Today – I am flared. That is a thing with my MS.  Some days I am just a flare mess.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that I am having a full-blown flare.  It doesn’t mean I did anything wrong or neglected to do something necessary to keep my disease quiet.  Days like these just happen. They arrive unexpectedly, linger around for the day and then disappear with little to no trace of it being as bad as it had been for that one day.  Flared days suck but at least I have learned that they will pass and things will get better.

Always have, always will.  But these days, a shitty day doesn’t mean that I stop doing everything I have been doing to feel better and stronger.  Days like this are no longer an excuse for me to curl up and give in to the pain and incessant fog.  It doesn’t mean I give up because what I have learned about my body and my disease is that taking a day off, relenting to the disease only sets me back.  It makes thing worse.

So I double down and put more of an effort into feeling better.  I stretch and do yoga more (if that is even possible these days)  I push myself to walk farther than I feel is safe, I look for things like CBD bath bombs and CBD rubs and use my roller to alleviate the aches and pains.  I make sure to limit screen time, when possible and I try and immerse myself in an activity that will re-focus my mind away from the fact that my body just feels like shit.  I cook, I write, I fish, I knit, I paint and sand.  I do whatever it takes and I actively look for new things that will help me feel better, rather than just waiting around for it to pass.

That is one of the biggest differences between the Meg that was overweight and stuck on the couch and the one that was out on the boat with lines in the water as the sun rose on Saturday, was serving a first attempt at an “edibles for others”  dinner with friends that night and then spent Sunday walking, writing and making arrangements for an up-coming trip to Colorado…

  I have stopped giving up and starting just getting shit done!

 

No matter what we have going on, no matter how I am feeling, I get out and walk – as far as I can possibly manage – each and every day.  It’s non-negotiable.  I stretch – all the time – anywhere and everywhere.  I take my cannabis, cbd & all the supplements that I have figured out help my body on an on-going and regular basis.  It is now just a part of the routine – JUST like I did when I was on prescription medications.  I make decisions based on my body and my health when it comes to the food I eat these days.  NO BULLSHIT. I actually DO the things that are making me better, over and over and over again.  I figure I followed the dr.s orders for years and so that is exactly what I am doing now, I am following the orders of my own body and mind.

I am listening to my body – I am taking those thoughts that dash through my mind or linger in the dark recesses, ignored for years, and I am listening to them.  The ones that think, huh “maybe this isn’t so good for me” and “I probably shouldn’t eat that.”   I am figuring out what makes ME and MY disease FEEL better, because really – that was my sole objective when I started my journey of coming off all of the pharmaceutical drugs and began trying diet, exercise, cannabis and cbd – to feel better – to find some relief from the relentless pain…..well that and to not hate myself so much.

People want to know what I have done to experience such a drastic change in my health and life and I get it.  I would want to know too!  It has been a year of many things and lots of changes but honestly the number one answer is – I walked – I began moving and everything else kinda just fell into place.  In my mind, each day, when I would walk, I would think over and over again “As long as I keep walking my ass won’t end up back on that couch.”  So far it has stuck!

YES cannabis and CBD have helped me manage the pain and that has been huge BUT just the moving and walking do a pretty damn good job with addressing and helping the pain these days.  Who knows, maybe there will be a day in the future when I don’t need to consume cannabis and CBD daily/hourly, that I won’t get random “flare-days” thrown at me, despite me being relentless in trying to do right by my body and my disease, but for now, it is working and I am walking and writing and as I said, getting shit done.

Speaking of getting shit done – I had the pleasure of being a guest with Kathy over on FUMS podcast.  It really is a fantastic interview – covering so many different topics but all about ME – so yeah- I’d say it’s good 🙂  You should go give it a listen.

https://fumsnow.com/fums-030-how-cannabis-diet-and-exercise-has-helped-mser-meg-lewellyn

We are gearing up to travel to Colorado  (Denver from Jan 24th – 30th) to attend Indo Expo – a cannabis show focused on growing the plant. It is kind of mind blowing to think that one year ago I made the decision to travel to Denver by myself (a HUGE thing for me and my disease) to try and begin to learn more about this plant and its medicinal properties.  To think I am returning – happier and healthier than I could have imagined, that we are leaving “the girls” (my pot plants) in the care of a friend that loves pot as much as I do,  and selling and talking about my book and my experience is pretty amazing.

 

I said I wanted something different- and it seems that I made it happen.

We have been trying out different things for content – and will be adding to the BBH You-Tube channel much more frequently – below is a first run video of what Shawn says is the “Cooking With Meg” Show:)

 

**Notes to self for future edible endeavors**  I had about 2 tsp of kief – all the amazing strains I have been smoking all summer – all mixed up together.  After 20 minutes at 250 – it smelled delicious!  I decided to take the decarboxylzed kief and mix it in with the crust – thinking that flavor wise the nutty smell coming from the toasted kief would pair better with the graham-cracker-esque crust.  In hindsite, I think it would have been better to mix it in with the lemon filling because the kief ended up clumping up with the butter, cracker crumb mixture – which led to very uneven distribution of the cannabis.  BUT it was delicious and for me – it medicated wonderfully.  Since I don’t experience the effects of getting high, I never know if it is too strong.  Our guests were heading out on a sunrise hike in the morning and so they took their edible lemon bars home to have before climbing in bed.  I have yet to hear from them…..really hoping they weren’t too strong….:)

 

 

But that is a link to the BBH You-tube channel, where we will be posting more often – so add that to your “must-see” list!

 

Wrapping up to try and keep the length down.  Trying to keep in more manageable for ME and for you as my reader.  I know I have a lot of words that I want to share and I am working to find the best way to go about doing that.  Shawn has joined me over on Instagram – @Doug_thepotplant already has over 100 followers after only 3 days – so yea, he’s kinda excited about that:)  If you are on IG – check him out.  We plan on using his IG, along with the You-Tube videos to share all about growing my medicine.  He has gotten way into it and we are loving learning so many new things!

Peace to all and sending good vibes!