Summer is here. Things are quiet and settled. I am redoing my kitchen. This weekend we started the demolition. Then we did the wiring. We are getting all the pieces in place so when the cabinets come, it will be a go. My hope is that they do not arrive the same day that Pepper has her puppies. Hopefully, we can coordinate everything. These classes will begin the week of June 25, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is our foundation class to get you started. Learn all four parts of step 1 in a structured way. Learn how to progress through them with enjoyment. Let us support getting your program off to a fabulous start. Resource Center Tour is another one of our free walking tours through the website. This one takes you through the resource center. Explore all the nooks and crannies and discover things you did not know were there. Radiant Store Tour is a free guided tour of the store. David will be leading this class so if you want to get to know the guy that makes it all work, come sign up. This is his first teaching experience, so you can show your support for the work he does to keep you happy. These classes will begin the week of July 2, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 2: Journaling: An Introduction will teach you the basics of journaling. The class will give you step by step instructions in how to record your food and feelings in a way that gets you excited. Learning About Depression is a key class for the Potatoes Not Prozac crowd. Learn in-depth information on the kinds of depression, why drugs will or will not work, how they work and how Doing the Food can help. Using the Resources of the Community is for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around town. Come sit on the top of our double decker bus for a guided tour. And even if you are not brand new, this is a really fun class to reconnect with all the treats of the community. The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled. A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online and you do not have to be at your computer at any set time. It does not matter whether you are in the US, Europe, the Far East or Australia, you simply respond on your own time. And although I advertise that the classes are one or two weeks, sometimes we are a little flexible and they may run longer. And please go read the questions and answers before you write to me. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum. Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery® website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
June 25, 2007 ** Quote From Kathleen **
You don't have to work through your self-esteem and take care of feelings your whole life. You just do the food and the feelings will take care of themselves. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
And something I thought I would never have the time for or use - meditation. I hear you on the work and kids, but I've worked my way up to 5 minutes now and it's like putting "Calm" into the bank. It sort of works all day I think - not the 5 mins I actually do. Mosiac ********************************************************************
**Radiant Kitchen**
Cabbage, Apple & Cheddar SlawRecipe yields about 8 to 10 servingsDressing Ingredients:
In a blender, combine vinegar, sesame oil, mustard, soy sauce and cinnamon; blend until smooth. While blender is running, slowly add olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Add enough dressing to coat salad well and toss together until well combined. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Serve and enjoy! (adapted to be program friendly, original recipe from the Cabot Cheese newsletter) ********************************************************************
**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. We have just started the new Weight Loss Readiness Class. Wahoo, what a wonderful group we have! If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun. ********************************************************* ***********
**Radiant Recovery Store **
David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son. Thought I'd share that Alex blended up 6g of George Jr with chocolate almond milk and then she said it wasn't a good temperature. I told her we could cool it down with ice or heat it up. She liked the idea of hot chocolate, so we heated and she LOVED it. Hooray! Now, I need to go and find some more almond milk and she says she'll keep adding more George Jr until she gets up to the right amount. Thanks for all the ideas and support!
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Radiant Dog and Radiant Cat are two new working groups for people who want to do health problem solving for their cats and dogs. Separate groups for each, since we KNOW that dog people don't need to know about litter boxes and cat people don’t care about the Dog Whisperer. ********************************************************************
**Major Surgery From a Step 7 Perspective**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. One of our seasoned leaders recently had a hip replacedment. She was writing emails all the way through - almost from the recovery room. I asked her to put them together for all of us. I can think of no great testament to the program than this story. Print this and keep it for anyone who has to have surgery. I may even ask Vicki to do a class with me on *getting ready* for change. I hope you love this article as much as I do. Vicki is my role model. Kathleen About three months ago, I discovered that I was in need of a total hip replacement of my right hip. My initial reaction to my doctor’s news was a combination of disbelief and denial, I just did not like any of the options that were offered, and the only logical one was the surgery. So, rather than get depressed and pout, I got to work. I came home and got onto my computer and started to do some research about what my options might be as regards to both the kind of surgery and the type of prostheses that might be best for me. I discovered that they now have some ceramic prostheses that are supposed to last 50 years. That sounded really good to me. I figured that at 110 I wouldn’t be too worried if my hip gave out then. (grin) Gaining knowledge was important for me as I felt that I now had the right questions to ask. My next quest was to find the right doctor. I spoke with many people and also some nurses to get the names of the top hip surgeons in my area. I made appointments with a couple and selected the one who I was most comfortable with who offered me a new minimally invasive procedure and ceramic on ceramic prosthesis, which is what I had determined I wanted. His nurse followed up and gave me a surgery date of May 17th. This was perfect, as far as I was concerned, because I was going to Ranch the week of May 7th through the 13th. There was no way I was going to miss Ranch – this was my 6th one and a definite priority for me. Now, Kathleen made sure that I rented this cool little electric scooter to get around while at Ranch, and man, was that fun! This was a time for me to get filled up and to get lots of support sent to me from my friends around the world. Once all of this was decided, I started to work on me. I increased my meditation to 2 or 3 times a day and focused on preparing my body for the trauma that was to come followed by the healing. Kathleen then gave me