Slowly but surely it looks like these mysterious health issues are getting resolved and solved, and the relief of that after nearly eight months of symptoms is astounding.  Since February I have seen five different doctors, been on three rounds of anti-biotics, four rounds of Chinese herbs, two months of acupuncture, who knows how many doctor appointments and a variety of other medical procedures including blood tests, a mammogram, an EKG and outpatient surgery.   I know this is nothing compared to what some people have to deal with in terms of health, and I have been repeatedly grateful that every step of the way alarm bells haven’t sounded, serious red flags haven’t come up and no one has ever given me any reason to panic.  This has been a lesson in patience, commitment and focus and while I am still on that road, I am finally getting some clear answers and beginning to understand the bigger picture of all of this.

One of my recent blood tests was taken to measure all of my vitamin and mineral levels, and it turns out I have deficiencies in B12, Pantothenate Acid and Calcium and my Anti-Oxidant levels are low.  My doctor and I have also finally deciphered all of these strange throat/mouth symptoms and it looks like I have an allergy of some sort.  So between these two revelations I am now becoming one of those OCD, fanatic label-reading California girls who is becoming more and more insistent on locally grown, organic food, avoiding preservatives and – I’m even scaring myself here – keeping a food journal in order to make sure I get enough servings of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have always had a pretty good diet, but I know I am not capable of keeping daily tallies in my brain of these details.  If I eat one apple I know I will somehow equate this to multiple servings of fresh fruits and vegetables and I have to be more diligent about it.  I firmly believe that these totally benign health issues are a warning that if I do not take better care of myself these health problems will become more serious as time passes.  And the message has gotten through loud and clear; the commitments I made to myself at the beginning of the summer are becoming more and more solidified in my daily life.  New patterns are developing, new habits forming, and I am finally beginning to feel like I am getting my mojo back.

Now that the fog is clearing and I have concrete information in front of me about the cause of all these months of feeling like I’m in health purgatory, trudging along in a state that is not sick, but not entirely well either with no one being able to figure out what the problems are, I am enjoying the process of learning about all these tiny things our bodies need (or cannot handle anymore, as in an allergy).  The symptoms of the vitamin deficiencies I have include fatigue, depression, and irritability and all of my allergy symptoms are totally common for the type of allergy I might have.  Puzzle pieces that for a long time seemed totally unrelated are now beginning to click together, and the more I read and learn and google things like "sulfite allergic reactions" and "vitamin B12 deficiency" the more connections I make about my own health.  I started on this journey at the beginning of the year with no map, compass or clue as to where I was, and I have had to collect facts and clues along the way until I got the information I needed to make sense of it all.

While all of this is wonderful and good and ultimately creating a much healthier lifestyle, I must admit I am somewhat horrified at the idea of having to be one of those restaurant patrons who has to ask a million questions about the specific ingredients used in something I might want to order in order to avoid a miserable allergic reaction:  "Like, do you use real lemon juice in your lemon drop martinis or bottled lemon juice?"

I cannot help but feel compelled to create a small calling card that says "My name is Christine and I am allergic to [insert allergy here.]  I swear I am not a diva."