the shower.  And it wasn't standard facial bleeding.  Instead of a trickle of red blood, a single dark droplet hung from the depressed center of my bump.  I appeared to be leaking motor oil.

That was my first basal cell carcinoma.  It's very unusual to notice a bump at age eleven.  BCC is common among Senior Citizens, not sixth-graders.  The BCC is the most benign of the skin cancers, and when it's not a pearly bump it's a sore that won't heal.  I've now had a total of five of these, and two required follow-up surgery.  This past week, I had the second of the two follow-up surgeries.  Also, I turned fifty-two, so I'm finally the 'right' age to get these things.

Most spots are no big deal, but this BCC sat between the bridge of my nose and my right eye, where there's very little extra skin to work with.  Removal required the expertise of a dermatologist AND an opthamologist.

On day one, I went to Group Health to have the cancer removed and examined by the dermatologist.  First, they gave me lidocaine.  I have a love/hate relationship with lidocaine.  It's significantly better than the novocaine that made me cry and made my teeth chatter.  But it still burns, and I still need more shots than the average person.  (Irony:  I'm apparently not "sensitive" where lidocaine is concerned.)  The doctor took one layer out, examined it, and found cancer cells at one edge.  So she went in again for another layer, and examined that one.  It was clear on all sides.  They bandaged me up and sent me home.

On day two, I went to Virginia Mason for the stitches from the opthamologist.  More lidocaine, but this time the nurse massaged me a bit during the shots.  Also, when the doctor began "undermining," he hit a spot that wasn't numbed.  Eeek!!  More lidocaine!  Undermining is just what it sounds like:  the doctor separates the skin around the wound from the layer underneath it, which allows him to pull the sparse skin together.  This is what causes the eventual swelling.  Fortune smiled on us that day:  he thought he would need to grab a skin patch from my eyelid, but was instead able to simply close the wound.

The following day was a bit of a blur.  My right eye swelled completely shut and the skin of my eyelid and its environs turned a lovely shade of fuschia.  I spent most of the day with a cloth-covered ice cube on my eyelid, though when I removed it my eyelid and the bridge of my nose still felt hot to the touch.  I took a Percocet, and took a nap.

Today, the swelling is down, but the color remains.  I'm still pressing an ice cube on the area, but it's no longer hot to the touch.  I was told to avoid reading and the computer and television (leaving what, I wondered) and noticed that if I tried to do any of the three it hurt, like a "regular headache."

So there you go.  Now I know what it's like to get a regular headache.

So what do you eat??

My biggest worry about eating no carbs (and let's clear one thing up right away:  I have been eating some low-carb fruit.  I'm eating *virtually* no carbs.  But it's extremely difficult to eat *no* carbs.)

Where was I?

Right--my biggest worry about this eating plan was that I didn't know what I'd eat for my meals.

Breakfast was a challenge.  I had been eating natural peanut butter on whole wheat toast for ages, and was reluctant to give it up.  A friend happened to mention that she ate frozen blueberries on cottage cheese, so I tried it.  I love it!  And eating it each morning is no more or less boring than eating peanut butter on whole wheat toast.  While they are in season, I'm adding fresh raspberries and strawberries.

I usually eat some leftovers for lunch, but worried I wouldn't have enough leftovers.  We keep frozen hamburger patties on hand, and these make the perfect lunch.  I cook mine in my Cuisinart grill (I love this thing), top it with cheddar cheese, and eat it with a sliced tomato or a packet of edamame.  This is so filling and satisfying that I often don't want dinner.

For our dinners, my husband and I are eating many of the same things night after night.  But that's OK for now.  We'll grill some steaks or some salmon (thank you, Costco) with sauteed onions.  Some nights, we throw chicken breasts in the Cuisinart and eat them with peanut sauce.  We are glad we can continue to eat my home-made Caesar salads (my dressing is lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, garlic, parmesan, salt, and pepper).  We keep field greens and tomatoes on hand to make salads with our leftover meat.  Recently I made Beef Stroganoff and served it without the noodles.  Wonderful!  There are other meals that we normally eat over rice or mashed potatoes or pasta that we can still eat:  Chicken Marsala.  Garlic Chicken.  The possibilities are endless, and I expect we will eat them when the weather cools.

