Health Update

What a difference a year makes.  When I think back to last year, I was in such a bad place with my health.  I had been diagnosed with adenomyosis in the Spring of 2018.  That summer I had tried to get an IUD to alleviate my symptoms, but my body had an AWFUL response to it, so I had it removed after only 10 days.  After that, my periods just got worse each month.  In October of 2018, I went to the ER because I was having some scary symptoms from my excessive bleeding.  I was home alone with both boys needing to take Owen to preschool, but I honestly didn’t feel safe driving.  My friend Lindsey offered to come get him, and when she saw me she didn’t think I looked well.  I called my OB’s office and the triage nurse advised me to go to the ER.  After she told me that I recall crying and saying, “Okay thanks I love you.” (Clearly I was delirious, lol!)

To add to the stress of my ER visit, I had to cancel a Little Cardboard Rocket Books and Baking class that I was hosting at my house the next day.  From that point on, I was forced to plan my life around my stupid period and could no longer be relied upon for anything one week out of every month.  I even had tickets to fly to Kansas City to surprise my life-long best friend on her birthday and meet her twin baby girls for the first time, but had to cancel the trip at the very last minute due to my period.  I could not continue to live my life that way, so my OB advised I get a hysterectomy.  (I think at one point I even threatened to rip out my uterus myself!)

I went as far as receiving the letter from my insurance company saying I had been approved since the procedure was deemed “medically necessary.”  I was even in contact with the surgery scheduler hoping to get it scheduled in the Spring of 2019.  Despite all my pain and suffering I had been through, though, I just did not find myself at peace with the decision to get a hysterectomy at age 33.  On the contrary, being faced with a looming hysterectomy actually sent me into a bad depressive state which forced me to go back to my full dosage of anxiety meds I had been trying to wean off of.

My friend Diana had suggested I make an appointment with a naturopath who she had recently seen herself.  Her name is Dr. Katie Rose, and she specializes in balancing women’s hormones.  Diana insisted I would just love her, and she was right!  When I first met with Dr. Rose, she said “Adenomyosis is a very difficult condition to treat, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”  Those were hard words to hear, but at the same time they also made me feel validated for all I had been through and that my pain and suffering wasn’t all just in my head.  I left Dr. Rose’s office that day feeling like if there was any medical professional out there her would be able to help me, she was it.

Naturopathic medicine is very different than traditional Western medicine.  For one, it is not covered by insurance in the state of Arizona.  That is especially hard for someone like me to swallow who makes exactly $0/year as a stay-at-home-mom.  It is extremely frustrating that insurance will pay thousands of dollars for me to get a major surgery, but won’t pay a few hundred dollars to cover some appointments and supplements.  With all that being said, though, the cost has been MORE than worth it!!!

I was terrified that Dr. Rose was going to make me do an entire overhaul on my diet.  When I had Googled ‘adenomyosis diet,’ I read “No coffee. No alcohol. No exceptions.”  My immediate thought was, “Welp, looks like I’m just going to have to get that hysterectomy!”  Thankfully, Dr. Rose initially said I didn’t have to give anything up at all!  Instead, she just advised I eat at least 2 servings/day of vegetables from the Brassica family the week before my period. (Broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc.)  That was more than doable!  Also, she prescribed several different supplements to help not only with balancing my hormones, but also to help me with my sleep issues that I’ve had since becoming a mom.  For the first time in my life, I was being treated as a whole patient rather than just for my individual symptoms!

Dr. Rose ordered a blood test to check my hormone levels and various blood counts.  The lab results revealed that I have a high level of thyroid antibodies.  Though my thyroid itself has been functioning just fine, the antibodies suggest that it will eventually be destroyed if I don’t make changes to my lifestyle to bring down the level of antibodies.  In other words, I have asymptomatic Hashimoto’s disease.  The same person who referred me to Dr. Rose, my friend Diana, has suffered from Hashimoto’s disease for the last 3+ years.  If it wasn’t for seeing what all she has been through, I probably wouldn’t have been motivated to make my own lifestyle changes.  I have known Diana for over 5 years, so I saw how much Hashimoto’s has changed and affected her life.  If it wasn’t for Diana, I probably wouldn’t have taken Dr. Rose seriously when she suggested I give up gluten and start limiting dairy in order to reduce my thyroid antibodies.  I have never been one to restrict my diet in any way shape or form, yet I am proud to say that I have given up my life-long addiction to cow’s milk, and I have been strictly gluten-free for the past 6 months!  (Okay, so I might have made an exception for my brother’s amazing wedding cake this past July, but I think that was more than justified.)

