On Health and Being Whole

I have a confession. I've been putting off seeing any more doctors. For anything.

It's terrible, I know. I have to take care of myself so I can take care of my kids blah blah blah.

I know.

The thing is, this health stuff isn't textbook illnesses that are easy to diagnose. Knowing what I'm up against, having been down the road of "you're just a tired new mom" and "take some vitamins" and all the other ways doctors show they aren't listening, I'm have some serious trepidation about . Right now, I've chosen to start at the rheumatologist. Since my ANA test came back positive at the end of last year, my doctor and I have decided I should start at the rheum to rule out diseases like Hashimoto's Disease before I go to an endocrinologist to tackle my thyroid problems. It could be my Meniere's Disease setting off the ANA. Hashimoto's could be the culprit in this never ending pit of thyroid disfunction. Or I could have something else altogether. As much as I'd like to avoid it, I have my first appointment next week.

I was just thinking I was doing really well, too. You see, the body aches have all but disappeared. After some basic allergy testing, we found that I'm not allergic to soy, or wheat, or eggs, and definitely don't have Celiac's – if there was an opposite of Celiac's, I would have that – and maybe I'm a little allergic to cow's milk but we had already done a trial and cow's milk wasn't the cause of the body aches. So, using my amazing reasoning skills (HA HA) I decided to cut out peppers and chillies. I've always been allergic to bell peppers so I thought maybe my body was getting fed up with me eating jalapeños, habaneros, and dried chilies with such reckless abandon. It. Was. Heartbreaking. I love spicy food. But I did it, I gave it up, and so far so good. No body aches. Whaaahoooo!

But then reality hit me. I had a two week span of mild, yet highly annoying, vertigo. And my afternoons have absolutely sucked. I mean SUCKED in ALL CAPS. The three-to-five o'clock hours are filled with such intense fatigue, I am sometimes brought to tears, but more often brought to an afternoon cup of coffee. And two months ago I started having night sweats not unlike those I had postpartum. Are they endo related, thyroid related, peri-menopause related (geez, I hope not since I'm only 37), I have no idea! And Monday, just three days ago, after 20 years of never realizing I had the disease, after 20 years of never having pain outside of my period, the endometriosis hurt. It hurt bad, Bombshells. Leg-shaking, breath-holding, trouble driving pain.

So, I'm starting with the rheum because I miss being healthy. I miss being whole. This onslaught of health issues, it's left me bewildered and scared. Though, to be perfectly honest, I haven't actually processed any of this…still. Yet. But I want to be whole. And if they have to cut parts out of me to make me whole, I need to process that. But I'm not there yet. I'm working on it. Eventually, I'll be whole.

REVIEW: e-cloth Kitchen Cloth Pack

As I work to reduce the chemical load in my home, I'm constantly searching for replacement products for household cleaners. When I was at ShiftCon in October of last year, I received an e-cloth Kitchen Cloths pack. This simple cleaning system consists of two cloths, one microfiber Kitchen Cloth with a "Scrubbing Pocket" corner and one Glass and Polishing cloth.

Here's the most incredible thing about these ecloths – you use only water to clean your entire kitchen.  And when I read that I was like, "Whuuuuut? C'mon, that's impossible!" But it so isn't and it so wasn't.

I couldn't believe how well I cleaned my stove top with just warm water and the Kitchen Cloth. That little scrubbing corner lifted up food and grime right off my stove like it was nothing. I could even get into the rounded corners of the burner depressions. Here's the craziest part. The microfiber cloth removes 99% of bacteria from surfaces. It's safe for granite, marble, glass, stainless steel…you name it, it's safe to clean it!

My kitchen is lacking windows, so I used the Polishing Cloth on my bathroom mirror and backyard slider. Let me tell you, I have never been so relieved to find a replacement for that toxic blue glass cleaner. The kids' leave grubby hand prints on every mirror (why are though even touching the mirror???), window, and surface in our home, but they were no match for the Polishing Cloth. Spray a little water on your mirror or glass and use the dry Polishing Cloth to wipe away the prints, smudges, and water spots leaving it sparkling clean and clear.

