Panther Speak

One Millimeter Between Me and Brain Surgery

2012-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time for a community update on my Brain Cloud, since I finished the rather involved evaluation by the pituitary specialists down at Oregon Health Science University Northwest Pituitary Center, which is part of their Brain Institute. There is no way to definitively say what my pituitary mass is without taking it out and looking at it under a microscope... so I call it my Brain Cloud.

If you aren’t familiar with Brain Clouds, I suggest you rent a copy of the 1990 Tom Hanks film "Joe Versus the Volcano."

I met with the surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Coppa; Pituitary Neuroendocrinologist, Dr. Maria Fleseriu; and Nurse Practitioner, Chris Yedinak. We discussed the results of the massive hormone testing they put me through and the MRI from December 2011, compared with my past MRIs.

Dr. Coppa believes what I have is a medium sized (7mm) Rathke Cleft Cyst, which is a growth on the pituitary that develops from a malformation and enlargement of the remnants of the Rathke pouch, present during early prenatal development. It also could be a pituitary adenoma or another type of tumor. Regardless of exactly what it is, it doesn’t appear to be growing and may actually be shrinking. Rathkes can apparently wax and wane over the course of a person's lifetime.

So what’s this thing doing? Nothing very good!

The problem is, although they are usually benign, they can grow and put pressure on the surrounding brain structures. The most immediate risk is the optic chiasm, where my optic nerves cross just above the pituitary gland. Brain Cloud is about 1 mm from this area, which is a good thing, says Dr. Coppa. However, the mass is squashing my pituitary gland, like an elephant sitting on a grape--especially the anterior lobe. The pituitary, usually spherical, looks like a U-shaped cup on the MRI.

My headaches, which have been happening daily for years, may or may not be courtesy of Brain Cloud. There’s no way to tell if the headaches are due to this mass without having the surgery, which is risky. Since it isn’t pressing on the optic nerves, there's no urgency to have it removed, unless I could no longer cope with the headaches. I’ve had them for so many years that I’m pretty good at managing them and coping with that pain or discomfort. So, from a surgical standpoint, as long as it’s not going to result in imminent loss of vision, the risk of surgery is just too high.

However, the mass has done a good deal of damage to my anterior pituitary, which is responsible for growth hormone. Being the master gland, the pituitary orchestrates operations throughout the body, and when it is damaged, it becomes the "Evil Dictator" who causes sorts of problems. My medical history reflects nearly ALL of these. And the tests show that indeed my pituitary is unable to produce growth hormone, which is crucial for normal metabolism (especially lipid metabolism), energy, bone strength, and repair of normal wear and tear on the body, among other things.

I am now a candidate for growth hormone replacement, which is a very involved proposition and quite expensive, so insurance companies aren’t fond of authorizing it. Because of this, the pharmaceutical company partners up with the medical specialists to get it authorized. It’s still expensive, but with some help from insurance, it may be doable. My paperwork will be submitted and that process started. I am very hopeful—and optimistic for the first time in years—that I may have a means of feeling better! It may even relieve the “fibromyalgia” pain that has been a life-long issue…in which case, it wasn’t fibromyalgia at all.

Even if I opted to have the surgery, it would likely do nothing to restore my pituitary function, because the damage to this highly sensitive gland is just too great.

So things are looking up! I’ve suspected Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency for years, and now my suspicions are finally confirmed with objective information. It takes 3-6 months for most people to experience improvement with growth hormone replacement. I could be starting it within a few weeks, depending on how my insurance responds.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. It’s been a long haul.

Shilo's New Home

2011-08-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick couple of pictures and a note to say thank you to all of you who helped me scout out a new home for Shilo. He's doing very well, although I miss him terribly. He's happier, and that's what's important.

He has 67 acres of beautiful forest land all to himself. Well, at least no other cats and dogs! We met a wonderful couple who just built a huge ranch style house on the acreage in Dallas, Oregon (not far from Salem). They are both physicians, and they plan to have horses and a vineyard in time. They adopted Shilo, and he's King of the Ranch. Word is he's charming the pants off everyone.

I drove him down to there a few weeks ago, and he took to it like a fish to water.

Here are a couple pictures his new mommy sent...

Very Sweet Kitty Needs a New Home

2011-07-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

"Shilo" would be the perfect adult cat

for a family or a couple!

Shilo currently lives in Union, Washington.

He is between 5 and 6 years old, and we've had him since kittenhood.

He showed up at a hotel parking lot in Twin Falls, Idaho, which is where we lived prior to moving to Washington. My mother was visiting and staying at the Shilo Inn during a major summer heat wave. And this skinny little kitty was hanging around the hotel, drinking from sprinkler puddles and trying to get people's attention. After a day of taking him little tidbits of food from breakfast, my mother alerted me, and once I met him, that was it--he was a real keeper.

We think he may have been a farm kitten who lost his way home.

Unfortunately, he has never gotten along with our other four cats (one in particular), and he's terrified of dogs, thanks to a bullying, neurotic shepherd who lives next door to us and has chased him on several occasions.

We have decided the only solution to decrease his stress and increase his happiness is to adopt him out to a new home, as heartbreaking as that is. We really adore this little guy--he would make a wonderful pet for a family that has no other cats or dogs, where he would receive lots of quality human interaction. He's known for flopping over on his back so that people can scratch his tummy--rather like a dog!

This kitty is very special and loved by everyone he meets.

