Primal Feet First: In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past page 46

[valmason01]

Cori-I am a lurker on your post just recently. I am so sorry about your grandfather. I was never close to mine but had two grandmothers and a great grandmother I was close to. There is not a day goes by that I do not miss them. I sometimes find it hard to believe they truly are no longer in my life.

The reason I lurked recently is that I have a friend who has RSD. I am trying to do some research on RSD and paleo in the hopes that it will help. Based on your posts it sounds like there has been a difference in your life. Is it just the food? Do you exercise? If so how much? Any info you can share would be so helpful! I realize your life is in turmoil right now. This is most definitely 'when you are able' reguest. Vaya con Dios.

[cori93437]

Cori-I am a lurker on your post just recently. I am so sorry about your grandfather. I was never close to mine but had two grandmothers and a great grandmother I was close to. There is not a day goes by that I do not miss them. I sometimes find it hard to believe they truly are no longer in my life.

The reason I lurked recently is that I have a friend who has RSD. I am trying to do some research on RSD and paleo in the hopes that it will help. Based on your posts it sounds like there has been a difference in your life. Is it just the food? Do you exercise? If so how much? Any info you can share would be so helpful! I realize your life is in turmoil right now. This is most definitely 'when you are able' reguest. Vaya con Dios.

Hi Valmason,

I hope this isn't too late. I've been back in town about week or so and on the boards a bit but am just now digging back into my own journal. Thank you for the expression for my grandfather. I appreciate it. I am lucky to have had so many wonderful grandparents that I have been close to.

Regarding my RSD/CRPS (same thing you know the docs use different acronyms to describe the same disease differently depending on which doc and when you were diagnosed/when the doc graduated med school)... yes, I believe that being Primal/Paleo has helped dramatically!

I was initially diagnosed 15 years ago. Back then the only thing any doc could tell you was that "something just went wrong in your brain". A lot of doctors who are not up on the most current research will still say that. However, in the past 2-3 years there has been a significant amount of research that has indicated that RSD is actually an autoimmune connected disease. In a set of trials it responded the most favorably out of several recognized autoimmune diseases to a series of gamma globulin injections.

Anyway. I actually only came by this research information very recently as a byproduct of going 'Primal' for other health reasons (i.e. my neurological conditions) which have also seen major improvement. While I was focused on the immediate crisis on the neurological problems I completely ignored the fact that a sort of minor miracle was occurring with my RSD. I no longer have daily pain and discomfort like before.The fact that I was suddenly pain free prompted me to look into the latest research finding concerning RSD. I hadn't bothered looking at RSD research in years because it was just something I had come to live with as a given. I'm almost 100% certain that this change is from the fact that I removed grains (gluten... i prefer grain free to "gluten free") from my diet and thereby removed the brunt of cause of the autoimmune issue.

Now, the area of my body that has RSD (the entire right side head to toes, like a line has been drawn down the middle) still does not feel 'normal'. But as a person who fought pain for all those years, had 10 surgeries, spent years on serious narcotic pain killers, and currently has a spinal cord stimulator implant system that up until a several months ago I was in pain before the generator battery even ran down... I now use ZERO pain reducing therapy. The stim is turned off, and has been for a couple of months. And I'm not taking any pain meds at all.
That is crazy. Crazy!
Even to me it's a little nuts. There is no way that it should be possible that I should be able to function without some major drugs with my Stim turned OFF... yet I feel less aches and pain than even when it was newly installed and functioning at it's best ever.

As far as exercise I walk about 30-45 minutes per day... I would certainly do more but my head/brain issues are keeping me slowed down a bit in this respect at this point as I'm working on reducing that medication again, not the RSD by any means.

In short... YES! I would, and DO, recommend Primal/Paleo to everyone with an autoimmune issue who I think will listen to me.

Unfortunately I know some people who don't listen. I have a good friend who has watched me get better, and better, and she remains so sick... And every problem she has is a DEFINITE autoimmune problem.

I hope that helps.
I'm rather passionate on this subject. I can't say that it's a magical solution for every person. And it will probably take TIME. Its not going to happen in a week or a month. I was probably Primal/Paleo a good 6 months before my body healed sufficiently that I finally really sat up and noticed "Hey, wait... where's the pain?" But I do think it is worth the time investment to try it.
After all... what can it hurt? It's really just eating healthy foods.
Off my soap box now.

[cori93437]

So, I've been away a while.

I actually came home from TN a week ago... and I've been around the forums a bit here and there. Just not specifically here.

My trip was good, so far as it could be. I did what I went to do. I said my goodbyes, I reminisced with family members, I shed tears... My grandfather managed a very weak slightly lucid moment to whisper how tired he was from the skeletal package that remained of the once great man he was.

While there I went to visit my other two living grandparents. Both in better shape than the grandfather mentioned above, but still old, and becoming frail.