Stop by their website and grab an e-Cloth Kitchen Pack for yourself. I think you'll be thrilled with the results and relieved to have made one more step towards a chemical-free home.

Shift Happened and I was there! - A pictorial

Shiftcon was amazing. Truth be told, it was a little hard to come back to the "real world" after being surrounded by people who are so in tune with the food movement and living a cleaner-greener life. From the amazing organic and non-GMO breakfasts and keynote speakers to the fabulous shindigs at night, it felt like living a glimpse of what the world can be like when we finally get the food supply cleaned up.

I'm going to give you a few snapshots of my time there, because if I gave you a play-by-play this would be a ridiculously long post.  Consider this a pictorial of my attendance at the history-making first Shiftcon.

When I first arrived I was immediately greeted by a soothing cup of tea from Traditional Medicinals tea. And let me tell you, after Los Angeles afternoon traffic a cup of chamomile was exactly what I needed. I also took a "hippie chick" picture with a flower wreath. I'd never worn a flower wreath before, as I'm more of a red lipstick kinda gal, but I tried!

And after visiting with Traditional Medicinals, I got to catch up with my favorite and most coveted brand, Naturepedic. On my "to buy" list in the next six month is a new mattress for my son and a new mattress for myself (him first, of course). I've already made it clear to my husband that this is the ONLY mattress I will accept. Organic, non-toxic, and crazy comfortable. This WILL be in my home soon, mark my words. Here's my non-sleepy selfie. 

There was a fantastic reception in the evening where I found a bunch of my friends and colleagues. We had delicious, organic, non-GMO foods and drinks mixed with kombucha! It doesn't count if it's kombucha, right? Kidding. I kept it to one drink because my dearest friend Coco at Vida Coco and I were taking sunrise yoga in the morning. Let me tell you, this was about the worst time for me to have my period. Alas, I didn't have a choice in that. So, I worked my behind off in yoga the next morning, at 6:30AM to be exact, and then did my best to go on about my day. The savior of my morning was Organic Valley Organic Fuel with 26 grams of protein. I was worried as me and protein drinks have a rather contentious relationship, as in, they set my stomach on fire. I was ridiculously happy to find that the Organic Valley protein shakes not only taste fantastic but they didn't hurt my tummy one bit! 

Our keynote speaker that morning was Robyn O'Brien and holy cow did she break it down for us. Robyn is the reason I ended up a Food Warrior, her TED Talk changed my life (Before that I was only opposed to Monsanto for economic and patent law reasons). Luckily I got to tell her than in person after breakfast, and she also took a picture with me. Then it was off to the panels! 

The endo, though, was pretty much ruining everything. Boiron was there, and did their best to help me find comfort by graciously supplying me with these three homeopathic remedies, but the pain was too much to bear. 

So, I put myself to bed. I missed a panel, but sometimes your well-being has to take precedence (I'm still working on that life lesson, Bombshells. The endo is forcing me to gain a better understanding.)

The next day, I regrouped and made it to the breakfast and all the panels. Best of all, I got to meet and learn more about all the brands at Shiftcon. Like Health-Ade kombucha. I'm still new to the world of kombucha, but I really WANT to like it. The people from Health-Ade were so nice and actually let me try every single flavor they made. My favorite was the plum, but truth be told, they were all good. Try as I might, I couldn't convince my husband to start brewing our own kombucha at home, so I'll settle for buying more Health-Ade.

Most exciting for me, though, was getting to meet Organic Pastures, on of the the raw milk dairies here in California. I spent all this time thinking raw milk was illegal here and was so thrilled to find out it is, in fact, legal.  They sent me home with milk and cheese and lots of information to share with you all, so look forward to a post on raw milk in the near future.













And my most favorite piece of swag from Shiftcon, the piece de resistance, is this unbelievably hilarious shirt from Stonyfield Organic. Really, it doesn't get any better than this.



In the end, as much as it is about sponsors, it's also about knowledge. There were many panels in which learned so much. From obesogens (which you'll also be getting a post on soon) to food waste, it was both enlightening and heavy to conquer these topics, and I can't wait to share everything I learned with all of you.

We've got our work cut out for us, Bomshells. But we can do it. The tide is turning. People want cleaner, safer lives. We will fight until we get them.

