Invisible Illnesses & Big Mac Salad

We may not look sick, but turn our bodies inside out and they would tell different stories.

Wade Sutherland

I have a disease.

Nobody knows about it but my body is fighting every day.

It cannot be cured and I have to take daily medication to “deal” with it.

It is a disease that wrecks me. It makes my skin dry and it looks terrible. My periods are horrible and cause me unbearable pain. It makes my hair limp and dull. It causes me to gain weight no matter how hard I try to keep it off. It causes depression and sever moodiness. It causes constipation and slows my heart down. I am always cold and don’t even get me started on the fatigue!! It makes me feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders and it is just too hard to get up. The exhaustion is crippling.

Do you have an idea of what I suffer from?

Most people don’t have a clue and because they can’t physically see my disease they think I am not affected by it.

But I am.

Every. Day.

I am talking about hypothyroidism. It has taken me years to get control over my disease and after many years of trying different dosages and slowly upping the dose so we don’t stop my heart 😬 we have finally figured out how to keep me as healthy as I can be. However, if I miss a pill… or my dosage needs to be altered, I can FEEL it.

Last week I missed 4 days by accident. By Sunday I was so physically drained that I could barely convince myself to get up to go to the bathroom. On Tuesday, for the first time ever I dropped the kids off at school and came directly home and back to bed. I couldn’t even care… it took to much energy to care.

Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease and even though you can’t see my disease does not mean I am not suffering. I assure you, I am.

It took me 4 1/2 days to start feeling like myself again. To be honest I don’t know what feeling like myself is anymore 🙁 even with the proper dosage these terrible symptoms can hit you without any notice. However, by Thursday afternoon my energy was back and I had to clean the bathrooms, vacuum the floors and then wash them, vacuum the van and do a shit ton of laundry! You can clearly see my energy levels by my weekly FitBit report.

On Sunday morning when I so desperately needed to sleep in SBean jumped on our bed bright and early and I mean really early 😂. “Mommy can I wear a dress today?” GROAN. I explained that it was a gardening day and that meant it was a shorts day and for the next hour she continuously screamed, cried, and begged for a dress. Ninja and I began taking dresses away by the day. When she was at a week I was completely fed up! I threw back the covers, raced into her bedroom and emptied her entire closet of every single dress! I then explained to her that she will not be getting her dresses back until she can learn that when Mommy and Daddy say no they mean no and no amount of whining, crying, or begging will change that.

HBear was in fine form this week as well! Today she asked me, “Mommy if I add a quadrilateral and a quadrilateral together will that make an octagon?” 😳😂

“I don’t know HoneyBear ask your Daddy.”

Speaking of Ninja, we put out a poll on Twitter 2 week polling our podcasting friends, who they thought that the best musical tastes… I am shocked to inform you that I lost. Big time. We’re going to try again in a few months as I am positive I can change things in my favour 😉.

The winner, Ninja, got to choose both of the songs for our weekly podcast. Check out the latest episode, How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode 16: The Great Gloat (A Musical).

It is hot out! Yay! When it is hot out I don’t like eating big heavy dinners. We eat a lot of salads in the summer. I have been dying to try this recipe for 2 reasons, 1 I make a Cheeseburger Salad that is absolutely to die for good so I was hoping this one would be great as well! And 2, my SBesty is gluten-free and I am scared to go that route even though I think it would help with all the symptoms I told you about at the top of the page. Not that gluten-free has anything to do with hypothyroidism but maybe if I was gluten-free my hair, skin, and weight gain wouldn’t be so much of a factor. My biggest fear is… That I will never again be able to have McDonald’s again, specifically a Big Mac 😂. This recipe is for a Big Mac salad and is low-fat and gluten-free! I had to try it to see if it tasted like a Big Mac… It totally did!

Big Mac Salad
Adapted from Wholesum Yum

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 head lettuce
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup pickles, diced

10 pieces bacon, cooked and chopped

Dressing
1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons pickles, diced
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar

Cook ground beef in a skillet over high heat. Season with seasoning salt and black pepper. Stir fry, breaking up the pieces with a spatula, for about 7-10 minutes, until the beef is browned.

