Work Life Balance - Children, Career, Marriage, Finances, Social Life

Here I am blogging about "Work Life Balance" when its been over 5 months since my last post!

As you see, I've been consumed with the demands of life especially with my 2 young children, career, finances, social life, and marriage.  My health has been good. No complaints here. Enbrel is still working and I've decreased my dosage to twice month and quarterly check ins with my specialist.  

However, some recent economic changes has led me to ask whether to decrease or increase my work load. I think this is a question, many mothers face these days. 

On one hand lies the opportunity to advance my career objectives, gain more experience, and of course more MONEY! and yet on the other hand lies the opportunity to be present with my children to nurture, teach, and lay the foundation of their lives for their future. Many women would argue that being a SAHM would be best, while others argue that financial stability would better the family's future.  There is no right answer, but I hope some of the following articles will shed some light for you as it did for me. 

Career and Motherhood - Panel Interview
I found this video very intriguing and hopeful as it shows 4 career women balancing the life of motherhood and advancing their careers. Its no doubt though that these women all have chosen and created their own environment that works for them. Career and motherhood does not have to be mutually exclusive but can be synergistic and rewarding.

Forbes Article: Why I Have Regrets About Being a Stay At Home Mom
This article reinforced my decision to continue pursuing my career, finding quality opportunities over quantity. 

Here's a summary of some tips I have found helpful

1. Be Mindful and Present  - No matter what you are doing, whether work or play, be present. Its easy to get side tracked thinking about the "got tos", or checking emails on your smart phone. Rather make each moment count by being fully present to capture each moment with your children, friends and loved ones and the same goes with work. Blocking out time to be fully present at work will lead to better productivity and efficiency. 

2. Schedule Time to Nurture and Work on Marriage - I am no expert here, but we plan date nights once a week to nurture our marriage as well as counselling once a week to work on our marriage. I believe the best thing we can provide for our children is a good model of a healthy marriage. Also a healthy marriage will be the catalyst for healthy parenting. 

3. Take Daily Time-Outs - I thought time outs were only for kids, but we need them too! Pay attention to your mood and body. If you are getting cranky or tired, best to take a time out whether it be 2 mins or 2 hours to rejuvenate. 

4. Connect with Your Friends - With both work, marriage, and children, its easy to isolate in the busyness of life without socializing with your friends. Plan a night out with just you and your friends and have some fun! If the week is too busy, even a phone call will do wonders for your soul. 

5. Use your Village - It takes a village to raise a child! Use your resources if they are available and don't be shy to ask, whether it be parents, inlaws, siblings, or even hired help. 

6. Create a Budget - It's easy to loose sight of finances especially with all the "needs" we have raising children.  Creating a budget it self is the start to controlling finances.  

7. Connect with God - Whether you believe or not, I think God is with us, guiding our circumstances, performing miracles, and blessing us along our journey.  Taking time outs to pray and/or connecting in your special way with God brings peace, guidance, assurance, and hope. 

8. Connect with Yourself - Its easy to get consumed with the demands of work, children, spouse, and leave yourself out. Your needs are just as valid and important.  Take time to nurture your own body, mind and spirit.  


I'd love to hear more, leave me your thoughts.....

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Spot Light on Rheumatoid Arthritis Research for Cause and Treatment and Cure

Recently there seems to be more exposure and spotlight on Rheumatoid Arthritis Research.

1. In June of this year, more than 14,000 people from over 110 countries gathered in Madrid, Spain to attend the largest rheumatology event in Europe, the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR 2013). 

2.  New York Times featured a  Three Part Q & A on Rheumatoid Arthritis

Both articles seem to highlight the importance of taking our medications and the effectiveness of biologics. Many RA patients also commented on Diet and Exercise as crucial steps to better health and maintaining the disease. 


PTSD & Rheumatoid Arthritis

What I failed to see but am quite positive is that there is a positive correlation between PTSD and RA.

Here are a couple of studies I found online:
A)  http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/72/5/481.short?rss=1
B)  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.21778/abstract


My Own Journey - Healing Process

I visited my Rheumatologist today to review my blood work. He was happy to see that my Rheumatoid Factor has decreased from 400 to 30!!! 