Shift Happens!

Bombshells, I'm headed to Los Angeles!

Wait, I already live there.

Okay, well anyway, I'm headed to Shiftcon!

What is Shiftcon? It's a super awesome convention for green living bloggers like yours truly. I'll have the opportunity to meet and learn about companies that are invested in bringing us products for a greener, cleaner, healthier life. I'll have the opportunity to learn from experts in many different fields about many different topics to bring YOU more information and knowledge. I also have 6:30 AM yoga, which I'm slightly less enthusiastic about since I'm not a morning person.

But regardless, this is going to be amazing and I can't wait to share all of my newfound knowledge with you all.

Here's an excerpt from the official press release:

Taking place in the heart of Los Angeles at the Crown Plaza, ShiftCon is the three day catalyst that will help further empower those who shape the conversations filling our social media news feeds and status updates. Many of the attendees have already done that, being featured in stories on Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, USA Today, Babble as well as broadcast television (Dr. Oz, CNN, CBS, ABC, The Talk and more). Three days of panels, parties, Farm to Table food trucks, keynotes from some heavy hitters and the opportunity to connect with non-profits working to change laws and get new ones on the books will have a lasting effect well beyond those 72 hours and we’d love for your reporters to come see what it’s all about.

If you want to learn more you can visit the Shiftcon website, but I promise to bring you back the most important information about products, brands, and lifestyle practices to enhance our Chemical-Free, Eco-concious, Organic lives. 

Degrees of Difference

Hey Bombshells,

I'm exhausted, but I'll try to make this update as informative as possible. I thought that I was superwoman, evidently, and tacked on a huge appointment with an endo specialist at the end of an amazing weekend visiting one of my very best friends. We Just Dance-d, we coffee-d, we slept, we  winery-ed, and we movie-d to our hearts' content. But Monday afternoon I sat in a very plush office and awaited the very specialized expertise of a very knowledgeable doctor and spent three hours learning, in his opinion, what I am up against.

His diagnosis was one hundred eighty degrees different from what the last doctor gave me. Truth be told, he almost missed it. And as he stood next to the exam table explaining to me what he thought was wrong, a lightbulb went off, as they say, and he actually went back and redid his exam before delivering the rather heavy news. He believes I do not, in fact, have andenomyosis, but that I do have a very seriously advanced case of endometriosis.

I couldn't help but laugh, really, as he said to me, "I was nice to meet you, Abigail. You are a very unusual case." I smirked and replied, "What's new." Because really, I'm like a medical anomaly. My hypothyroidism defies "typical" lab work and conventional diagnosis. I have Meniere's Disease, which is a ridiculously debilitating inner ear disorder which randomly, and without warning, makes life into the world's worst tilt-a-whirl ride. And now, I have an "usual case" of endometriosis that a doctor, who is world-renowned in his ability, whom people come to see FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, almost missed.

Yay me.

Kinda.

Not really.

Immediately, I was reminded of Glennon Doyle Melton at Momastery and her post in which she shared the experience of her doctor calling to inform her of her Lyme Disease and the accompanying rare and life threatening parasite destroying her body. She makes reference, completely in jest, to being "special" and that's why God chooses her for these challenges. I have to say, I completely agree.

I am special.

The end outcome is somewhat hazy. And depending on which procedures I choose, I'm weighing the possibility of needing surgery again down the road or losing my ability to carry a child ever again. Surgery is a necessity if I want to increase my quality of life. Very expensive surgery. Which means while I am eager to feel better, my decision making will be financially prudent and not a knee-jerk reaction. I will be seeking the opinion of one more doctor before I start moving forward on anything.

I'd love to hear from other Endo Warriors out there. I'm new to all of this. I'm all about absorbing and receiving right now. Share your story. Too many of us have been silent for too many years. We need to speak up. We need to eradicate the shame and embarrassment associated with female reproductive health.

Honeybee Gardens *Queen Bee* Truly Natural Lip Stick REVIEW

I've been a fan of Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural lipstick for quite some time. So when the opportunity arose to review their newest shade, Queen Bee, I jumped at it!