After visiting immediately upon my arrival in TN I went to stay at my brother's house for a bit in case my grandfather passed. The weather was nice. One of the better autumns for color that I've seen in many years since I now live too far south for such things. I did a little rabbit hunting and was successful! Cottontails are tasty. We also had a fresh wild turkey... stuffed her breast with crab meat (made soup/stock with the rest). And a stack of woodies (wood ducks you pervs) since my brother is training his Chessie pup. We also smoked a whole hog for 24 hours for some real BBQ, and a lovely brisket. So good. Went apple pickin... foraging on some local trees that are neglected. Ugly little suckers, but so tasty!

I also spent time arranging for my son to have reconstructive surgery to fix the tendons in his right pinky finger which he managed to sever except for a small flap of skin while cleaning a catfish. He had that surgery yesterday. The doctor seemed to be happy with the outcome, and hopefully the finger will be mostly functional again...
Also son wants to come home. This is good I think. He wants to do some education before heading back out into the world alone again. I approve.

While out on 'vacation' (though I would hardly call it that) I stuck to my eating... often had to cook a separate meal for myself at my brother's house, or at least had to make a modified version of their meal. Eating off plan really does affect my head/brain so it's just easier if I don't. Resolve is my BFF/GBF. I sometimes took the reins and cooked them a nice big 'Primal' meal with a big side of rice or potatoes for them. They really liked it and went so far as to demand a couple of my recipes.
Winning: from my last when ever I posted a "new low weight" to now... is at least 6lbs of loss.




Grandfather did not pass while I was in TN. As withered and tired as he was his death was a slow hard road. He died just today... November 15th.
I am not sorry. There is no more pain and feeling tired now.

A Texan born and bread (Texas Uber Alles diehard Longhorn fan), and from the panhandle between Lubbock and Amarillo... I have no idea how many times he sang this song when I was a kid.

Yeah, I know everyone thinks of the George Straight version... but that's not the one I remember.

Little fact about my grandfather... he was from Floydada but his family was actually from a small town called Della Plain. Della was his aunt, his father's oldest sister.

"DELLA PLAIN, TEXAS. Della Plain was five miles north of Floydada on Highway 207 near the center of Floyd County. It was the first community in what was to become Floyd County and was founded in 1887 by rancher Tom J. Braidfoot and cousins John R. and Jim S. McLain and named for Jim McLain's daughter, Della. A store was built there in 1887, and a post office operated from 1888 to 1893. In 1890 the Della Plain Male and Female Institute opened but moved to Floydada a year later. The Della Plain Review was published from 1889 to 1891, but the loss of the county seat election in 1890 and a poor local water supply finished the community. In 1894 its houses were moved to nearby Lockney, and in the early 1900s the site was planted in cotton. A roadside historical marker indicates the location of the former town."

Clifton E. McLain and Billie Doris Jamieson McLain (while they are both 'Scots', my grandfather's mother was half Cherokee half Scot... other than that the rest of the lineage reads true Scot as much as any such paper trail can ever be trusted.)

-approx 1943-44 when he was an AAC training pilot.
(pic of a pic, forgive the glare)

[naiadknight]

I thank you for your memories and memorial of him. For someone so wonderful as you to have come out of that genetic line, he must have been a great man indeed. May the afterlife he wanted come to him and may y'all's memories of him bring happiness and not just tears. I'm sorry to hear he passed, but even the greatest flame eventually burns out.

[Pebbles67]

I'm sorry for your loss. I love the story and the picture.

You went hunting? Girl, how your life has changed in recent months. May your health continue to improve by leaps and bounds.

[canio6]

I'm sorry for your loss Cori, but as you said, no more pain or feeling tired. Sometimes that is a blessing unto itself.

[justyouraveragecavemen]

I'm sorry for your loss Cori, but as you said, no more pain or feeling tired. Sometimes that is a blessing unto itself.

+1
I was waiting for someone to say what I couldn't articulate.

[Owly]

He sounds like a wonderful man. I'm glad you got that chance to visit him and to spend that time with your family.

[cori93437]

I'm sorry for your loss Cori, but as you said, no more pain or feeling tired. Sometimes that is a blessing unto itself.

Thanks everyone...
Yes, that's exactly how I feel.


I don't know why I was reminded of this today.
Probably because I know a little about the incredibly hard upbringing my grandfather had (his father was a hard, harsh, man), but that he then became a such a loving man himself with those sparkling eyes, easy smile, quick wit, and wonderful sense of humor... genuine tenderness as a grandfather and great-grandfather.
The last line of this scene was really incredible.

Of course I also had a terrible crush on Rutger Hauer because of this movie.

There will be much reminiscing in the days to come I think...

[JoanieL]

I'm sorry for your loss, Cori.

But I'm psyched re: your health. I've only been at MDA for a short time, but in that time, your health has improved so tremendously, it just floors me.