In great health
Current on all his vaccines
Playful and cuddly, a real lap cat with tons of personality
Indoor/outdoor

If you're interested, please leave me a comment stating the best way to get in touch with you. We'll consider each placement carefully as to whether or not it would be a good match. If you are not looking to adopt, please feel free to spread the word about Shilo to your friends by forwarding this post.

Thank you, and Shilo thanks you.

Protecting Yourself from Radioactive Fallout with Natural Agents

2011-03-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Raw food guru David Wolfe, who held the Longevity Conference we attended in September of 2010, just posted a podcast in which he gave suggestions for steps to take NOW to protect yourself from radioactive fallout.

The major media is downplaying the seriousness of the risk for us in the U.S. Although the long-term repercussions of Japan's partial meltdowns (which could end up in full meltdown over the next weeks or months) are largely unknown, as are the effects the nuclear disaster will have worldwide. The West Coast--at least--will be receiving some fallout.

And there is NO safe level of radiation for human tissues, in spite of what you hear.

In fact, some scientists say that even ONE polonium molecule can cause cancer. Polonium is 250,000 times more toxic than cyanide. And that's only one radioactive particle--there are many more in the toxic cloud.

The time to begin taking some preventative steps is now, to give your body the extra help it needs to build your immunity, strengthen your blood, and reinforce your thyroid gland.

The following are David's suggestions for the top 10 most powerful natural agents. Wolfe says all of these are safe for children as well. I recommend listening to his podcast for the specifics about how each agent can help prevent radiation toxicity.

Ginseng
Kelp and other seaweeds (high in natural iodine)
Ashwaganda (an adaptogenic herb)
Iodine (nascent iodine, Iodoral, or Lugol's)
Chlorella (being 10% chlorophyll, it's a great detoxifier--wheatgrass is only 0.25% chlorophyll)
Zeolites (great for neutralizing radiation)
Fulvic Acid
Sea salt or salty miso (combats toxic halides in the body such as chlorine, bromine, etc.)
Reishi mushrooms (strong immune support)
Earthing, or Grounding to the Earth (walking barefoot on the soil, swimming in lakes, etc, allows you to pick up the much-needed electrons from the Earth, which help reverse the damage done by radiation)

Wolfe also recommends high-dose vitamin C, as much magnesium as you can get down (raw cacao is an excellent source), selenium (Brazil nuts are loaded), and coconut products (natural organic coconut cream and coconut oil), which are very supportive to your thyroid.

I would add astaxanthin to the list, which is the most powerful antioxidant found in nature. It has such potent anti-radiation properties that it's been shown in scientific studies to protect people from sunburn!

Some of these products are available at your local nutrition center. Others you'll have to order online. Some of the sites I trust for the less common items are:

And Dr. Mercola has excellent Himalayan sea salt, coconut oil and chlorella.

Good luck, and be proactive!

Radiation Exposure Chart

2011-03-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

If you've struggled to put the Japanese radiation levels into some sort of perspective (as I have), here is a handy chart that shows how various exposures correlate with health effects. (Source: WNA, www.Radiologyinfo.org, Reuters)

Simon's Cat in a "Sticky Tape"

2011-03-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

My favorite animated cat artist has released another short--as always, Simon captures the essence of cat-ness. Enjoy!

Nepal Movie: Trailer

2011-01-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's only taken me ten years.

In spring of 2001, Jon and I took a 5 week trip to Nepal. It wasn't the usual trekking trip. We were part of a group, organized and led by Kris King of Wings, whose goal was immersion into the culture of Nepal--and the trekking and scenery were merely delicious icing on the cake.

Just the camcorder and the two enormous batteries, practically the size of toaster but much heavier, must have doubled the weight of our packs--which we hauled up and down the mountains for weeks. Realize, there was no electricity so no way to recharge batteries--the juice we took with us was all there would be.

We returned with 25 hours of raw footage that was anything but high-def.

In 2002, I had reduced those 25 hours down to 5 hours, using primitive versions of iMovie and iDVD, and burned it onto 5 DVDs, which we have treasured and enjoyed. But who wants to subject their friends to more than five hours of vacation video?

That would be a cruel and unusual dinner party!

So I finally figured out a way to re-import the 5 hours back into my computer with modern software (since our old camcorder tapes are long gone) and edit it down to a manageable size. This has been my 2011 winter project--to get this edited down to a 2 hour film that I can easily share with others. The movie is rough and amateurish, even a bit cheesy at times. But it captures the essence of our adventure, and especially the sights and sounds of that magical country and it's humble people.

Since YouTube won't accept a 2 hour movie, I made a trailer. This is all you get until I figure out a way to divide the movie up into YouTube-sized chunks (or you happen to see my DVD).

Enjoy!

Dr. Oz interviews Dr. Mercola

2011-01-19T10:02:00.001-08:00

Just sharing a good interview between Dr. Oz and Dr. Mercola from 1/18/11.

As you may or may not know, I have worked as a writer for Dr. Mercola and his newsletter since 2008, having developed an increasing passion for natural health over the years. Below is an interview on the Dr. Oz show yesterday that I'd like to share. It's in four parts--and the fourth part is about an incredible supplement that just about everyone should consider taking--but just about no one has even heard of.

Enjoy!

Meet the man your doctor doesn’t want you talking to - Dr. Joe Mercola. Hear about his alternative health practices and find out why he’s such a...

Dr. Mercola names the #1 supplement he believes you should take. Chances are you haven’t heard of it. Find out what it is and learn the potential...

Happy Raw Halloween!