Honeybee Gardens lipstick is the best natural lipstick I have found. They are made without FD&C colors, without mineral oil, without any chemicals or artificial preservatives, and are never tested on animals. NEVER.

Here's what they say about their Truly Natural lipstick:

You need the protection only a lip balm can provide. But you want the full color coverage of a lipstick. Why compromise? Our lipstick combines lip-quenching botanicals with natural mineral pigments to give you all the benefits of both! Goes on smooth for long-lasting color. PARABEN-FREE!! No mineral oil, no FD&C colors. Only natural beneficial ingredients like coconut oil which penetrates and moisturizes lips, shea butter which protects your lips, sesame seed oil to heal and soften, vitamin E as an antioxidant, and pure botanical extracts which act as a 100% natural preservative.  


This is completely true. I know, you're saying, "Shut the front door!" As an admitted lip balm lover, this lipstick does exactly what they say it will.  Every time I wear it my lips are soft, smooth, and hydrated. Plus, those safe and chemical-free ingredients means you don't have to worry about what is ending up in your body when you eat, drink, or give your honey a smooch. 

Their colors range from neutral to vibrant and never disappoint. Being a true red lover, I was very excited when they announced Queen Bee. As with most reds, always remember that your particular pH levels will effect how the color comes out. For me, Queen Bee is a gorgeous bright red with pink undertones. Perfect for day wear AND evening. The first day I received my Queen Bee I wore it to the zoo with the family. If that's not a test of lipstick, then I don't know what is. 

Queen Bee stayed true to its color the entire time. The creamy texture did not become gummy or dry, but remained smooth which meant the color stayed even as well. Here's what's most exciting about Queen Bee – if any of you have ever worn red lipstick before, you know "feathering" is a huge problem. Feathering is when the lipstick color bleeds or fans out from your natural lip line into the creases around your mouth. On this day at the zoo, as every single time I have worn Queen Bee since, there has been no feathering. Zero. Zilch. Nada. 

Because it's a natural lipstick, you do need to reapply more often, about every 1.5-2 hours, but it's a worthwhile trade off. I suspect if I had used one of their lip liners, like Fantasy, the color would have lasted even longer. And because of the soft nature of the natural ingredients, please be very careful not to twist the lipstick too high in the tube, as it will break at the base. (But that's just good lipstick care, in general). 

This lipstick is a winner in my book. I highly recommend Queen Bee and all of the other Truly Natural Lipstick colors from Honeybee Gardens.






**This product was received for review. This is not a paid review or a sponsored post. 

Finding gratitude in the face of bad news

Today has been a hard day for me, Bombshells. In a whirlwind hour-long appointment at the doctor's office, I learned I have endometriosis and adenomyosis, the later of the two is the bigger problem it seems. The doctor presented this somewhat matter-of-factly, along with myriad of ways it can be treated including artificial hormones, uterine ablation, and hysterectomy – none of which sounded reasonable to me.

I guess I've had symptoms for years, but I always talked myself out of it. The painful cramps and flu-like symptoms I've suffered were key sign, but every month I told myself I was being a cry-baby, that many women had cramps far worse than I did and I just needed to push through. Eventually, the symptoms became too prominent, and out of fear over the state of my health, I sought medical help.

Grateful. In the face of this abrupt news, I am grateful because I need to be. It's the only way I can cope with the situation. This is big. Not cancer big, not life-threatening big, but life-altering big. I'm relatively young (37) and I'm faced with the fact that, essentially, I can't have any more kids. Trust me, I am immensely grateful that I have three healthy, vibrant children. Adenomyosis, from what I understand, most often develops after you have had children. But it feels like my autonomy has been taken from me. Honestly, I didn't intend to have more children, but I like knowing that I could change my mind. That maybe, if some crazy urge struck me, it was still a possibility.

No longer.

I know I'm not the first woman to be unexpectedly stripped of her fertility. Still, it's a hard reality to swallow.  But I refuse to have part of my body removed before I have explored every available alternative. I will be researching like a mad woman for everything and anything to help me reduce the symptoms and relieve the pain. No stone will remain unturned.

Please, Bombshells, share your stories, your experience, your remedies, I want to hear it all. I'm so grateful to have all of you by my side as I navigate this detour on my path through life.