a wonderful book called, "Prepare for Surgery and Heal Fasterz" by Peggy Huddleston. This is a fabulous guide to mind/body preparation for surgery. I highly recommend it. I also continued to go to the gym to work with a personal trainer three times a week to strengthen the muscles around that hip as much as I possibly could before the surgery. I took two of the suggestions from Peggy Huddleston’s book and quickly ran out to get myself an iPod, something I hadn’t thought I wanted before. I loaded some of my favorite relaxing music and my body just immediately went into a meditative state when I put it on. I also used some suggestions from the book about having the anesthesiologist (a classmate of my daughter in high school!) read some specific, positive statements to me both at the beginning of the procedure and also at the end. I was able to go into surgery totally relaxed with no fear or anxiety. I listened to my music before, during and after my surgery. I woke in the recovery room as relaxed and calm as I had gone into the operating room. I cannot believe the peace and confidence I felt. Now came the hard part – recovery. (smile) Of course, there were drugs in my system that I was not used to. I had tubes and wires in many parts of me as well. But, I felt great and was prepared for the work ahead. I knew that the first day I would be limited to clear liquids, so had some chicken broth and my favorite herbal tea waiting for me in my room. The next morning, I was able to get up and walk a little before sitting in a chair. I was doing well enough that they let me start to eat again. Pre-planning helped again. I had my almond milk, shake mix and travel mixer on hand. I used a small shake at each meal and had a little egg or other food that my family provided for me as well. I had listed dextrose as one of the allergies on my forms, so the nurses had to make sure that I only had IV’s without dextrose and had to order my antibiotics to be mixed in saline and not dextrose. Several of them asked me about this and I ended up giving out the Radiant Recovery website to about 3 or 4 of them. They were really intrigued with my attitude and how well I was doing. Guess I had some radiance shining through even then, especially compared to my roommate, who was not having a very good time. I left the hospital for a rehab center on the 3rd post op day. I had the food I wanted to have available set aside at home along with a suitcase with clothes in it and my wonderful husband brought it all to my room. In rehab, again, I provided all of my own meals. I was there only to learn what I needed to from the physical and occupational therapists to be able to be independent enough to come home. Let me tell you – hospitals and rehab centers, at least the ones I was in, are NOISY! I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Three days later, I did come home. That was truly heaven. My molecules just sang a happy song when I settled into my own surroundings. I had the luxury of having one or the other of my daughters with me for the first week that I was home. Kim, who lives locally and is the mother of my grandsons, had let her Principal (she teaches) know that she might be taking some time to help me out. She picked me up at 2 pm on Tuesday and stayed with me until Jeff got home. She also was here early on Wednesday morning to spend the day with me. We even sat out on my deck in the beautiful spring weather. Bliss. Tracy, my daughter who lives on the opposite side of the country, and her partner arrived on Wednesday evening. They took over the job of spoiling me and took wonderful care of me, shopping, cooking, cleaning and helping me with my exercises. Tracy is also a massage therapist, so I had the advantage of her healing hands as well. The girls left this morning, but they made sure to fill my refrigerator with lots of great food that I can grab and eat independently. It is now two weeks post my surgery. There have been crashes, but it helped knowing that they were day 3 from surgery, or day 4 from when they took out the epi-dural, which was feeding me constant pain medication. And, this first week at home has been a little overwhelming with all the people in my home at all times, with the girls staying here and lots of company from family and friends as well. It was kind of like Grand Central Station around here. And, I had a pretty major complication due to a known allergy to betadyne, which they used on my leg anyway. So, more meds (prednisone and benadryl) to treat this. Fortunately, I am now off all medications other than an occasional ibuprofen. That and some ice seem to be all that I need to control any discomfort from my physical therapy. Man, is this therapy a lot of work! I had a new physical therapist come to my home today, and he looked at how well I am doing and just gave me more to do. LOL So, now I have several exercises that he wants me to do 3 sets of 25 every day. Oh, and WALK! I’ve started walking on my treadmill again so that the weather is not a factor. Takes away the excuses. So, I’m walking around my house a lot (to the bathroom) and at least 1/4 mile once or twice a day on the treadmill. He expects to send me to outpatient PT next week. This is hard work. But, I planned to be serious and aggressive with my rehab, so the physical therapists are warning me not to overdo. Finding the right balance is my goal. The things I think I did best were the pre-planning about the surgery, my food and my personal care. I’ve been careful to eat more fruit than normal for me. It has been really important for me in keeping my cravings from all the meds and the surgery from going crazy. What I could have done better was to make sure that I had more quiet time after surgery. I am now meditating again and it sure feels great. I am enjoying the peace and quiet in my home today. I have discovered how to do laundry without bending or challenging my restrictions by using my "grabber" as an assistant. And, I’m getting better at telling people that it is now nap time. I am needing at least one nap a day. So, what I’d like to leave you with is that life can throw you a huge curve in the form of a major surgery and you don’t have to feel like a victim. You can be in charge of your care and make your health care providers your partner in this process. Challenges will come up, but they don’t have to throw you. Finding and using my voice in this entire process has been very empowering. And, I am getting better every day. ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2007. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together: Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster, puts it all together Naomi gathers the recipes. David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have. You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recovery® in response to your signup. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter.htm. ©2007 by Kathleen DesMaisons . All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your ezine or website as long as you leave the content unaltered and use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®. Please visit Kathleen's website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction." Please notify me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com to let me know where the material will appear. Banner Photograph by Patti Holden, Step 7 |