2010-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween-in-the-raw for us this year! Jon and I went to our first raw foodie conference last month, hosted by raw food guru David "Avocado" Wolfe (LongevityNow Conference), and we were both kind of surprised by how completely inspired and excited we came away from it to begin exploring the raw food diet and lifestyle.

For anyone who has looked into this a bit, you know it isn't the sort of deal you just get up one morning and decide to eat a completely raw diet from that point forward. It's quite an evolution, with a steep learning curve, really a process to work your way into.

And we're working it!

In celebration of a raw and totally healthful Halloween, I decided to try my skill (um... overstatement there... luck is more the word) at making raw chocolate from scratch. The only thing more natural would have been climbing cacao trees and picking the cacao beans myself. Might try that next year.

I'm pretty good in the kitchen, but candies aren't my thing and I've never made chocolate--even traditional chocolate--from scratch, including the tempering process. Which is important for GOOD chocolate.

(Thank goodness for YouTube.)

But it went very well! I was amazed that the final product did indeed come out looking and tasting like raw chocolate--what I was aiming for was the raw chocolate from the chocolatiers at the conference. And there were a lot of great ones there. I now understand why an organic raw chocolate bar costs $10, now that I've shopped for the ingredients.

I used raw organic cacao butter, raw cacao powder, raw cacao nibs, a little coconut nectar and honey for sweetening, and a variety of superfood additives to kick up the nutritional value:

maca powder
spirulina
cayenne
cinnamon and nutmeg
Himalayan sea salt
Reishi mushroom
Ho shu wo
Goji berries

For tempering, I kept the temperature at 105 tops. It worked beautifully! I did a variety of dipped nuts (raw brazil nuts and cashews), dipped dried mango slices, and then sort of a "bark" made of chocolate and nuts and goji berries, sprinkled on top with coconut and sea salt and cocoa nibs.

I've always loved experimenting in the kitchen, so this was a total blast!

Wishing you all a fun, safe and nutritious Halloween.

Total Solar Eclipse in 2017--HERE!

2010-09-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's a Bucket List thing for me. I have always wanted to see a total solar eclipse, and I just discovered there's one happening in North America transiting the United States the afternoon of August 21, 2017.

Woo hoo!!

I won't even need an airline ticket, since the zone of TOTAL eclipse passes over Salem, Oregon, which is about 3 hours from here. You can see the ecliptic path here.

I've heard that witnessing a total solar eclipse is a life-changing experience--two minutes you will never forget. It turns deadly quiet... the birds stop singing... people stop driving or even talking. And the temperature can drop as much as 35 degrees instantly. The closest I've come is a partial eclipse, which was back in high school. A total solar eclipse happens only once every 16 months or so, viewable somewhere from Earth. But it is a much more rare event for one to track right over the USA-- so close to home.

I can hardly wait! Please feel free to comment on your own eclipse experiences--I'd love to hear from anyone whose experienced one.

New Guru in my Life

2010-09-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

I did something this week I never thought I would. I consulted a Vedic Astrologer for a reading.

This amazing man, Blaine Watson, came very highly recommended from a good friend, whose opinions I respect. My friend has a long history of involvement with Vedic ideas and the TM movement, and she has given Blaine high praise and has a long history of guidance from him.

Blaine's been a lifelong student of spirituality and has taught meditation for 34 years to more than 3,000 people on 4 continents. He's a Vedic astrologer with more than 20,000 clients in 30 countries, and he's also an expert in Indian temple architecture, vastu and sthapatyaveda, and ayurveda. He currently lives in Canada.

Before I share a little about what he told me, here is a bit about what Jyotisha, or Vedic astrology, is in general.

Jyotisha is quite different from Western astrology. Rather than trying to explain what I do not fully understand, here is a beautiful description from the Vedic Vidya Institute:

"Jyotisha is the Sanskrit name for Indian astrology and astronomy, which literally means the "Lords of Light" and by extension, "the study of light"---both light from the sky and from one's inner "sight". It is a model of reality which interprets the observed conditions of the cosmos at the time of an event--such as birth--in order to provide insight into the nature of that event and its subsequent trajectory.

Jyotisha has been passed on from teacher to student for literally thousands of years and is still alive and well in India as a vibrant and living tradition. The Vedas (knowledge) are the great cognitions of the ancient Rishis (sages) which are the foundation of the Indian culture and philosophy.

Jyotisha itself is a Vedanga – one of six limbs of the Veda that support and sustain the precious knowledge and allow it to be recognized generation after generation. Jyotisha is therefore relevant in guiding each and every one of us towards greater understanding of our place in the cosmos, so that we may better know who we are, where we come from and where we are going.

Jyotisha is a powerful tool in illuminating what may previously have been an “unseen” chain of cause and effect and thus allows an individual to understand and ultimately find alignment with the trajectory of one's life path. Like all classical Indian subjects, Jyotisha is truly a beautiful study that embraces many other disciplines and develops in its followers a unique blend of logic, intuition, pragmatism, analysis and synthesis.

Indeed, Jyotisha is a "sadhana," a spiritual path that can transform one’s life permanently."

Now for the FUN part...

Here are some highlights of my consult with Blaine.

My rising sign (ascendant) is Taurus, and my moon sign is Libra, both of which are governed by Venus--so I'm a hybrid of the two. The Taurus is my earthy feminine energy, and Libra gives me my masculine, analytical side. Taurus makes me stubborn but very loyal. Libra makes me restless and needing changes in environment, and a constant thirst for learning and mental activity.

