Adjusting

I have a doctor's appointment Thursday to discuss the severity of my various allergies and perhaps to find more resources. I've gone through a bunch of cookbooks, found a few substitutions for common corn products, and have calmed down considerably. While daunting, avoiding corn, peanuts, and sesame seeds is highly doable, and I don't have to utterly change my diet.

I may end up baking all of my bread products (except sour dough) from scratch. Foods of the Oriental persuasion will be the most difficult, as most every sauce has an ingredient I should avoid. Eating out may end up being too much of a hassle, especially fast foods. Seriously, the ONLY item on the McDonald's menu that I can eat is a side salad sans dressing. I'm so not a salad fan.

The best thing I can do is to make all my own food from scratch using only fresh ingredients. Good thing I like to cook! My need to avoid corn should actually lead to a healthier diet, which is a good thing.

I still need to look for corn-free ketchup, but I can also make my own if I must. I still have a corn section for everyone else. After all, it's foolish to throw out perfectly good food that someone still wants to eat. I plan to go shopping on Saturday and stock up on corn-free staples, though of course I need to plan a menu before I head out, and I'm also thinking about asking for babysitting.

The older two are still enjoying telling me what I can't eat, so I plan to have them help me read labels. Fun stuff.

Overwhelmed

A couple of hours ago I got the results of my allergy tests. I'm allergic to quite a few trees and grasses, which is why I'm constantly congested. Specifically, I'm allergic to Timothy grass, Russian thistle, Ragweed (which is in many, many pesticides, by the way), mugwort, Bermuda grass, sycamore, alder, white birch, American elm, and oaks.

I also have three food allergies: peanuts, sesame seeds, and corn. Corn is in EVERYTHING!!!!! Everything. I need to watch out for any ingredient that says corn (like corn starch and corn syrup), and many that don't contain the word corn. The list includes caramel, any non-specified starch, dextrose, sorbitol (in most toothpastes), dextrin, treacle, fructose, vegetable gum, maltodextrin, vinegar, unspecified malts, xanthan gum, baking powder, bleached flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar, excipients (pretty much any pill), invert sugar or syrup, mono- and di- glycerides, MSG, sucrose, vanilla extract (contains corn syrup), zein, and unspecific vegetables.

I even have to be wary of plastic wrap.

I can't have most breads or store-bought cookies.

I need a few days to comprehend and adjust to this.

I need to get more details from my doctor as to the severity of my allergies, because I'm allergic to what seems like everything.

I was worried about Celiac Disease, but I think this may be worse.

How am I supposed to bake?

Actually, I'm very thankful to my FNP. I told him that I'd found a condition that would explain all the symptoms that have been troubling me over the years, and even though he'd never heard of the condition (Allergic Tension Fatigue Syndrome), he went ahead and tested me for food allergies.

I'm also thankful to http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com which led me to find the condition. It's really neat and fun for those of us who like to play "House."

Anyway, I'm overwhelmed and will have to drastically change my diet.

Waiting again

I'm waiting on new lab results that will tell me what I'm allergic to. Recently I've had more headaches, fatigue, congestion, and stomach problems, all which may very well be caused by allergies. I'm also waiting on a repeat of my vitamin B12 level, as it increased about 1000 units in 3 months (on a much less rigorous regimen of shots than normally prescribed, as my doctor considered my 20 mile drive in the equation).

Weirdly, I tried calling my doctor just now, but my phone wouldn't complete the call, supposedly by "customer request." WTF? So now I have to deal with the automatons with the phone service and be on hold forever when all I want to do is talk to my doctor. I hate so-called customer service lines.

Stuck

I've started a couple of series of books that are supernatural in nature with a female lead character. The series I've been reading are: Anita Blake, Merry Gentry, Mercy Thompson, and Rachel Morgan. Anita Blake started out wondering if she was becoming a psychopath and now is pretty much smut. Merry Gentry was always smut, but smut that lead to magic. Mercy Thompson somehow remains a mellow read, despite the violence of the werewolves. Rachel Morgan started out rather intriguing, someone muddling their way through a rather complicated life.

Now I'm stuck in the middle of book 3, Every Which Way but Dead. I've realized that Rachel seems to be a thoughtless victim. While life swirls on around her, she'd be unable to survive without her friends, but she seems to have a talent for upsetting them. At this point, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to continue reading the book I'm on, let alone the series.

Misery

I'm on day two of a killer headache, complete with nausea and hypersensitivity to noise and light. Headaches like these make life really difficult and I get them every couple of months. I'm not sure why. They don't seem to be migraines
(migraine medication has made headaches worse in the past), and I thought Depo-Provera was supposed to keep hormones from fluctuating much. I've had terrible headaches from estrogen levels before. Right now it's barely in check, and I have to keep reminding the kids to be super-quiet today. I want to find out why I have headaches and prevent them, because treating them doesn't work as well as I'd like. I'm tempted to go to a walk-in clinic for treatment. I may still.

On Reading

Palin is the anti-feminist. I think most people know that, but she was branded a feminist simply for being a woman in office. No, she's an instrument of patriarchy, making reproductive choices while dreaming of killing that choice for other women.

I've mellowed on the issue of her parenting Trig. She keeps him close and nurses him, and that is what babies need, especially one as young as he is. Still think she was nuts at flying back to Alaska, but perhaps she's always had super-long labors. Who knows.

Anyway, I'm embarking on a reading jag right now, and plan to read a bunch of feminist tomes, specifically the anthologies Making Face, Making Soul and The Feminist Memoir Project. I think I need to remember the past, the past I haven't lived, and rejoice in the present. This election's really getting me down.

I voted

After all the furor over electronic voting machines and how negative votes have been recorded, I ended up choosing to become a permanent absentee voter. I now get a ballot mailed to me that I have to return by voting day. I can either mail it early or drop it off at one of the polls. It's kind of peaceful to vote in the comfort of my own home, and I ended up googling the candidates for my local elections.

I did vote prior to the last debate, but the debate really didn't sway me anyway. McCain came off as the blatant misogynist that he is: he certainly has no regard for the health or earnings of women. Reminds me of kitchen, church, children.

On a lighter note, I watched the finale of Project Runway, and disagreed with the judges (what else is new?). I thought Korto should have won. Her collection showed much more variety and color. I enjoy Leanne, but her collection was just too much of the same. Kenley had quite a variety, but I prefer clothes that are a little more real. Hers seemed to belong to the fantasy realm, and I didn't understand the oversized shapes.