Currently I take my Enbrel on an as needed basis (1 - 2 / month), avoid foods that I'm apparently allergic too, but did not know (gluten, mushrooms, eggs), bikram yoga as my form of exercise and meditation.  In addition, I've been through multiple counselling sessions to heal my traumatic memories using EMDR, CBT, and grounding exercises.  - One of the keys to my healing I believe is calming my nerves literally, by practicing deep breathing, working through my triggers, and listening to my self better.  An area that is not yet spoken of in these recent discussions. Perhaps its still an area the light needs to shine on for most.

Finding Cause and Cure for RA (cont.) - Bikram Yoga ?

 

Back Ground: What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) is an autoimmune disease where a person's immune system attacks itself, specifically the synovial fluid in the joints, causing inflammation, stiffness, and in most severe cases immobility and deformity.

What is the Cause?

Research shows that the cause of RA is UNKNOWN.  However, I've done my own personal research, and have compared my findings to my own personal life events, environment, and triggers.  This is my own conclusion.

I believe RA roots from trauma. When we experience trauma, our nervous system automatically responds and tells our brain & body to either 1. Fight, 2. Flight or 3. Freeze. (further reading: Waking the Tiger, by Peter Levine, Phd)  However, unlike animals who shake out the trauma, most humans are left still traumatized inside. We can continue our life as if nothing happened, yet easily find ourselves living in a hyperactive life full of stress as if it is our norm (our own familiarity). This hyperactivity speeds up our immune system with it, combined with the excess stress, our immune system begins to attack itself. It also then begins to attack familiar objects as if they were foreign and can manifest itself into "allergies". 

A book titled "When the Body Says No" by Gabor Mate, suggests that internalized stress and repressed feelings, will manifest itself into illnesses, one of so called mentioned, Rheumatoid Arthritis. See: Pychoneuroimmunology Post

Steps to Healing...

I believe the key to healing involves integrating our mind, body and spirit, allowing God to breath "peace and stillness" into every living cell that still shouts  "HELP".   In addition, loving ourselves enough to eat healthy, sleep at least 8 hours a day, drink 6-8 glasses of water and recognizing our own limits. 

Since I've discovered my own allergies "gluten & eggs", (see: Natural Path Allergy Test Report Post), diet plays a huge roll, eliminating foods that causes further inflammation.

Finally I have been doing bikram yoga once a week for the past 5 weeks. In the heat, as my heart races, I am at the same time, STILL, telling myself that I am safe. My body becomes stronger, my joints more flexible and mobile, and best of all, my mind at peace.  During the savasna pose (rests), I lie in stillness, thanking God and myself for every breath I take.

It's been 5 weeks since I've taken my enbrel injection. Do I flare? .... Sure I do. I notice joint stiffness when I burn the candles on both ends, staying up late night and waking early to care for my toddler and my 5 month old baby. However, I feel better after a yoga class, and the joints that hurt the night before are better the next day.

I will keep you posted and if truly Bikram Yoga will help enough that I can be drug free and since I still breast feed, my baby drug free too. 

RA and Acupuncture during Pregnancy

Acupuncture at Accumamas

Wow, I didn't think I'd be even later with my second child. Lucas was born 40 weeks plus 6 days and was naturally induced with the help of the verbena augment tea.  Erika now is 41 weeks plus 1 day and still quite enjoying life in the womb.  I've had 4 sweeps, 3 doses of the Augment Tea, and finally I thought I'd give acupuncture a try. My midwife recommended Accumamas, who specialize in acupuncture and Chinese medicine during pregnancy. Check them out at: http://acumamas.com/services/


Since I have RA, I tried acupuncture once before for my inflamed wrist, however found that the heat that was added to the needles aggravated my wrist further and my flare got worst. Ever since then, I have not tried again. But, since I'm anxious to see my little Erika out and healthy, I thought I'd give it a go. 

By the time I got Lucas and myself ready, dropped him off at is grandmas, and arrived at my appointment, I was stressed and breathless. My technician was Renee and she didn't seemed bothered that I was a bit late and on the phone the entire time I was filling out the new client questionnaire, but instead said "Take your time... , whenever you are ready.."