I am heavily influenced by Mercury, the Sun and a point in the solar system called Ketu. These forces give me communication skills/writing, sociability, intelligence and clarity of thought, and autonomy. I am my own best partner and my own worst enemy!

Due to the influence of Ketu, my focus in this lifetime is on knowledge and spirituality and finding answers about the meaning of life. I "might achieve enlightenment" this time through, and it's probably my last lifetime.

Now for the forecasts... this is where it gets really interesting.

When my health had become so compromised that I quit my private practice in July of 2006, I had just entered a 17-year Mercury cycle (called a dasha) on 7/21/06. Mercury is "the writer," by the way. Having never before pursued writing professionally, I decided to start this blog shortly after that, in spring of 2007. Then I applied for the medical journalism position with Dr. Mercola in the spring of 2008.

Coincidence? Hmm...

I am also in a couple of other planetary cycles that will be increasingly favorable for my health and financial situation over the coming few years. Between now and the end of 2010, the planetary influences are very good for research and diagnostics--which is great because I've been involved in the pituitary endocrinology workup for the past month, which is continuing through end of October.

After the first of the year, I'll be "unrelentingly busy" with "writing/business/publishing," but all with good outcomes. And my health will continue to improve.

Then in May, I enter the "Perfect Health Transit"--during which time Jupiter will be perfectly placed in my chart so as to help resolve all of my health and financial issues!

Cool, ey?

What's It All Mean?

I feel so encouraged by all of this! Since no one really knows what the future will bring, including me, it is nice to have some predictions to help shine a little light on the path.

If you're a believer in this sort of thing, and the forecasts ring true, you'll say, "See--astrology works!"

If you're a skeptic and the forecasts ring true, you'll attribute it to coincidence or the placebo effect or some other accepted explanation.

I'm not sure where I will fall, between the two. But I am wide open to the world of possibilities. After all, there are many things that work, but we don't know why. There are many "impossible" things that happen but aren't supposed to.

The pyramids should have been impossible for mankind to build, yet there they are--defying all "scientific" explanation. Acupuncture has worked for thousands of years, yet we don't understand how. One electron should not be able to occupy two places at the same time, yet that's now been demonstrated in a lab.

We don't know what we don't know.

I DO know that I am really looking forward to seeing how it all enfolds!

The Verdict is In... Almost

2010-09-02T14:28:00.001-07:00

I am truly grateful for my wonderful friends who are tagging along with me on this whole pituitary adventure, eagerly awaiting the next turn. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement.

I spoke with my nurse practitioner from the Neuroscience Center this afternoon, and all of my test results are back.

All of them looked pretty good, with one exception--my growth hormone level is quite low. It's as low as it can get, and still be in the "normal" range. Actually, it's the IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor one) that is low, which indirectly reflects how much GH is around.

Normal IGF-1 is 94-252. Mine was 97.

What this means is, adult growth hormone deficiency (secondary to the pituitary tumor) is a possibility, and the next step is the growth hormone stimulation test. This is an IV test where arginine is given to stimulate GH release, then the level of GH is measured for a couple hours. This will allow them to definitively render a diagnosis.

Unfortunately, the first available appointment for this test is October 27! So now I have to wait. Again. Unless they have a cancellation.

It is ironic that I have wondered about a GH deficiency for several years after reading about the overlapping symptoms between fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue (CFIDS) and GH deficiency, and my own particular history of problems. Here is a list of the most common symptoms reported by those with GHD (also see Human Growth Foundation):

low energy and decreased metabolic rate
poor general health
reduced exercise capacity
muscle weakness
cold intolerance
impaired cognition
low-grade depression and anxiety
decreased lean body mass and increased body fat, weight gain
headaches
lack of libido
sleep problems

I can go down my medical history and just check nearly all of these off--particularly over the past 15 years!

And in adults, treatment of GHD has been reported to improve:

quality of life and energy level
reduce pain
improve depression
enhance self esteem
improve cholesterol and LDL levels
improve cognitive performance
augment stroke volume (cardiac volume)
improve exercise capacity and muscle strength

So I am optimistic we may be onto something here.

The downside is, I seem to have chosen the most expensive hormone to replace. HGH therapy costs between $7K and $10K per year. Insurance companies are pretty reluctant to pay for it, and when they do, they cover only a small portion. Dang!

That's it for now, until the next round.

Pituitary Workup

2010-08-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

I made it up to the Swedish Neuroscience place in Seattle yesterday and had a bizillion lab tests done, as well as meeting with the endocrinologist and his nurse practitioner. Mostly the NP--the doc just joined us at the end, after SHE had done all the work.

They said that my adenoma, at one cm, is below the size that would indicate immediate surgery (1.5 cm), since it isn't impinging on any adjacent areas or causing a mass effect. However, it's large enough to be potentially causing some of the pituitary hormones to be either too hi or too low, which is what the lab studies will tell us.

It isn't growing, as evidenced by the lack of change over the past 2 years. Apparently I've had it for decades--he said at least 10 years and likely much longer.

If it's causing headaches or my other ongoing symptoms, it would be due to hormonal abnormalities. The most sensitive and most likely hormone to be affected by a pituitary tumor is growth hormone (HGH). The lab studies will show if this is the case with me, as well as all the other pituitary/hypothalamus/adrenal pathway problems that are affected by a malfunction of the master gland. Another one that can be outa whack is cortisol (steroid), which depends on the communication between the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands.

