DAY ONE

As I prepared for the Great Four Week Inflammation Test, I looked at foods not on either list (see previous post). Soy is one. I was delighted to find that soy is great at reducing inflammation. So yay! Up with Tofu! Up with soy milk!

I took my copy of Neal Barnard's book, Foods That Fight Pain, from my shelf so I could read up specifically on the arthritis elimination diet.  Instructions are clear: Eat mostly from the safe food list. Avoid foods on the trigger list entirely. Eat foods that are not on either list but focus on the safe list.

I am starting the plan today! Mark this date: October 22, 2023. Four weeks. Can I do it?

When I went to Costco to pick up medication yesterday, I picked up some fresh fruits and vegs and avoided the breads and processed foods that I often like to eat. 

My small haul from Costco.

The directions say to cook most of the foods also. So this morning I cut up an apple and a pear and cooked them in the microwave. Later I cooked a pot of brown rice and just ate that with a little salt. Right now there are sweet potatoes cooking in my air fryer.  Obviously I'm not making any recognizable meals right now. However, the book includes a number of recipes I plan to try. Especially the rice pudding.

The plan is to fight that inflammation

When I was working on my other hip and my knee recoveries, I explored changing my diet to reduce inflammation. The best source I found out there was Neal Barnard from the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine. What I like is the simplicity of the plan:  To determine what is causing inflammation, first eliminate all possible triggers. This means eat from a limited group of foods for four weeks, at which time I should see some change in my body. Then gradually add in triggers one at a time to test whether they cause inflammation. 

When I looked at the Safe Foods list I saw that it is quite limited - brown rice, some fruits and vegs, cooked, some condiments. The list of triggers is much longer. To my dismay I saw bananas, peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, and onions on the possible triggers list, and I have all of these sitting on my counter. I also have almond milk, and nuts are on that triggers list too.  So I decided that I will use up these trigger foods, then embark on that four-week journey.

Here is a brief description of the plan from the PCRM website:

-------------------------------------------------

Try the Four-Week Anti-Arthritis Diet

Here's how to get started on the Four-Week Anti-Arthritis Diet. For four weeks:

Enjoy an abundance of foods from the pain-safe list.

Avoid common triggers completely.

Foods that are not on either list can be eaten freely.

You may start feeling better earlier than four weeks, but it often takes at least four weeks for chronically inflamed joints to begin cooling down.

After four weeks, if your symptoms have improved or disappeared, the next step is to nail down which one or more of the trigger foods caused your problem. Simply reintroduce the foods you have eliminated back into your diet one at a time, every two days.

Have a generous amount of each newly reintroduced food, and note if your joints flare up again. If so, eliminate the food that seems to have caused the problem, and let your joints cool down again. Then continue to reintroduce the other foods. Wait at least two weeks before trying a problem food a second time. Many people have more than one food trigger.

Pain-Safe Foods

Pain-safe foods virtually never contribute to arthritis, headaches, or other painful conditions. These include:

• Rice 

• Cooked Green Vegetables 

• Cooked Orange Vegetables 

• Cooked Yellow Vegetables 

• Cooked or Dried Non-Citrus Fruits 

Common Pain Triggers

Common triggers often cause pain in susceptible people. Certain drinks and additives are also common triggers, including alcoholic beverages (especially red wine), caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, and colas), monosodium glutamate, aspartame (NutraSweet), and nitrites. Here are the common food triggers, also known as the "Dirty Dozen":

• Dairy
• Chocolate
• Eggs
• Citrus Fruits
• Meat
• Wheat
• Nuts and Peanuts
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Corn
• Apples
• Bananas

After four weeks on the elimination diet, you may find that a plant-based diet is the key to remaining pain free.

------------------------------------

So my first step is to get to the beginning. Get rid of perishable items that are on the trigger list, and start eating from the safe list plus additions that are not on either list. I still have some fruits and nuts and bread to get rid of. I'll also want to investigate what I might have instead of coffee. I have cut way back on coffee but sometimes I still want it.  I will announce when the four weeks begins officially!

Another ten years, another hip

 I am eight days away from an operation on my left hip. Same operation as the left, a total replacement, anterior. It has been a long and often painful journey (and boring too) but finally I got into that operating room and here I am, eight days later.

Lately I have perused my notes from my first hip replacement, to remind me how it went. It was not a case of immediate pain relief. I did not expect that it was, but my memory was that it was so much easier than the hip replacements that it seemed instant. 

Today I drove for the first time since the op. I had been taking some narcotics (oxy) so could not drive even if I felt up to it, and I did not feel up to it. I stopped the oxy yesterday afternoon and today I felt ready.  In fact, there was quite a change between yesterday and today, both in the level of swelling I see and in the pain I am experiencing. 

Here are my feet yesterday. Notice that the left foot is very puffy. My leg was similarly puffy.

And here are my feet today. They look almost identical. You can't see my thigh, where the swelling from the operation is most noticeable. But the difference in my feet is reflected in how much better I feel.