After submitting the form, she lead me upstairs to the treatment room and we took about 10 minutes to chat about my concerns and purpose for the treatment. It was quite clear that I was there to induce labor.  I've also learnt that a few factors must work together including:

1. Cervix Effaced
2. Baby's head engaged
3. Cervix moving from anterior to prosterior
4. Contractions
5. Dilated

At my last check up, I was told that the head was low and engaged, but my cervix was still high and about 1.5cm thick and I was dilated about 3cm. She also mentioned that she could feel baby's head, which I couldn't grasp how that could be possible with my cervix being "high" and "thick". But after research and asking Renee, I came to understand the cervix was still in the anterior position and needs to move forward.

Anyhoo, these are probably the big questions:

What was the treatment like? Did it hurt?

I'm absolutely a wimp when it comes to needles but I can tell you honestly, it didn't hurt at all! Some points I didn't even know she had inserted the needles already. She put a point in my forehead, a few in my lower back, a couple in my feet and ankles and one in my hand. She then twisted the needles to stimulate the trigger points and asked me rest for 10 minutes. I of course couldn't rest and wanted to fiddle with my phone and check my emails. I noticed that my hands started to grow weak and when I moved I could then feel the trigger points in my back, so I threw my phone on the floor and rested! She came in as I dozed off and stimulated the points again and left me to rest more. After another 10 minutes, she took the needles off and they came off as discreetly as they were put in.

Did the treatment work?

Here is the BIG question. Well, I must say, I had my doubts and went about my day. I did start to feel a bunch of braxton hicks contracions in the late afternoon. Nothing seemed to be different in the next 24 hours; however, at my next check up, I was told my cervix did shorten from 1.5cm to .5cm and I was 3 - 4cm dilated compared to 2-3cm dilated. There was progress indeed and I did end up giving birth 2 days later to an amazing healthy daughter.  My labor was extremely short and perhaps the acupuncture played a role? I'm not sure, but glad I went.

Did the treatment affect the RA symptoms?

There was no heat involved in this treatment so I did not find that I flared at all afterwards. Another consideration is that RA is suppose to be in remission during the last trimester, but I DID flare a couple days ago before this treatment and tackled it with a dose of Enbrel. 
(Again for those who are curious about Enbrel during Pregnancy, please see my previous post). I called motherrisk to confirm.

Well there you have it. I will post my birth story next. Stay Tuned~

I'm Pregnant Again!!!! - Pregnancy with Rheumatoid Arthritis

We finally went on a trip! Here's an updated photo of us 3 -

It feels like it's been so long, since being pregnant with Lucas.
Lucas is almost 2 and I'm pregnant AGAIN!!!  Soon we will have a picture of 4 of us!

So Girl or Boy? Well .....

IT'S A GIRL!!!

 

I thought I wanted a boy, so that Lucas can have a brother, yet on the day I found it's a girl, I was and still am elated and happy! First and foremost like most parents, I think, as long as the baby is healthy then it's all good! Physically, I've noticed more nausea with this pregnancy than Lucas. Could it be the extra estrogen from having a girl? Also for a brief period, I craved spicy foods which is rare. I'm due February so will definitely post more until then.

Medication During Pregnancy
I'm taking Enbrel for the RA, but only on an as needed basis. Usually when I flare, I have to reflect back on either something I ate, or stress, or a combination of both. (most likely both).
For example, just the other day my LEFT wrist started to flare, which is very rare as my right wrist is the norm these days. I realized that I cheated on my gluten and egg free diet and had ate waffles and eggs, 2 days in a row. Plus, due to some major life changes, I couldn't sleep, and was extremely tired. All this resulted in the flare up. I took Enbrel and the flare went away in days. (For those reading about taking Enbrel while pregnant and are interested in the research I've personally done, please see my post: Is Enbrel Safe While Pregnant?)

 

RA in Remission during Pregnancy?

Most Rheumatologists say, that the RA activity will go into Remission during pregnancy and then comes back with vengeance. For Lucas, this was quasi true. I didn't experience much remission until later in my third tri-mester near the end. As for this pregnancy, I'm 5 months now and still no remission. My wrist are constantly sore,but I am not taking Enbrel as frequently (should be once a week). So far my ultra sound shows nothing abnormal or to be concerned about.