In terms of treatment, if there are hormonal deficiencies or excesses, he will then recommend replacing the deficient hormone(s), or meds to suppress whatever is in excess. He said many people with my medical profile end up needing a little of a lot of things (oh goody) so not to be surprised by a lot of prescriptions initially.

This neuro group does not use bioidentical hormones, unfortunately. So I realize I will have to bend away from my desire to resume those, and--at least temporarily--agree to try the pharmaceutical versions if I am to proceed with treatment, as much as I hate to do that. I guess I am prepared to go that route if that's his recommendation, to see if it can possibly make a significant difference, given that I haven't made huge leaps going the natural route... at least for now. I believe the negative biochemistry driving my weight gain, crappy lipid profile, and my decreasing bone density, etc., is probably doing as much harm to my life expectancy as hormone replacement would--so it's a tradeoff.

That about sums it up.

Now I wait for lab results, which should be back in a couple of days, and I'll proceed from there.

Appointment With Neurosciences Institute

2010-08-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have an appointment on Monday (three days from now), which will be about three hours in total, between paperwork, lab studies, and meeting with the docs. The lab results take about 3 days to come back. I was really lucky to get in so soon--they happened to have a cancellation!

I'll let you all know what their conclusions are.

Phone Consult with Dr. Ludlam

2010-08-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with Dr. Ludlam, the Pituitary Endocrinologist at the Neuroscience Institute at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. The consult took only took 4 minutes, and it was the second screening call with them, part of their preliminary process to actually going in for a workup. I think he wanted to rule out that I am not a "looney toon," basically.

Their intake person is checking on the availability of next Monday (three days from now), due to a potential cancellation. If not, the next available appt. is the 8th of September.

Dr. Ludlam said he might arrive at the same conclusion as the neurologist I saw in 2008--that this adenoma is doing nothing evil to me--but if he does arrive at that conclusion, it will be after a full workup, not based on medical textbooks or statistical probabilities. I said, I can live with that--but if there are dots to be connected, I'd like someone to connect them for me.

He did say that my tumor, although still a microadenoma, is a pretty good sized one, larger than the garden variety pituitary microadenoma. But it's smaller than the ones he would automatically advise to have surgically removed. I take it that it's a situation of, leave it alone unless we can prove it's doing something adverse to me!

Dr. Ludlam also said to expect an IV test for the Growth Hormone evaluation, during which they will administer ACTH (another hormone, which stimulates release of GH) and monitor the pituitary's response. This is a little more involved than the standard lab test, but I'm glad he's doing it as part of the workup, nevertheless. And I'll also be meeting with him and one of his NP's when I go up there.

I'll let you know when I have a firm appointment scheduled.

I Love This Juice!

2010-08-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's Essential Greens Veggie Juice

I have become a huge fan of this juice since it's the only one on the market (that I've found, anyway) that contains ONLY cold pressed green veggies. No sugar. No additives. No fruit juice. Only flash pasteurized. Just juiced greens.

I tried to find a link for it, to no avail.

You can find it in the produce section where the fresh juices are, in a 15-ounce bottle, which is two servings. Says it contains a whopping TWO POUNDS of juiced veggies per bottle, and the whole bottle is 60 calories.

When I don't have the veggies to juice at home, or the time or energy, or too much of a headache, it's a great substitute for juicing my own. Juicing your own veggies is the best option--but it isn't always practical. And it's a fantastic rejuvenater after a workout. I like adding a pinch of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. You could add a little Tabasco too!

Per serving, it has 110 mg sodium, 739 mg potassium, 5 g carbs, and 3 g protein. Pretty awesome!

Here's the ingredients list:

celery
spinach
parsley
cucumber
kale
romaine
at least two of the following sprouts: wheat grass, sunflower greens, clover sprouts)

There aren't many products that warrant blogging about, but this one makes the grade.

My Brain Cloud Has a Friend

2010-08-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

It's been two years since I posted anything about my pituitary tumor (aka my "brain cloud," which comes from one of my favorite movies, Joe vs The Volcano). There really hasn't been any reason to mention it because the neurologist I saw in 2008 said it was a big nothing.

He told me to have another MRI in two years. So I've been thinking I should do that.

Then, a couple weeks ago, I went up to Anacortes, WA, to consult with a mercury-free dentist about removing some old mercury fillings and other dental problems. The first step was getting a dental panorama x-ray, and he had a very advanced scanner which seemed more like a CT of the head. Not only did it image my mouth, but my entire face and skull.

When the images popped up on the computer screen, we were both startled to see an egg-shaped thing "floating" in my head. He said it was a calcified mass of some kind, probably in or near the frontal sinus.

So I put the dental work on hold for a detour to MRI-land, to find out what the heck this thing is.

I actually had two MRIs of the head yesterday--one of the face, and the other of the pituitary and rest of my brain. Being in the jackhammer tunnel for 85 minutes, not allowed to move--even to swallow or roll my eyes except once every 5-10 minutes--was nothing short of heroic.

The radiologist report was done within hours, which was amazing, and I was so glad not to have to wait for several more days, creating monstrous scenarios in my head. Literally.

I have two tumors now. That's the bad news. The pituitary adenoma, and then this calcified mass in the ethmoid sinus, which is probably an osteoma.

The good news is, the pituitary tumor hasn't changed since 2008. It's the same size as it was then, about 9 mm wide. And the osteoma measures only 5 mm, which seems pretty small to me. It didn't seem to worry the radiologist either. Both are benign tumors. Although, I would like to know why I now have two things growing in my head that shouldn't be there at all.