Within days of first starting the dietary restrictions, we made a trip to visit friends and family in Kansas.  We stayed with my life-long friend Kristina who had recently become a Beachbody coach.  When she first got started with Beachbody, my thoughts were “NOOOOO!!!  One of my best friends is now drinking the Kool-Aid of an MLM!”  However, I had been curious about Beachbody since one of my close Tucson friends, Laura, has gotten in amazing shape since starting the workout programs over 3 years ago.  I had asked how much she pays to get access to the workouts, and was shocked to learn it only costs $100 for an entire year of unlimited access.  Therefore, I told Kristina that I wanted to try working out with her and her husband Zach while we were staying with them.  I absolutely loved it.  After only two days of 30-minute workouts from their 21-Day Fix program, I was super sore.  That told me: 1.) The workouts must have been good, and 2.) I was definitely out of shape.  I couldn’t wait to sign up and get started once I got home!

In the last 133 days since starting Beachbody, I have gotten in 124 workouts.  That means I have worked out nearly every single day, and each of my workouts has only cost me about 80 cents.  With 232 days still left in the year, I am obviously getting my money’s worth!  I actually used the cost as a big motivating factor for me to get into the habit of working out in the first place.  On Day 1, my workout cost me $100.  On Day 2, it cost $50.  On Day 3 it cost $33, and so on and so on until I’m now down to paying just cents to workout each day.  I certainly wouldn’t be able to get as much of my money’s worth from any kind of a gym membership.  Plus as a mom of young children, it is SO hard to find time to get out of the house to work out.  More often than not, one or both of my boys is right there with me as I am doing my workout.  At first they used to be all up in my business and I had to constantly get after them to get out of my space or else they’d get hit with a weight, etc, but now they mostly leave me alone since they are used to seeing me workout.

Another reason Beachbody workouts are so much more doable for me than going to a gym is because they are only 30 minutes.  Who doesn’t have 30 minutes???  Plus it’s not like I have to take the time to get all dressed up and drive anywhere.  Half the time I workout barefoot in my pajamas.  Frankly, it eliminates my ability to make excuses since the workouts can be done at anytime and anywhere without the need for childcare.  I tried the whole “getting up early before the kids” thing to get my workout in, but I learned that means the kids just tend to wake up even earlier.  Instead, I’ve learned I actually prefer to workout after I’ve had a chance to wake up, drink my morning coffee and eat breakfast.  I seem to have far more energy at that time.

I should also share that around the same time that I learned of my high thyroid antibodies, I received my latest 23&Me report revealing that I am genetically predisposed to Type 2 diabetes.  This wasn’t very shocking since it runs on both sides of my family.  However, it was yet another piece of information that gave me the kick in the pants to finally make some serious lifestyle changes.  If there is one thing I’ve learned from all that I have been through, it’s DON’T LET YOUR NON-DEBILITATING HEALTH ISSUES DEBILITATE YOU!  I thought adenomyosis was debilitating for me.  Whenever I was on period a year ago, I was usually bedridden for about 2-3 days.  The last thing I would have ever wanted to do at that time is workout.  However, I have since discovered that after I begin my workouts, my pain and cramping almost immediately goes away.  It often returns shortly after I stop working out, so as it turns out I’m actually MORE motivated to workout when I’m on my period!

As I type this, I am less than 30 minutes away from my scheduled follow-up lab work.  These past 6 months of lifestyle changes all lead up to this one blood test.  On one hand, I am secretly hoping that my thyroid antibodies haven’t changed at all so I can go back to eating all the gluten I know and love.  However, my true hope is that I have been able to successfully reduce the level of thyroid antibodies so I don’t have to worry about my thyroid as a “ticking time bomb.”  Plus, it would be pretty discouraging if these past 6 months of lifestyle changes and dietary restrictions hasn’t proven to be helpful according to my bloodwork.

Even if the bloodwork doesn’t reveal any changes, though, I know for a fact that it has all been worth it!   I am in the best shape of my life.  I feel great.  I am sleeping well.  I am in a very happy place.  My period no longer controls my life.  I am no longer in need of a hysterectomy at this time.  The fact that I have been able to eliminate the need for a MAJOR SURGERY just by making healthy lifestyle changes is something I am very proud of!  I have so many people to thank for getting me through this past year.  Whether I have mentioned you in this post or not, please know how much I appreciate all the love and support I’ve received from my family and friends throughout this very challenging year.  I am eternally grateful for you all!

My Family's Financial History Part 1

As I’ve been working on my paperwork for the Budget Teacher, I can’t help but reflect on my lifelong financial history which has had such a substantial impact on where we stand with our finances today.  For starters, my parents instilled in me from a very early age to avoid debt at all costs. This is a value that had been instilled in them by their own parents as well. My maternal grandfather was an incredibly hard-working self-employed antique car upholster.  His work was renowned, something my family continues to be proud of to this day even 17 years after he passed away. If you do a Google Image Search for “Paul Matz antique cars,” you will see several photos of antique cars with his name cited for his pristine reupholstery work.  My grandfather truly earned every last penny he made with each precise stitch and tuft. With my grandma as a homemaker and my grandfather tirelessly running his own business, my mother’s family certainly was never rich, but they also never found themselves struggling financially either.  All in all, they were very smart with their money.