 

I'll definitely keep posting...  Stay tuned...

 

Thanks for Reading and I would love to read about other mommies' with RA experiences...

 

 

Cure to Rheumatoid Arthritis Continued

As I journey I have come to realize that my nervous system is in shock from past traumas which is a factor to me having rheumatoid arthritis. Though now I seem at peace, my body and repressed memories seem to remember and in certain situations I get triggered.

When triggered my flight, fight or freeze mode kicks in and I never understood why until now.

To heal from rheumatoid arthritis I figure I need to deal with healing in several levels that are not mutually exclusive but connected to each other.

1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Spiritual

Physical
My gluten free diet is definitely helping, but not the cure. If I fall off the band wagon and begin to sneak some wheat in my diet, my joints do feel it right the next morning. I'm still on Enbrel once a week for the mean time.
I figure healing must happen at a deeper level and there is still a disconnect and also a bit of neglect of my body.  So often, I ignore the cries from my body for sleep, healthy food and WATER!! 

Coincidentally and not so "coincidentally", I recently got hired as the accountant at Bikram Vancouver Yoga. I would never do Yoga because it meant I must show my deformed arthritis feet, but what the heck I tried it!
To my surprise, by the end of the class, I didn't care who was looking at my feet. I felt more grounded, better equipped to listen to my body, and detoxified! That was only 1 class!  I'm excited to continue and I know that Bikram Yoga is meant to be for me at this time and this place in my healing journey.


Emotional
Though I feel good, most of the time, deep within, there are still unresolved issues which hinders me from being free to be me. Slowly, I'm breaking out of my shell, accepting and loving who I am. Slowly, I am FEELING the safety that I know is true around me. I believe being emotionally well, doesn't mean feeling good all the time, but equipped to identify, honor and respond to our feelings in a healthy way.

Spiritually
Some may say I fell off the chart here, from operating a Christian book store, to working for a Yoga company, but for me, I see God differently. For now, I have taken God out of the church! He has opened my eyes to his presence in places never imagined.

Here's a story to explain:

Jesus walked up to a girl crying outside the church:
"My daughter, why are you crying?" 


She replied, "They won't let me in because.. (fill in the blank... i.e. I'm gay or I smoke, I .....)..."


Jesus hugs her and says "I'm sorry, I know how you feel. They won't let me in either"  


Not saying that all churches are judgmental, but for me at this time, I need to break free and know my God outside the building. He has lead me to Bikram Yoga, and I believe it's part of his plan to heal me by pointing me back to loving, caring, knowing, integrating, listening, to my body which is a gift from God!

Finding Cure for RA with Natural Remedies (cont.) - Natural Path Update

Hello!!! So it's been a couple months since I've provided an update pertaining to the healing of this Rheumatoid Arthristis auto immune yucky illness.

Here's a summary of events.
2005 - Diagnosed with RA
           I've tried methotrexate, plaquinil, sulphasalazine, and now on Enbrel (1 injection every 2 weeks)
2007 - Trip to China for 4 months and RA went into remission
2010 - Pregnant while on Enbrel


Here we are in year 2011 and the birth of my baby has given me a reason beyond myself to be healthy and seek a cure for this disease.

In march I tried Acupunture to treat the inflamed joints and it was useless; rather it made my joints worse!
The chinese medical practitioner aslo recommended me herbal medication; but did not email me the ingredients as I asked, so I gave up on him.

In April, I booked my self in to see a Natural Path. - He booked me in for a blood test and below are my results, which I just got today. Surprise suprise! I'm allergic to my favorite foods - so weird.
Basically, the numbers to the left indicate the number of antibodies my body produces to fight the particular food allergen - for example EGGS

My body has developed 2472 antibodies to fight EGGS. The normal level should be only 111.
Taking a look at the number of  foods that are in the avoid category, no wonder why my immune system is on overdrive! (by the way this is only page 1, the entire report is 4 pages)

 .