The next step is to consult a neurosurgeon (mostly about the pituitary adenoma), since I continue to have headaches every day, without fail. It's hard for me to believe these things don't have something to do with my headaches, and perhaps some of my other health issues.

I mean, I have a long history of endocrine imbalances and I've been a hormonal mess for years--but having a pituitary tumor just by coincidence? I think not.

My chiropractor is working on getting me in to a neurosurgeon, but I'm told that takes a while. I might have to see an ENT as well, since neuro guys don't deal with sinus lesions. But I won't have any more information until my session with the neuro.

That's all I know at this point.

Here's a little information about the two tumors:

Pituitary Adenoma

Sinus Osteoma

Garden Tour

2010-07-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Just a little visual garden tour. Everything is so full of color! Makes all the hard work worthwhile!

Update From Tigger

2010-07-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Tigger and Alex Garden Cruising

It's now been six months since we all started this raw food diet. I admit, I hated it at first. But you know, it's really not so bad.

In fact I really like it now.

And I feel so much better than before! I've lost a few pounds, and I'm getting rather buff. My dandruff is gone, so I can now sport this great new lion cut. The girl cat across the street's got her eye on me.

The only thing is, Mom has just started adding raw vegetables to my food. This just started a few days ago. She's on some sort of a health food kick and thinks we have to be too. I can do the raw turkey and chicken routine. But cabbage and cantaloupe? Bluck!

At least she's not putting much of it in there. Carrots, bell peppers, cabbage--what does she think I am--a rabbit? At least I get some satisfaction that Shilo has to eat it too.

I had my checkup a few weeks ago, and my cancer is still practically gone. I think my lab test said "pre-cancer," so the herbs are working. My arthritis is acting up, though, so Dr. Nancy added some different herbs to my regimen. Pretty soon, I'll turn into one giant green herb.

My sister Alex is having some sort of weird reaction to the diet.

She runs around the house like a kitten, chasing balls, batting around the Christmas mouse, and generally raising Hell. It's like she thinks she's 6 months old again! All she used to do is lie around and sleep all the time.

It's really annoying. I think I liked her better before.

One good thing is--she now chases Bucky off the porch. Bucky is a big black lab who lives next door. He's pretty nice, for a dog I guess, but he drools. She's been kicking his butt lately. Really strange.

But all in all, I think this food isn't so bad, if I could get Mom to lay off the vegetables. Probably won't happen, but a cat can dream.

Links for 2010-05-27 [Digg]

2010-05-28T00:00:00-07:00

As Gulf Spill Drags on, Chemical Use Remains a Big Question
BP has relied on massive quantities of two types of an oil dispersant called Corexit to break up the oil into what it calls more easily broken-down portions. The chemicals, Corexit 9527A and Corexit 9500, are known to be hazardous to aquatic life and to humans.

Exploring Vashon Island

2010-02-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

After watching another disturbing film clip of cows being horribly abused at factory farms, I discovered online an organic farm and restaurant on Vashon Island through localharvest.org that I wanted to check out, which is only 40 miles or so from Union. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday and headed out to explore, since neither of us had been to Vashon Island yet.

Since it's an island, we had to plan our trip around the ferry schedule. While waiting for the ferry to depart, we spotted this seagull below us with an entire starfish in its mouth! Now that's something you don't see every day.

What a lovely community Vashon is.

The island is long and narrow, and there are ferry ports at each end of the long axis. There is a ferry direct to Seattle, another to Tacoma, and another to Southworth, Washington, which is a town I'd never even heard of before yesterday and was our closest ferry connection. It was only about a 10 minute ferry ride from Southworth to Vashon.

Once on the island, we headed directly to La Boucherie, the restaurant owned and operated by the owners of Sea Breeze Farm, which is in "downtown Vashon." I had hoped we would be able to see the farm itself, but it turns out that's at the other end of the island so we'll save that for another day.

We had called ahead just to clarify their restaurant hours, and it turns out it's such a small place that they basically rev up into high gear if they know someone is coming out to visit! So what we thought was a simple lunch reservation was really a private dining/wine tasting/meat and cheese tasting experience with their very knowledgeable and gracious manager Matt.

They raise all of their own cows, pigs and lambs in what they term "beyond organic," all grass pastured and raised with kindness and care. They have raw milk and raw cheese that they make right there, as well as pates, "bone broth," ricotta, several kinds of sausages, chickens and farm fresh eggs. All of their meats are unlike anything I've ever seen or tasted, and they use lots of dry aging. And NOTHING is frozen.

They also have a vineyard with a delightful variety of red and white wines. We sampled 4 or 5 and there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. I have to admit, we came home with a couple bottles.

Jon and I each selected one each of their two lunch entrees and shared bites. Both entrees were fantastic, featuring their meats and sausages and organic winter greens. My favorite was the sausage and lentils with mustard. Then we moved into the market area and sampled more stuff! (Burp.)

After loading up our shopping bag and buying ice at the local grocery (we didn't realize we were going to be buying fresh meats rather than frozen), we headed down the main drag to see what was there, taking several suggestions from Matt.

Within a few square miles, there is a local coffee roaster that is the original roasting site for Seattle's Best Coffee (now Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie), an ooey-gooey croissant place called the Monkey Tree, a book store, and a couple of really fun and eclectic little gift shops.

How could one little island have so many of our favorite things? It was like this place was put together for us.

Then it occurred to me... maybe we died on the way over here and don't know it yet? Maybe this is Heaven?

