Monday, July 16, 2012

Breathless!

I still haven't received my prognosis yet. But it is now looking more like asthma. Heat and humidity may have been the trigger. Being the stubborn woman I am, I decided to do some cycle hill training in the dead heat. Low and behold, I was gasping for air. I was already having some breathless symptoms prior to this feat, but exercise seems to chase it away and open up my lungs. I got away with it for nearly twenty years. Thanks to training for races and for my years of strength exercises (which I still do love).

The difference is that ever since I ventured into my "new career", my exercise time has been lessened and my "asthma symptoms" started to creep back. So if you are noticing this yourselves, take heed. Slow down, reassess and give back the respect your body deserves. I have rested for a week and a half. I noticed when I was active, my symptoms lessened, but they did not go away. I am continuing to be active, but now I know that I have to take some precautions like extreme weather temperatures. 

I will be going to an asthma clinic and will be doing a Pulmonary Function Test. The test is the same one they did with  my father who was diagnosed with COPD (though was never a smoker, so we think it was due to years of being a steel worker and inhaling steel filings). He had a hard time putting that breath out and his results were not good. So now it is my turn. My doctor says that my lungs sound fine. I am going to bet it that it is asthma. 

 According to the Paleo folks, grains, sugar, and legumes are culprits to the body's super sensitivity to allergens. Asthma is caused by the narrowing of the bronchial tubes due to some allergen trigger. I have to admit that I am not 100% paleo. I am about 70%-80% on most days. I even bought a Paleo cookbook to help my paleoness. But I will creep in that sugar or that grain based carb now and then because I love it. It's a relationship that is bad for me. But if you knew my past dating record, I held long to bad even though "bad" was not good for me. Until I got tired of the pattern. Which is "key".  I have to be tired enough of this breathless pattern which only became a problem recently. Then again, this could all be about the weather. And we all know, that changes too!

Until next time, 


Helga 


P.S.  I just found a blog about a man who cured his asthma with the paleo diet. His asthma symptoms were exactly the ones I have been experiencing. Amazing stuff!


JD Moyer: How I Cured My Asthma With One Simple Diet Change





Wednesday, July 11, 2012

God, Religion, and Atheism. A hybrid speaks.

I have always been squeamish about tackling this topic. It is one of my passions. I love talking about religion and religious beliefs. I am fascinated by the different approaches and the remarkable similarities that they share. If we shaved off all the other rules, everyone is really on the same page. But these little technicalities or little cultural spins divides us and there have been high costs as result. Massacres, displacement, and persecution.  I was raised as a Catholic whose parents are devout. I also was born with an analytic mind that has a love for science. I also have travelled, met, and became friends with people of different faiths. I refuse to believe that anyone is condemned eternally simply because they are not wearing the right shirt or were not born in the right faith. It seems ridiculous. I can never be an atheist though. To say that everything is how we see it in front of us still isn't viable for me. There is a magic that exists in life that science can not measure. So I guess I am a hybrid? Agnostic? The labels are overwhelming. I get the feeling that us humans are more caught up with these labels and rules than God is. How else do we bring order or meaning into our small little world?

One of my biggest beefs with religion is the  "My God is better than Your God" attitude. I love the fact that people have found their spiritual communities. I think this is very important. I love the sense of love and harmony that result of these gatherings. However, I do not like how the "other" is treated or viewed.  There is this need to be "right" and disregard the other.  There are so many different living species that live on the earth and no snowflake is the same. So why aim for sameness? Why not celebrate these differences? Why not be okay with it?  One answer could be is that we are "too high on ourselves". We are egoistic. We are too busy upholding what we believe is right that we often lose sight of the whole point of having spiritual communities. I attended  a non-denominational church and was attending their orientation session. They showed us a map of all the nations that were not Christian. So I asked the pastor, "Is it not enough that they believe in God?" The pastor answered that it was our duty as Christians to convert. Which I can see that from the early church where the disciples were spreading the "Good news of Christ" throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.  My problem with this is that right away this church is saying it is their job to conquer the other religions because their religions are wrong. We must "assimilate". Sounds like the Borg, if you ask me. "You must assimilate. Resistance is futile".  I have lived in Japan with Buddhists and I have been friends with Muslims. How dare does one religion dictate how the rest of the world should celebrate God?  They dismiss the cultural beauty that is often intermingled with their religion. I think God purposely did not make all flowers red or blue. There is beauty in differences. Some we all may not agree with. I know! I think because of that experience, I have been turned off from ever enlisting with a church. I just haven't found a fit yet. There has been some close calls like Agape International. But they are in LA and too far away.

As far as atheism is concerned, I completely get why people become atheists. They are either turned off by the hard rules of certain faiths  or they base their belief systems on empirical data and  turn to science which has explained many phenomena that we use to attribute to the cosmos. I have many friends who are Atheists. The beauty is that we respect each other's views and we can talk about it without getting emotional over it.(I can also speak the same for my religious friends who respect where I am at).  I had a grade 11 student who declared that he was an atheist. We talked about it and I explained to him where I was on the spectrum, but that I wouldn't condemn him for being one. I said it was perfectly okay. Ironically, he was on a mission to convert others to atheism. I told him blatantly that faith cannot be disapproved empirically. It is a state of being. People put a lot of themselves into faith. No amount of data or case studies will move a person with a strong belief system unless they make that assertion themselves. Again, nothing to do with who is right or wrong. It is what it is. The reason why I am not an atheist is because spirituality is not something I cannot turn off. 

Spirituality is a part of who I am. I felt just as comfortable in a Buddhist temple as I do camping in a remote natural site. It is what brings me peace.  Why should I deny this because it is not popular?

I bet I am not the only hybrid out there.

Helga

P.S. I found this blog where a man resolved his asthma with the paleo diet. His symptoms are exactly what I am experiencing. I have been prescribed a steriod to clear my lungs and it is working, but I do not want to dependent on it nor do I want to go through the side effects.  Have a read!

JD Moyer: How I Cured My Asthma


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Breathe

Meet my Inhaler
I am at home now recovering from "asthmatic" symptoms. I haven't been diagnosed with asthma from the walk in clinic nearby. I was given two puffers. One in case of emergency or before exercise. The other is a steroid to take "regularly". I looked it up on the internet and it is meant for the rest of my life.  I have had this mysterious breathing difficulty pass in and out of my life since childhood. I get an episode of not being able to breathe and then it would go away. It was non-existent for good twenty years, but lately it has been slowly creeping into my life. It is quite scary to not be able to do something that you are suppose to do involuntarily. I remember getting frustrated with my dad about his condition. Thinking that if he had a positive attitude, he would overcome his illness. Nothing knocks you down to size like the inability to function with your body. With every breath I am now taking is now done with a greater appreciation. Often, yes, we take these fine things for granted: our health, our loved ones, and our whole well being.

 I haven't been able to sleep these past two nights. Finally, my older sister gave me a kick in the butt and told me to go the walk in clinic to at least get a puffer. She said, I could stop breathing in the night.  So I begrudgingly took her advice and went. I dislike hospitals and I dislike the sterile setting of a medical clinic. I associated it with death, deterioration, and illness. As a little girl, my parents would take us to hospital to see dying relatives. Hence that deep association still rests with me. Both of my parents took countless amount of drugs for blood pressure, cholesterol, and for bone. It was just ridiculous to me. I swore that I would not move in that direction. When I am 80 years, I want to ride a motorbike. I want to do it drug free. 

So in the next span of 40 years, I am going to learn how to breathe. No puffers. Just me and my powerful reason to live my life. 


Helga