Additional Supplements presribed by Natural Path

I have never popped so many pills in my life; but for the sake of healing I will.  So here goes:

1. Rehmannia & Scrophularia Herbal Supplement (2 pills, 3 times /day)
2. Curcumin SAP antioxidant (1 pill, 3 times / day)
3. Recovery SAP probiotics (1 pill / day)
4. EGCG SAP ultra antioxidant (1pill, 3 times / day)
5. Omega - D3 Liquid (1 tsp, 2 times / day)

In addtion, I am continuing with Enbrel injection twice a month.

The Natural Path doctor reassured me that the supplements will not harm my baby; rather be very good for him too.

Next Action: continue with Enbrel twice / week, supplements per above for 1 month, try my best to stick to this new diet

Finding Cure for RA with Natural Remedies while Caring for a Baby

So I ended up my last blog,with:
Next action: continue taking Enbrel, cut out gluten, cut out milk, take multi-vitamins.

Well first off, my "Special Authority" from the government expired, so my meds cost $1,500 for 4 injections. (1 months supply) and as a self employed new mom, I don't get any maternity benefits, nor do I take a salary from my company as I need to pay the workers and partner there first! - How on earth am I to come up with $1,500 each month for meds? It's ridiculous. I try to budget time per day to "work", but really it's not possible with the demands of a baby and sore limbs. I'm starting to realize how limited I am and that I can't be the super mom, I'd like to be.

However, on a brighter note, it is a miracle, that I have not flared badly yet. - Perhaps its cutting out the gluten and milk, or perhaps it's God's hands upon my bones, or perhaps its both. - Either way, I am truly grateful that I am not in too much pain, right now.  1 shot of Enbrel usually helps for 4-6 days before I flare again, and need another shot.  It's like clock work. It's really a miracle that I am not actively flaring badly right now (just my hands) with out Enbrel for a whole week.

As for Baby Lucas :) - He is a bundle of joy from God. - I still love being a mom and can find alternative ways / positions to feed him without directly using my hands. - Being forced off Enbrel might be a good thing, as the med passes into my breast milk to him. Though the doctor said it gets broken down in his tummy and should not affect his immune system, do they really know the truth? - More about Lucas when we visit his doctor at 4 months.
(He's 3 months now)

Finally, lets not forget my husband. He would hate for me to blog about him LOL, but I just want to say that I am very grateful for his love and care.


For those reading with RA, I found some excellent info/resources from Dr. Mercola's site  http://articles.mercola.com/videos.aspx -


Next actions: continue with no gluten and dairy diet, take multi-vitamins and pray! - Enbrel??!! Also, continue with weekly physiotherapy and explore the possibility of a naturalpath.  

Natural Remedies or Enbrel ? - Is there a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Well I ended off the last post by trying to cut gluten out of my diet to see if it will help with the inflammations and that I would stay clear of Enbrel, since I read of a number of lawsuits, suing Enbrel for causing cancer.

The truth is, I couldn't last 2 days without giving myself another shot. By day 2, places that haven't hurt since 2005 started to flare, like my collar bone and shoulders, in addition to my usual wrists and feet, making it hard to lift myself out of bed.

I couldn't bare the flare ups to see if cutting out gluten would work. Also, since I have a chubby 3 month old baby, I rather be able to pick him up and feed him, than be actively flaring up and bed ridden while testing natural remedies.


Though Cutting Out Gluten does make sense. The year I was diagnosed with RA, I remember being very unhealthy, living off pretzels and coffee while attending full-time school and working nights. High stress, unhealthy diet with excessive gluten, and genetics (my aunt has RA), are probably all common factors contributing to this auto immune disease.


Cutting Out Dairy?
Has any one watched "The Corporations" documentary? It is well worth watching.
From the video, I'm considering cutting out dairy as well since milk production companies inject cows with hormones to produce more milk. Many cows then develop infections (milk ducts get blocked) and hence are also injected with antibiotics. When milking cows, the puss from the infection can get into our milk, along with the hormones and antibiotics. YUCK! The US started to do this in 2002. I'm a type to have cereal with milk for breakfast everyday! I was diagnosed with an auto immune disease in 2005. Perhaps there is a link,  because... get this....  my RA went into remission when I was in China for 4 months  !! Weird. - The milk there tasted very different.

If you are a mom, please check this out: Check out: http://www.babycenter.com/0_bovine-growth-hormone-and-milk-what-you-need-to-know_64389.bc


Next action: continue taking Enbrel, cut out gluten, cut out milk, take multi-vitamins.