We returned just before sunset, from the south end of the island, docking in Point Defiance (Tacoma), being gifted a spectacular view of Mount Rainier from the water. This was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I'm sure we'll be back. For a $15 ferry ride, the possibilities for play are endless.

La Boucherie offers lunch daily Tuesdays through Saturdays, and full dinners on Fridays and Saturdays. There are only 6 tables in the dining area, but in the summertime, the seating expands outdoors.

If you want to be sure to be fed, they highly recommend making a reservation since they often have to turn away drop-ins for lack of space. You can count on great food, great service, and meeting a few wonderful folks who prize REAL food, the way food should be made.

It is totally worth the excursion!

NOTE: Great thanks to Jon for the great photos he took on his iphone yesterday. I was too busy stuffing my face.

Tigger's Letter to the the Editor

2010-02-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Hello. My name is Tigger. I want to voice a complaint about my deteriorating living conditions here.

A few weeks ago, my human decided on a whim to change my food and the food of my brothers and sister. She's forcing us to eat RAW meat! This lady's obviously gone bonkers.

And, as if that isn't bad enough, in 2008, she took away our bowls of dry food that we depended on to snack on all day long, to keep up our energy, only letting us have it for an hour twice a day. But now, she never gives us the really good crunchy stuff anymore. Well, like a tablespoon. And not very often.

I'm going to starve to death.

She said she's doing it for "health reasons," and that it's really good for us, and that we'll be much healthier and happier on this diet. But I don't believe it, not for a minute.

I don't see HER eating it! She's still cooking HER meat. If it's so good for us, why isn't she eating it too? Tell me that!

In my weakened state, I have been unsuccessful at convincing her of our plight. I am the leader of the pride, so the others depend on me to make things right. I have tried to protest these abusive conditions.

I have complained, negotiated, and even cried. She is ruthless.
I have gone on huger strikes, subjecting myself to great pain, to put it mildly. I once put myself through this for an hour, to no avail. An HOUR! Can you imagine? I am lucky to be alive.
I have dumpster dived in the kitchen garbage can.
I have pulled over the crunchy food bin in the pantry and tried to pry it open.
I even tried hunting in an effort to sustain myself and the others. If it weren't for the spider I caught, my ribs would be sticking out.
Out of sheer desperation, I am breaking dishes now. I wait until she is asleep at night and jump up on the kitchen counter and push everything off, including our little stacks of bowls. This has been met with great ire from the lady at 4 o'clock in the morning and sometimes yelling, but she still refuses to change her behavior.

I even sent in little Alex, her favorite, to plead with her, begging her to have mercy on us. But even that strategy failed.

If I had fingers, I would hack into all these websites that advocate the BARF diet and shred their cookies, because that's where she got this cockamamie idea in the first place. I would organize a revolt!

So I am left with few options, other than hoping this message will reach a social worker out there.

Hopefully, I will be able to communicate again, but in my weakened state, I could cross the Rainbow Bridge any day now. I am fading fast.

OH--there's a mouse. Gotta go----

Global Prayer Project

2010-02-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Coconutty Almond Cookies

2010-01-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from Tropical Traditions, in the recipes section. It's been a favorite amongst my friends, so I thought I'd share it with all of you! I've made a couple of small modifications from the original.

And coconut flour is available through Tropical Traditions, or you can probably find it at any health food store. It's even available in the nutrition sections of some grocery stores these days.

1 egg, room temperature (optional)
½ cup organic coconut oil
¼ cup organic honey
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 ¾ cups almond meal
¼ cup shredded, dried coconut
1/3 cup coconut flour
¼ cup organic whole sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine egg, coconut oil, honey, and extracts, mixing with wooden spoon. Add chocolate chips, if you’re using them.
Combine dry ingredients (the rest of the list), and add the mixture to the wet mixture from Step 1.
Roll into walnut-sized balls and slightly flatten with fork on cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until gently browned. Cool on wire rack.

No Revolt Yet

2010-01-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

Shilo lounging on Tigger's big poofy bed. Of course, without Tig's permission.

It's been several days since beginning the Raw Food Transition, and I'm still alive.

I'm at the point of doing a 50/50 mix of canned food and raw for each meal. I've been tinkering with adding things to see what they'll eat and what they won't... not always pretty.

In an effort to try out the egg meal and the sardine meal that Dr. Becker suggests, I have learned they generally won't eat the raw egg alone, but they will if it's mixed into the rest in a relatively small proportion (one egg split amongst all five cats.) So that's what we'll do for five meals a week, to get one egg per week into each of them.

Much to my surprise, they HATE sardines! So the sardine meal is going to be a real challenge. I tried mixing in a little pumpkin to offset the strong flavor, which was met with frowns and wrinkled noses, and of course, Shilo gagged and walked away. And Manny, being the shy cat that he is, swatted me.

Maybe I deserved it. I wouldn't like a bowl of sardines either.

So far, no one seems to be wasting away. Shilo is eating enough, and seems to have gotten past the gagging (except for the sardines), and Alex is playing a lot more, which she previously considered beneath her as household princess.

Even Tigger's mealtime manners have improved. He doesn't seem to try as hard to steal the others' food. Even though I am still mixing his meds into his meals, I think he hasn't figured out he's still getting the meds in his new food.

All things considered, I think it's going pretty well.

Kitty Diet Overhaul: We're BARF-ing Now

2010-01-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

This article started me on a quest to see what I could do to improve the health of my kitties, especially the two eldest ones who've had the most health issues, Tigger and Alex.

