Good News

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:54 pm

Kari
from a fellow ex perfectionist......

MC has tapered down my perfectionism. I learnt that i did not have the energy or the time to be a perfectionist and live with MC.

As long as I am well, and have the next couple of days of meals organised i have achieved a good outcome...

and along the lines of the book polly mentioned, if i was stressing about ingredients and meals it was not doing me any good. I have managed to be alot more calm about my routines and systems, i have a good supply of ingredients and meals that work for me. To an outsider it may appear bland, repetative, to me it means wellness and no stress.....

glad to hear you are feeling better, hope you continue to improve day by day

take care

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:28 am

Tex - LOL - yep, right back ON TOPIC - thanks for your wishes ........

Linda - the meeting went great - I liked her very much - she seems very competent and knowledgable. It was such an enormous relief to "unload" all my frustrations on someone who could actually relate :). I think I had D of the mouth while talking with her :). We have to get my MRT test results back before working on designing an eating plan. Since I have not been able to figure out what items are "safe" for me right now, which is the main purpose of the MRT test, I will stop trying to do the elimination diet and focus on increasing calories. I might add here that I'm deathly afraid of following in Gloria's footsteps of inadvertently causing more damage by eating an item I'm sensitive to on such a limited diet. So I'm back to drinking coconut juice and eating almond butter, as well as Earth Balance butter spread and other things I'm reasonably confident of not causing major problems.

Gabes - MC is such an amazing teacher of "know thyself". We both have to learn to get out of the way of ourselves and enjoy life!!! This "battle" has gotten to obsessive proportions with me. The fact that I can't control MC with all this enormous effort has been driving me batty. I'm realizing that no matter how "perfect" I try to be, I cannot force results. The stress I've been placing on myself by doing that, is actually delaying my recovery if anything (Polly's book comes to mind :). I have to let time work its magic and learn to relax and enjoy life again. Like life itself, living with MC is a journey, and should be treated as such. Inevitably, there are going to be good and bad days, but even without MC that's the case, isn't it ??? :):):).

Love,
Kari

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:36 am

Morning Kari,

So happy that you had a great meeting with the nutrionist and I think worrying about getting calories into your diet is of utmost importance.

I was pre-MC and part way into it the deemed Ms. Perfectionist and Organizer by all I know. However, that is a in my past and I now just live to handle this disease and have a good time and not worry about being perfect. It is a humbling disease and it takes a lot to be up at times and trying to be perfect just makes it harder. You are still the same great person - perfect or not.

Love, Maggie

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:49 am

Good morning Maggie,

Talk about "synchronicity" - how amazing that you should post so quickly. I was actually thinking of you when I wrote my post, because I remembered your statement in another thread about how you've learned to live with MC and not let it get in your way of enjoying life. Good for you!!! I still have a lot to learn, but feel I'm on my way :):):). Thanks for making my morning .......

Love,
Kari

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:08 am

Kari,

Glad to hear your meeting went well and you made a connection with her. I look forward to hearing about your results and following your progress. MRT is a crude tool to point us in the direction of safe/unsafe foods, but you still have to go through trial and error. It won't always pick up problematic high lectin foods, but you are alreay off of most of those. Remember it took me 6 weeks of still being symptomatic for the diet to fully work, so hang in there if you don't see immediate results (although you might - some people do).

Mary Beth

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:07 am

Hi Good Buddies,

Kari, I am thinking of you during this difficult time. It sounds as if you have a good plan for now. Hang in there.

For all of us current and former perfectionists, I clipped this quote out of the paper yesterday and am going to mentally think of it many times during each day:

"Everything woks out the way the universe wants it to work out".

Love,

Polly

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:18 am

"Everything works out the way the universe wants it to work out".

Words to live by, for sure. I do think of this several times per day and once you see the wisdom of the universe it action it creates a more peaceful flow to life.