My next refill of Enbrel, may not be approved by the government, which means I am responsible for $1,500 which I do not have! So, I will have no shots. So I will update you soon.
:)

Jo

Enbrel Nightmare?

I saw a commercial for the first time about Enbrel.  At first, I was actually excited to see a commercial for the drug I was using; but that quickly faded when near the end a soft spoken lady calmly lists all the possible side effects... cancer..   What? Cancer? Really?

So I went home and googled Enbrel and Cancer to see what came up. Well I found this link:
 http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/enbrel-120/   comments from 2008 - 2011 of people who have lost a loved one while taking Enbrel.  What are the chances?

Its quite the dilemma. If i don't give my self my weekly Enbrel injections, I flare! My dose was due today and I skipped it. I could already feel soreness throughout my wrists, fingers, shoulder and feet.
Time to talk to my Rheumatologists and do some serious praying.

In the meantime, I will try cutting out gluten as I read that this helped someone else with RA.

Keep you posted and please pray for me.

Xoxo,
Jo

Coping With Flare Ups While Pregnant - Physically

March 2010, I found out that I was PREGNANT!   "OMG, this is NOT the time, I thought", but apparently God's timing was and is perfect.  

Since the medication I was on, Enbrel, is a newer biologic on the market, not enough research was shown to deterimine its affects on a growing fetus. I was recommended to STOP all medication ASAP! 

Well, it didn't take long for my flare ups to start again.  If you are pregnant and can not take any medication for your pain, I hope you will find the following list helpful:

1. Hot & Cold Contrast Bath
(Dip flared area if possible in Cold Water for 30 secs, then hot for 10 secs) "Contrast baths decrease swelling, stiffness and pain, and increase movement and circulation. This is the only “heat modality” you can safely assume will not cause swelling, and in fact it is a proven method for decreasing swelling. Warm water dilates, expands or opens up the blood vessels, thereby increasing blood flow. Cold water constricts blood vessels, or makes them smaller. The alternating warm and cold water acts as a pump to get fluid out. Warm water alone may cause swelling."

2. Where protective splints / guards depending on which joints are hurting. This will protect the joints from further damage of sudden movements, or weight. There are splints meant for wearing to sleep which are comfortable and some with a cooling gel to reduce the swelling while sleeping.

3. Elevate the swelling joints / limbs by using pillows. This also reduces the swelling which inturn will reduce the pain while sleeping.

4. Castor Oil. I personally rubbed castor oil; however found it penetrated and relieved only my muscle pains rather than joints. However relieving any pain helped for me personally.

5. Camomile Tea / Sleepy Time Tea: it's a vicious cycle, the less sleep one gets the more flare ups, the more pain , and leading to lack of sleep.  I found sleepy time tea helpful. It did make me drowsy enough to dose off and get a good night sleep, but it did take me more than 1 cup that's for sure.

I hope you will find this helpful and if this is you too, I'm really sorry you have to go through this.
The good news is the disease will go into remission further along the pregnancy. It's a miracle really how this happens.  :)

What is It? First Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis

It was the summer of 2005, when I was 25 years old, the first signs of this awful debilitating disease hit me.
My right wrist was flared one morning. (aching, red, and simply stuck)  There was limited mobility and initially I thought, I must of sprained it somehow.  A few days past and the pain got worse to a point where it was not possible to drive (manual transmission).  Dreading to go to the doctors, I went. He then sent me for  blood tests and my RA Factor came back at 300 when it should be around 90 and so there it was, on paper, my initial diagnosis.

Next step was to visit a Rheumatologists who then recommended AGRESSIVE treatment since if treated early there is a slight chance that it can fall into remission. He explained that my left wrist did not show signs of the disease yet, and RA is an auto immune disease that affects joints symetrically, so there is a possibility to send this disease into remission.

The next half a year involved mulitiple doses and combinations of medications including:
Methotrexate (oral & injection)
Sulphasazine
Plaquinil

The disease progressed and continued to spread to both wrists, shoulders, and knees.

Sorry to end here; but there is HOPE and more.. Please stay tuned....