Through my affiliation with Mercola.com, I met Dr. Becker (the one talking in the video), and I've been quite impressed with her over the past several months of collaborating with her on articles. She is not only a wealth of information--and energy--but a heck of a nice lady.

We've had our cats on the same commercial food for many years now, a brand that I think is among the best on the market. They've gotten Life's Abundance dry food in the mornings and Instinctive Choice canned food in the evenings and done well on it. So I really wasn't eager to make any change--I'm actually a distributer for the company. In fact, I kind of dreaded it since I expected the cats would revolt.

But after looking at the research on feline health and raw food diets for the past couple of years, I can no longer resist the urge to try it out--there are so many profound health benefits.

With Tigger being a cancer survivor, I am especially interested in seeing what I can do to improve his immune system, beyond what we are already doing with the Chinese herbs.

You'll see raw diets for pets described as the "BARF Diet" (biologically-appropriate-raw-food diet, or sometimes bones-and-raw-food-diet), and there are as many recommendations about how to do this as there are websites. It is MUCH MORE INVOLVED than simply giving your pet a slab of meat twice a day.

I was at a loss for whose advice to follow until a couple weeks ago when Dr. Becker came out with her new book, Dr. Becker's REAL FOOD for Healthy Dogs & Cats, which outlines exactly how to go about making raw homemade pet food. There are numerous supplements that must be added in precise amounts, as well as some vegetables, although not a large amount of veggies since cats are obligate carnivores.

So I decided to proceed by first finding out if the kids will even eat raw meat, before investing in a meat grinder and another freezer--both huge expenses!

So I ordered a couple small batches of commercially prepared raw cat foods as an experiment. It took hours upon hours of online reading and researching to find ones that met the criteria that Dr. Becker specifies in her book--but there are some. (I'll include a list of links for the ones I was most impressed with, at the end of this post.)

And they ain't cheap--especially for people like us who live in rural areas and rely on mail order for a lot of our supplies.

And even buying meats with which to make the food yourself is expensive, unless you go for the cheap grocery store stuff that is full of antibiotics and hormones and other crap and is made from terribly mistreated animals. And if you do that, what's the point? If you select good meats such as free-ranging chickens and grass pastured beef, you're going to pay a premium.

So, long story short, we started the transition about three days ago.

I began by switching them over to canned food twice daily, removing the dry altogether. And they LOVE the Life's Abundance dry kibble, so that change didn't earn me any warm fuzzies.

After a couple days, I began mixing in about 25 percent of the raw food into the canned.

To my surprise, after the first day of being looked at as if I had sprouted green hair, they began eating it with gusto. Even Tigger! All except one, my youngest cat and problem child, Shilo, who has always had a gagging problem. Any time he gets a whiff of any different smell, he gags and even vomits. He's never been a fan of canned food, probably because it has a stronger aroma than kibble.

So the BARF diet for little Shilo really lived up to its name initially--he walked up to the bowl and barfed. Twice.

I thought, gee, this is going well.

But the next day, I made sure to decrease the amount of raw food and give him canned food--with just a tiny little bit of raw mixed in--and he ate a little bit. And the next day, I added a tiny bit more. For two days, he barely ate enough to even sustain himself, I thought. And just when I was about to give up on him, he ate. I guess he got hungry enough to get past it.

So I'm proceeding with the plan--and I'm not sure at this point if I'll be willing to dive into the homemade recipes. But at least they're eating some raw food now, and I'll continue to increase the percentage of raw to canned gradually.

Eventually, I'd like to have them pretty much off canned and dry food. But I know that will take time--I can't force them to go COLD turkey.

And there are times when the convenience of canned food will outweigh the benefits of the raw, such as when we go out of town and send the kids to the kitty hotel!

Here are the commercial foods I think look pretty good. The only ones we've tried are Wild Kitty and Grassfed Traditions, and they seem to like them both so far (except Mr. Gag.) Of course, they're still being diluted with canned food.)

Darwins raw pet foods - Just watch the fat content--it's too high in some of the formulas--not a good idea for this much fat on a daily basis; also, not enough vegetables in it, so best to add in a veggie puree. But they do have a wonderful home delivery service.
Bravo raw diet products
Wild Kitty Cat Food
Primal Pet Foods
Steve's Real Food for Pets
Columbia River Natural Pet foods - Really reasonably priced raw meats/bones mixes from the Pacific NW, which you can then use to mix up your own homemade recipe.
Nature's Variety
Pepperdogz and Peppercatz
Natural Pet Pantry
GrassFed Traditions Pastured Organic Raw Pet Food
Aunt Jeni's
Companion Natural Pet Food - their shipping charges are prohibitive for those of us on the West Coast, but if you live out East, an excellent commercially ready food--and they have great supplements as well. Dr. Becker highly recommends.

Here are some more links you might find helpful:

Natural Pet Productions - Karen Becker's Pet Nutrition Site

Mercola Healthy Pets - our new pet sub-site

Functional, Fresh, Fast Food for our Furry Friends (DVD) - in depth review of why you should feed your animals raw food, by Dr. Becker

Tasin TS-108 Electric Meat Grinder - the grinder that seems to be the favorite among folks who make their own raw pet foods (it will grind up raw chicken bones/necks) and is reasonably priced, by comparison

Smiley Dog News Seattle, WA - nifty outfit that will deliver a variety of raw foods to your doorstep in the greater Seattle area, but they also have good shipping prices for us Washingtonians who are outside the delivery area--and VERY nice people!

My Pet's Friend - excellent supplements for pets on raw food diets