I had the hip operation because the hip is worn out. The doctor thinks that the hip was causing the knee pain I had in my left knee for the last few years. I have been cautiously optimistic. It is still too early to tell for sure because I still do have pain and swelling to work on, but I am gaining in hope. I met with the physical therapist today and he had me climb some stairs. He said just to try stepping up with the left foot, just see if it hurts too much. He didn't want to pursue it if it did hurt too much. But it didn't. In fact, I think it may have been less painful than it was before the operation. That's what is giving me hope.

Well dang

 Here it is, nine years and some months after my right hip replacement, and I haven't written in here since 2015. And I am soon going to have my left hip replaced. It is scheduled for November 14.

I remembered the first hip replacement as being very fast and easy. In comparison to my knees, it was. But it wasn't a miracle - it took some months for the pain to ease. Now I feel no pain at all in my right leg, but it wasn't that way right after surgery.  It is good for me to remember this so I don't get discouraged. 

I am also glad that I reread these entries, especially the "lead with your hips". I had forgotten that and am going to add that to my thinking as I walk now. 

Checking in

So much has happened. I quit therapy after three years plus. My knees never got all the way straight but I do walk well in spite of that. I have moved to Nevada, where the dry heat often makes my body feel rather good, but it feels good no matter what most of the time.

I am still working on posture. It's a tough one. I am consciously standing taller and pushing my head back more regularly. None of this happens naturally. I am hoping it will eventually.

My knees seem fine almost always. Sometimes I get a little fluid in the left one or it hurts a little, but rarely. I walk the recommended 10000 steps most days - not that 10K is any magic number.

I also walked the Bolder Boulder 10K for the last two years. That run/walk takes place on Memorial Day each year and uses a route through residential neighborhoods. It is like a six-mile-long party! Bands spaced out (all of them good!), goofy games on the side (trampoline, anyone?), so much action all the way that one can almost forget about one's legs. But I do find it challenging, that long a walk. Especially because to get into the stadium at the end you have to average a bit over a 20-minute mile. It's one thing to do this alone, with no distractions, but hey, it's fun to take part in some of the diversions and we also sometimes need the bathroom.

I also was doing a class at my former gym that is a nice whole-body workout. It's called Group Active. Cardio, strength, balance, core, and flexibility. Unfortunately, my new gym doesn't have an equivalent class. So I am back in an Aqua class. Fortunately, a good one. But it feels like regressing in a way.

I am also back in therapy. My left shoulder this time. I'm there three days a week for about an hour each time. No fun but I want to swim and this dang rotator cuff doesn't want me too. The therapists say this is fixable so I'm soldiering on.

Altogether I feel better and stronger than I did in my thirties. Age is just a number, as they say, although honestly thirty-somethings have no idea of the challenges ahead.

Checking in and checking up

It has been way too long since I have written here. Much has happened or changed, even though right now I feel like I'm treading water.

Leading with the hips was good advice. I still follow it. I still have to tell myself, though, consciously. My physical therapist says I am walking much better, my back is straighter, and my knees are "softening". He says they no longer bounce back when he presses down on them. It's been a long time, this straightening. Most people do not have to spend so much time doing this. On the other hand, my therapist told me of another woman who has not put the time in as I have and who is now bent over and whose knees are bent more than before. He compliments me on my persistence.

Hip pain is a distant memory. I never have it any more, either during the day or the night. My experience is much like others who have had this surgery. Easy and done.

My main complaint when I walk is lower back pain. This is largely because I still don't have the best posture, and I know my weight makes it worse as well. Nevertheless, I have walked across the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan two years running - that's five miles across, and last September was cold and windy - and while I did feel back pain it was not enough to deter me or even cause significant discomfort. I felt like I managed it better in 2014 than in 2013. Not as tired, not as hurt, even though I had not done much to get ready for it.

Still in therapy. Still working on getting my knees straight, but also working on my right shoulder. I developed a constant ache in my arm and finally went in to see what was up, got referred to the physical therapist again. Actually, this turned out to be a good thing, because Medicare was no longer paying for my leg therapy. The therapist was "carrying" me. I didn't want that to keep happening so now I go in for rotator cuff damage and the knees get thrown in, so to speak. The tendon is not torn, I am happy to say. At this point much of the pain has gone away. The therapy is working. It's a delicate area, though, and one must be careful not to put too much weight or strain on it too soon. I also am working on elbow damage, different from the rotator cuff.

What with the shoulder, knee, elbow, and hip work I am in the therapy office for 1-3/4 hours each time now, three times a week. I use weights, a roller thing, and eight machines and do a total of 23 different exercises.  I have a rubber band to use for shoulder exercises when I travel. I tell people I am working my way through all my joints. I sure hope that isn't actually true. I look forward to getting out of physical therapy.

Judith Lautner sent you an invitation

Judith Lautner has invited you to join Twitter!       Accept invitation             Twitter helps you stay connected with what's happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.     You can unsubscribe from these emails at anytime or find answers to your questions at Twitter Support. Twitter, Inc. 1355 Market St., Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103