My dad’s family’s story is quite different.  Similarly, though, my paternal grandfather was a self-employed crop duster.  With the wealth he saved from crop dusting, he purchased his own trailer court and ran the business himself.  Unlike my mom’s father, my dad’s father was extremely wealthy. It was well-known to our family that he was a millionaire, but outsiders would have never known it because he was such a penny pincher.  My dad grew up in a small run-down home. Right next to that same crumbling dilapidated home, my grandfather and grandmother lived in a double-wide trailer until the time each of them passed away. My grandfather died in 1997, but my grandmother didn’t pass away until 2009.  Sometime within those 12 years, my grandmother managed to spend nearly all of my grandfather’s acquired wealth. I certainly don’t blame her, though. My grandfather could not have been an easy person to live with for all those years. I can’t imagine what it was like to live so stingy for so long knowing they were more than capable of having more.  

After my grandfather passed away, my grandma almost immediately purchased a brand new car.  Nothing too fancy- just a Pontiac Grand Am. However, I don’t know if my grandma ever had the privilege of owning a new car up until that point.  She chose to remain living in the same double-wide trailer she had shared with my grandfather for so many years. It was the place she knew as “home.”  However, I know she spent a good chunk of change remodeling that double-wide from top to bottom. I also remember she carried an obscenely high insurance policy in the event anything would ever happen to her precious double-wide.  Another way in which my grandma enjoyed her new-found wealth is that she took the whole family...and even extended family and friends...out to eat very often. We could order whatever we wanted! I recall many trips to Red Lobster in which the table was filled with several Ultimate Feasts, and my teenage-self got to indulge in both a non-alcoholic pina colada AND key lime pie for dessert.  That was sure the life!

It wasn’t just my grandma’s spending that dwindled away my grandfather’s life savings.  Unfortunately she also had a gambling addiction. I don’t even want to think about how much of her money went to Harrah’s Casino or trips to Vegas.  As I shared earlier, I actually am grateful that she had the opportunity to spend money more freely after Grandpa passed away. However when Grandma suffered a stroke in 2004, the family quickly realized there wasn’t much money left to even cover her need for long-term healthcare.  For five years, my grandma spent time in and out of substandard care facilities, until my dad took on Grandma’s care full time for the last few years of her life. Although they made the best of it and seemed to genuinely enjoy their time spent together, that circumstance taught me that I absolutely never want to burden my own children with my care.  

Funny how different the financial circumstances were between my two sets of grandparents:  Both grandfathers were very hard working entrepreneurs, but my dad’s father had far more wealth than my mom’s father.  However, my mom’s family lived far more comfortably with their nice houses, nice cars and nice clothes. Yet, they always made smart financial decisions and never lived outside their means.  My dad’s family, on the other hand, lived very far below their means for a large portion of their lives.  

A very critical difference between the two sets of grandparents that had a HUGE impact on their last few years of both grandmother’s lives: My mom’s parents took out a long-term healthcare policy early on in the 1990’s.  My maternal grandfather never had a need for the policy since he passed away from glioblastoma, a very aggressive cancerous brain tumor. My maternal grandmother, however, most definitely used the policy. For nearly the last 3 years of her life, my grandma resided in a comfortable assisted living facility in Wichita, KS.  She had her own apartment with a kitchen, living room and separate bedroom and bathroom. It was furnished and decorated with all of her personal belongings. It wasn’t the most top-of-the-line assisted living facility and my grandma still had plenty of complaints, but all in all it was still quite nice. The best part of all: it was FULLY covered by her long-term care policy!

Most uninsured elderly adults who end up needing long-term care burn through their life savings pretty quickly, as was the case with my maternal grandmother.  (Although she had already burned through much of her money before she was in need of long-term care.) Long-term care policies were unbelievably affordable when my maternal grandparents took out their policy in the 

1990’s.  Unfortunately these days, though, long-term care policies are incredibly expensive and they usually only cover 3 years of care unlike the lifetime policies that were offered over 20 years ago.  However, I still think it’s incredibly important for older adults to purchase a long-term care policy. My maternal grandmother never had to dip into any of her personal money to cover her long-term care.  Therefore, that allowed both my mom to receive an inheritance. Shortly after my mom got her inheritance, she took out a long-term care policy for herself. That was by far the best gift she could have given to both my brother and me.

