It’s almost two years since I posted on my blog. 2013 and 2014 were full of health problems! I finally have a whole team of good doctors to help me figure out my complicated thyroid/parathyroid illness. I’m not totally better yet—and probably am going to need parathyroid surgery sometime this spring—but I’m healthy enough that I want to blog regularly again.

Over the next two weeks I’ll post several catch up posts with reviews of my favorite books, shows, and whatnot from 2013-2014. Today I’ve summed up my health saga and what goals I was still able to accomplish while sick.

 2013 Health Saga:

-Went on special allergy limitation diet (GAPS diet) to improve food allergy problems.

– Consulted a nutritionist and a certified diet nurse because I wasn’t making progress on the GAPs diet, but they weren’t very helpful.

– Discovered on my own that I have histamine sensitivities and can’t eat fermented foods (a huge part of the GAPS diet).

– Felt worse and worse into the December of 2013.

2014 Health Saga:

– Discovered I was severely hypothyroid at the end of January and went on thyroid meds.

-Discovered I’m super sensitive to the thyroid meds and spent 6 months figuring out the best stable dosage for me—to avoid a list of horrible side effects. I finally figured it out in August.

– Went to 1 horrible family practice doctor, 2 horrible endocrinologists, 1 decent endocrinologist—not on my health insurance, —and finally found 1 good endocrinologist that does take my health insurance.

-Went to a good family practice doctor, who referred me to her Naturopath colleague who specializes in diet and nutrition counseling.

-Had numerous blood tests and scans to figure out my health issues.

-Added rice and then Quinoa into my diet, so I can now eat 8 foods. Whoo-hoo!

-Switched over to another family practice doctor in the same practice, who is just as nice as my first doctor but also specializes in diet issues.

-Was diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism and referred to a parathyroid surgeon.

-Have an appointment with parathyroid surgeon for the late January 2015.

2014 Life Accomplishments: 

Despite being super sick from January-April, somewhat sick from June-August, and a little bit sick from August – December, I accomplished a lot more in 2014 than 2013—though I read fewer books because I actually had a life.

-Subbed 33 times

-Read 40 books (33 fiction, 7 non-fiction)

-Read 84 short stories

-Took 5 writing classes and 1 writing workshop

-Took a performance dance class and an Improv Theater class

-Went to dance class an average of 1 time a week from April -June

-Went to dance class an average of 2.5 times a week from June – December

-Took my youngest child to college in Portland, Oregon

-Wrote 5 short stories

-Read several books as research for new YA novel idea

-Began outlining my new YA novel idea to prepare for drafting

-Visited Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) and spent some time in Burlington, VT

-Applied and was accepted to VCFA’s MFA program in Writing for Children and Teens

-Set up a writing office in Maryland

-Still haven’t touched my middle grade novel at all this year—hmmm…

2013 Life Accomplishments  (I posted this on Facebook last year so I’m putting it last)

-I subbed 11 times

-Read 79 books (55 fiction, 24 nonfiction)

-Took 5 writing classes and 2 writing workshops

-Went to 2 writing conferences

-Wrote 7 short stories

-Wrote 1 YA novel draft

-Planned out the revised plot for my middle grade novel

-Bought furniture for the condo in Vermont