It's Smokin' Hot Here in Austin

Happy September! School is back in session. Fall is around the corner. The days are starting to get a little shorter...but it's still smokin' hot here in Austin! It has been over 100 degrees with the humidity here. It's also chile season where they import green chile from Hatch, NM. I just had some and my mouth is burning. Hot but yummy!

Great news! I did have my chest, abdomen, pelvic and bone scan last Friday. All clear! It's worth drinking the massive amounts of Barium they make me drink and eat. The "pudding" is the worse. It lingers in my mouth and throat. It made me want to throw up. The Barium is to provide contrast during my CT scan. They also inject it through IV while I'm in the machine. It gives you a warm sensation, almost as if you urinated on yourself. They make you hold your breath and it's all over in about 10 minutes. You're supposed to fast prior but I goofed and had some food. I only get this specific scans once a year and I get it confused between the requirements for the MRI and the pelvic ultrasound and they didn't remind me.



As for the bone scan, they inject radioactive tracer in you and it travels into my bones. A special camera takes pictures of the tracer in my bones and it takes about 30 minutes for the actual scan. There's a great deal of waiting time in between. I was there from 11:45 to 4:45 pm.

Also, I haven't been able to sleep very well in August. I would fall asleep and then wake up four or five hours later tossing and turning. I tried melatonin, Valerian root and Ambien. I was getting desperate and found an article in the Natural Solutions concerning sleep. They recommended other supplements so off to Central Market I went. The person that worked there recommended Edge Effect by Eric Braverman. The book is on how there are four lobes in our brain and we can either be deficient or have access of dopamine, serotonin, GABA or acetylcholine. I'm apparently GABA dominant because of my love of stability. (50% of the population is GABA dominant.) I apparently have been deficient of it recently. I took a supplement that included GABA, magnesium, Reflora and L-Theanine. 4 out of past 5 days I've sleep better than I have in August. I need to do more research about these guys but getting sleep is an amazing feeling! His theory in a nutshell. He also has a website too, just Google him. I like this one because it's to the point. http://www.createvibranthealth.com/NT.htm

I see my oncologist in November but I'll probably email the nurse and pick her brain about these supplements. The great thing about this book is that he recommends meds for severe people. Then he would like to ween you off to supplements and then get everything from your diet only.