When I first started typing my story, I didn’t originally have the intention of preaching the importance of carrying a long-term healthcare policy.  However, it truly is oh so very important, and something all of us millennials should be encouraging our baby boomer parents to do. There is SO much more to my family’s financial story that I would like to share when I have the time.  But for now, I will you at this. To be continued...

One Year Post-Monat

Facebook reminded me that I had posted about my Monat experience exactly one year ago today, so I figured it was time for an update. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this story, my Monat experience is actually what inspired me to concern myself with safe beauty and create the Better Beauty Clean Up Facebook group. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that products I use on my body could so drastically affect my hormones! My original post got shared over 1,400 times. With that many shares, I can only imagine how many sets of eyes read it. I even received an email and phone call from a woman with ABC News. We’re talking the national news station out of New York, not local. While nothing ever came of it (so far anyway), it definitely presented me with the thought that I need to “Make my mess my message.” How fitting that quote came from Robin Roberts, an ABC News anchor. After having my story shared so many times, I received a countless number of messages from women all over the country who had similar experiences. Many of them thanked me for sharing my story since it allowed them to connect the dots themselves. One of the messages that stood out to me the most was a woman who said I may have actually saved her from getting hysterectomy! Little did I know that one year later I would be faced with a looming hysterectomy myself. As I shared in my original post, I was diagnosed with adenomyosis. While it’s not at all likely Monat caused me to have this condition, it’s very likely that it exacerbated it much quicker. Adenomyosis is a condition that is fed by estrogen, and the capixyl (i.e. red clover) contained in Monat acts as a phytoestrogen (i.e. fake estrogen). A simple Google search will explain what exactly adenomyosis is, and it will also tell you that the only true “cure” is either a hysterectomy or menopause. I hate to get into too many details about what I’ve been dealing with over the past year. Here’s the brief synopsis: Last summer I tried having a Mirena IUD placed, but I had a horrific experience with it and had it removed after only 10 days. Because birth control can sometimes help alleviate symptoms of adenomyosis, I decided to try the Nuvaring next. Well, that was in less than 48 hours before I could no longer take the pain it was causing me. (Note: I successfully used a Nuvaring in the past, but that was long before I had been diagnosed with adenomyosis.) Birth control just doesn’t not seem to work well with my body, so I was feeling all out of options. My OB had suggested trying a uterine ablation, but the fact that I’m still so young means it would likely only be helpful for a short time. She then recommended a hysterectomy. I got as far as receiving the approval letter from my health insurance as well as a phone call from the surgery scheduler, but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to move forward with it. Prior to all this I felt confident that I was done having kids, but the idea of having a hysterectomy at only 33 just hasn’t settled well with me. At all. Like I have lost SO much sleep over this, and been forced to increase my anxiety meds that I had been trying hard to wean off of. When it comes to making such a big decision, I believe it’s important to be at peace with that decision. I definitely am not. Not at this time anyway. I’m pleased to say that the last few months have been MUCH better for me for some reason. Still not great, but drastically better from the period that sent me to the ER back in November. Literally the only thing I’ve changed is that I’ve been consciously trying to consume only warm foods/beverages while on my period. This was recommended by a dear friend after she heard something about it on a podcast, and it certainly seems to be helping. Another dear friend recommended a local naturopath who specializes in balancing women’s hormones. I met with her for brief consultation last week, and decided if there’s anyone who could potentially help me it’s her. She told me that adenomyosis is a very tricky condition to treat, and a condition that she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy. Yikes. Not gonna lie, that was pretty tough to hear. I will meet with her in early March for a full appointment, but most likely she will recommend I take prescription progesterone along with having regular acupuncture treatments. I am so grateful she does acupuncture treatments because that was definitely an avenue I was planning to explore next. Those of you who have known me for awhile might recall when I dealt with horrific unexplained chronic pain after having my first child. Another long story short, I saw every kind of specialist, had a multitude of different tests and treatments, paid visits to both the Mayo Clinic and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix...but acupuncture ended up being what cured me and gave me my life back. The question is: Can the same miracle happen more than once? I suppose I’ll soon find out. As usual, I didn’t expect this to be nearly this long. I felt that I owed my Better Beauty Clean Up members an explanation as to why I haven’t put much energy into the group lately. I also feel like I owe my local friends an explanation as to why I may have seemed to fall off the face of the Earth recently. I’m usually the kind of person who is constantly getting people together, hosting parties and playdates, etc. The majority of my interactions with friends these days are spur of the moment, because I just don’t know how I’m going to feel if I make plans too far in advance. For that same reason, I have shifted my role at Little Cardboard Rocket and have just been serving as assistant. I can’t be relied upon at all for a good 5-7 days each month, and it really sucks that it has even caused me to cancel a few much-anticipated trips. I certainly can’t keep living my life between periods, so I REALLY hope I can somehow find relief. Above all, I am mostly just striving for peace of mind.