Love,

Mary Beth

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:19 pm

Polly

thanks for the reminder..... sometimes we only think of that when good things happen.

and Kari i think you found your answer

I have to let time work its magic and learn to relax and enjoy life again. Like life itself, living with MC is a journey, and should be treated as such. Inevitably, there are going to be good and bad days, but even without MC that's the case, isn't it ??? :):):).

my motto, some days are diamonds, some days are stone. recently i have been mostly diamond and i am very thankful for that.

but i wouldnt have got there without the support of this wonderful family.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:59 pm

Mary Beth - thanks for the heads up about expectations. The nutritionist I saw told me exactly the same thing, which was actually comforting to me since it means she is realistic. I will keep posting about my progress and hope that my story can help someone else on this board. I'm probably one of the more challenging cases, since I'm dealing with multiple intolerances, double gluten sensitivity genes, and over 10 years worth of damage to my gut.

Polly - that's a wonderful quote, and a good one to keep in mind when our perfectionist traits try to take command

. I'm so glad you posted your "book review" - amazing that western scientists have found a way to make believers out of the skeptics when it comes to the mind-body connection. Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Gabes - I am so very happy for you that you're doing so much better - I'll take diamonds over rocks any time

. Now that I've decided to ease off from my obsessive search for Norman, I feel 100% better. I've decided to let Norman pay me a surprise visit whenever he feels like it

. Lastly, I agree with you 100% about the PP family - the support and collective knowledge here is mind blowing!!!

Thank you all for being here for me.

Love,
Kari

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:32 pm

Kari that's great news on your visit. I will be seeing a new nutritionist next Monday and will be discussing the same topics. Fortunately the day after I have lunch with Mary Beth so hopefully she can help me understand all of the information and lingo LOL

Its amazing how important attitude and managing stress is to MC.

Take Care Kari and thanks for sharing this topic

--Joe

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:09 pm

Good luck, Kari! The LEAP diet will take some tweaking and it will take time to determine what works for you, but in the end, it should help calm your gut. I've been following the LEAP program for eight months now and my system is definitely calming down.

Gloria

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:27 am

Joe - lots of luck to you on your visit with the nutritionist - hope you hit it off with her/him, but if not, you'll still be able to get the test done and get the results. The lab is in Florida, so that's where you'll be mailing your "blood". Have a great lunch with Mary Beth - she is an amazing resource for us. And, yes, I agree that attitude and stress management is of utmost importance!!! Hopefully I have learned this lesson for good as I dug a big hole for myself with my obsessive perfectionism, but fortunately I stopped short of jumping in

.

Gloria - so glad it has been working for you and look forward to comparing notes when I get started. I had a very incompetent technician draw my blood yesterday - she botched up two of the tubes - another one had to try and salvage the damage - she called the lab in Florida and agreed with them that she would fill the two botched tubes manually. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to send another sample.

Love,
Kari

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 9:42 pm

Kari,

I'm sorry the technician botched the blood work. I hope you don't have to get more blood drawn. The lab sent my results after only two-three days. I hope you get yours as quickly.

Gloria

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:24 am

Gloria - the nutritionist said it would take about 2 weeks and that she would get the results first. I'm actually quite relieved about this delay, because I have decided to "take a vacation from MC management" over the holidays. No more obsessive analysis and record keeping for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't dream of going off the MC diet of GF/DF/SF/YF, etc., but my focus will shift from trying to figure out what's causing reactions to focusing on increasing my calories. It is amazing how much better I feel now that I've eliminated the incredible pressure I had put on myself to "succeed". Polly's reminder of the importance of stress management came at a very crucial time for me (thanks Polly). I will have a fresh go at it in 2011 when I have the test results, and will then work with the nutritionist as best as I can to figure things out.

Mary Beth - thought I'd let you know that I had left a message for Jan asking for a recommendation in the area where I live. I also did my own research and came across Diana Bright (you can look her up) who is the one I went to see. So when Jan called me back, I had already been to my appointment. Interestingly, she said it was Diana she was going to recommend, as she thought very highly of her. Her endorsement made me very happy :). Thanks again for your help.

Love,
Kari