If we're not particularly hungry at mealtime, we often make up a batch of tuna salad and eat it with celery.  Of course, celery and peanut butter makes a fine snack.  We eat beef jerky or cheese or nuts.  These snacks are so filling that we seldom find ourselves wanting more.

I still miss juice.  I haven't had soda in ages, and had turned to lemonade and apple juice (cut with half water) to quench my thirst.  Right now it's water, herbal tea, or coffee.  Once I've lost some weight, I will try to add this particular carb back in.

But that's really all I miss.  And I don't miss the headaches.

Can you really live without carbs?

I think many people avoid this diet because it's so hard to imagine life without that familiar bowl of cereal for breakfast.  It's hard to think of a lunch sans sandwich.  And so many wonderful dinner entrees sit on a bed of pasta or rice.  Finally, there's that dessert.  We love our desserts.  Giving all this up sounds hard.

But you know what's hard?  Giving up alcohol was hard.  It's a social activity.  Whenever I got together with co-workers after work, they sneered when I didn't order wine.  They'd ask why I was drinking water or juice.  It feels weird.  But I learned to be brief.  "I have migraines," I'd say.  Then, they'd ask about the headaches instead of my weird beverage choices.

When I confirmed that soy sauce and processed meats really do give me headaches, I thought it would be hard to give them up.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, where we love our teriyaki chicken.  Our family probably got some form of teriyaki take-out three times a month.  Or more.  And giving up processed meats meant giving up those healthy Subway sandwiches that my children loved.  Well, guess what?  Not having headaches is pretty fun, too.

Having my period without the associated migraine is also fun.  And that's what I get from eating no-carb.  Virtually no headaches.

Sure, I miss sugar.  I mainlined hot tea with sugar for years.  But I can drink it without.  I miss my square of dark chocolate after meals.  But I can live without it.  And I really miss fruit juice.  That's going to be the first thing I add back in once I have lost some weight.  But I'm full after each meal.  And if I'm not, I eat a piece of cheese.

I'm not getting headaches.  I can live without the carbs.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today was my birthday but as it's a Thursday the full celebration is still to come.

On Monday two dear friends made me a lovely dinner.  I ate a piece of delicious artisan bread and had some three-bean salad but otherwise stayed carb free.  I happily ate a serving of strawberry shortcake, knowing one treat wouldn't destroy a whole eating plan.

Today I had lunch with my mother-in-law and daughter at a local Thai restaurant.  No Thai iced tea or coffee; the sugar can't be removed.  But my Swimming Rama was pretty carb free:  spinach, chicken, peanut sauce.  Though that sauce tasted pretty sweet.

The birthday meal will be served on Saturday when my son is home.  He's bringing my mom over and I'm hoping he'll smoke some ribs I got at Costco earlier this week.  And there may be a delicious dessert.

Otherwise, this eating plan suits me.  I'm not craving anything (except for fruit juice) and I don't seem to be getting any headaches.

Yippee!

Olympics Headaches

I woke up Sunday and Monday mornings with headaches and finally figured out why.

When I woke Sunday, I felt sure the barometer must have dropped.  This diet has kept headaches at bay so well; why would I have one on a weekend morning?

Then this morning, I woke up with an even worse headache.

And then it hit me:  both nights I had failed to go to bed at the same time as usual, and both mornings I woke up many hours after normal.

That going to bed and rising at the same time trigger really affects me.  I need to remember it before I stay up later, even if it's to watch the Olympics.

Weight loss? Uh, not really.

I remain frustrated with the needle on my scale.

But that's the only problem I have with this carb-free diet.

I've been virtually headache-free since starting it.

I haven't wanted a nap since I started eating this way.

And I feel thinner.  I feel as if clothes are not as tight.  Am I hallucinating?  I don't know.