Meanwhile, puree all the dressing ingredients in a blender. If dressing is thicker than you like, thin out with water or oil and puree again. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add the ground beef. Toss with dressing.

On Wednesday I was still so damn exhausted I let SBean go out wearing Crocs with socks! 😂

I completely forgot that I had volunteered to go with the Preschool to enjoy storytime with the children’s librarian. So I zombie walked to the library while my youngest was wearing Crocs with socks 🤣.

On Thursday was HBear’s last Gifted class.

HBear’s class is on Fresh Start and her teacher posts pictures, videos, and information throughout the day. I absolutely love her teacher!

After school HBear had tennis. It was her second lesson of the week and second lesson in the pouring rain! I felt so bad for those kids as I sat and watched them in the dry comfort of the van ☂️😂.

Right after tennis we went to Brownies. Unfortunately all the other leaders had prior engagements that day so me and HBear’s Gr2Besty’s Mom were left in charge. That night we did Father/Daughter drumming lessons! Everybody had so much fun!

When we got home Ninja had my Mother’s Day present waiting for me. It wasn’t quite ready last week but it was definitely worth the wait! My new chef knife is stunning! It is so heavy and the handle is beautifully carved. Did I mention it is inscribed? 💕 A local artisan forged it for me and I absolutely adore it! To be honest my favourite part might actually be the cool toolbox it come came in LOL it’s Mommy’s kitchen tool 😉.

HBear lost another tooth this week! It came out right beside the pulled one so now she has a huge gap! Next week she gets 2 more pulled… She will have more holes in her mouth than teeth!

On Friday after school we went to LocoLanding to pay for our registration to the Colour Run coming up soon. We took a good walk around the SS Sicamous and down the beach. We have had a shit load of rain recently. We have also had some extraordinarily hot weather which is playing havoc with our lakes, streams, rivers, and creeks. All of the mountain snow is melting… Quickly! We are flooding all over. We live higher so it doesn’t affect us personally but the beaches are a mess and people that live near water are on high alert.

On Saturday Dad and Ninja were supposed to go on a 40 km bike ride with my FIL. However, Dad hurt his back last week so I filled in 😳🚴🏻‍♀️.

It was a stunning bike ride from Chute Lake to Penticton via the KVR. 40 km on a 2.2% grade down to Penticton. The views were breathtaking but unfortunately because of all the flooding, the trail for the first 10 km or so was pretty rough. The sand was deep and there were tons of rocks left from the rushing water of the past few days. I am not the most experienced mountain biker so I was pretty terrified LOL once I got used to it though I just enjoyed the sunshine, the company and the views!

We were fortunate enough to visit the Big Tunnel. We did walk into it but the water was quite high towards the back so we didn’t go all the way. Which is really OK with me considering it was pitch black!

We also saw the Rock ovens that were used by the workers for the years it took clearing the path to make the railway. Our tour guide was amazing and knew so much of the history, it was a fascinating experience.

We also rode through the Little Tunnel. Apparently once you get through the view on the other side is one of the most beautiful views in all of Canada! I completely agree!

We kept on going right through the Naramata vineyards into Penticton.

Of course on our last stretch, the easiest stretch, I was trying to turn around to talk to my FIL and Ninja and I totally bailed! My shin is still tender to the touch 4 days later 🤣.

Ninja and I were also participating in our FitBit Goal Day 2017! We totally made our goals!

On Sunday we all went and picked out the flowers for our yard. Ninja, Dad, and SBean worked hard all day gardening.

While they did that HBear and I went to Kelowna and did some serious shopping!

We also had Dinner at the Cactus Club. It is a beautiful spot right on the lake at the Kelowna Yacht Club. All the windows are completely open and you can feel the buzz of everybody enjoying the hot weather.

After dinner we crossed the street for HBear’s very first dance competition! Her Acro Jazz group did a dance called Poses in the Great Canadian Dance Challenge. They did amazing! They scored an 88 and got a gold! Super proud 💛.