A good day!

Today was a good day! I had a 9:00 appointment with my naturopath,  Dr. Leanna Standish at Bastyr. I love her. She is so full of optimistic healthy charm and energy! I think I heal a little more just being around her.

When I was in the hospital Mike talked to her directly on the phone and she gave us her personal phone number. When I was in week three and we just could not stop the diarrhea I texted back and forth with her a number of times…she was in Hawaii at the time at a botanical garden. She was like a life line and gave me great encouragement and support. 

Today she was so pleased and impressed with how I’m doing and looking. She said I’d been through hell and just did not expect me to be doing as well as I am. She poked at me a bit and they could tell there is still some inflammation in my lower intestines. She did not add anything to my list of meds/supplements and wants to see me after my next scan.

Labor day weekend, when we had our pizza party, Brody, a friend of Michael’s (and a friend to all of us!) brought me a tincture of mushrooms. He said something like, this is for you, ask your doctor, take it or don’t but here, it’s for you. And then he told me a bit about it.  It is a tincture from chaga mushrooms. This was the first time I’d seen Dr. Standish since that party so I took it to check it out with her today. (We know Dr. Kaplan’s opinion about mushrooms!) She was very impressed and said Yes, take them and then told me to ask Brody if it was from the body of the mushroom or the mycelium? Brody???  Do you know? Anyway, she was supportive and I’ll add chaga to my turkey tail mushroom supplement. They are both “shelf mushrooms” and many of these mushrooms are excellent for fighting cancer. So, thank you Brody!

After our visit at Bastyr we went to see Maggie at work! What a treat, being in a classroom. Mike and I were both very impressed, of course with Maggie as a teacher, but with the classroom all the way around. There are about 16 kids, about 1/2 of them are on the autism spectrum and a few of those kids are pretty severally impacted by their autism. The other half are typically developing kids. We got there at the end of recess and they transitioned in well for read aloud and then for nearly an hour they were, almost all of them, very academically focused in their literacy block. There were a few small groups of 3 or 4 and some one on one activities as well. There was guided reading, independent leveled reading following that, phonics, spelling and writing workshop. This is a K/1 classroom so kids are 5,6 & 7, and it is only October. We were very impressed with the whole thing. Maggie of course is a rock star, but that should just go without saying!! And of course the children were adorable! 

Mike grabbed a bite after that at Chaco Canyon while I ate my  packed lunch from home (Chaco Canyon has got to be the opposite of low fiber…right?). Then Mike went to a group at Swedish and I decided “my” group was not the group for me at all! So he dropped me up on Broadway on Capitol Hill. I browsed some shops and did a good deal of walking up and down and then all the way South to Swedish and met him at a coffee shop when he was done. I was so happy to be out in the weather wandering aimlessly and anonymously! It was great therapy, good for the soul!

Now I’m pooped out…after being home most of last week and this week,  today was a big day! It felt good!

Love to you all!

Janet