leann-stickel

Frosting is Magic: Perspective is powerful!

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 00:44:12 GMT

Frosting is amazing!

There are a handful of people that just scrape it off and eat the dry cake, but I am not one of those people. I am one of the people that look for the biggest iced flower or the thickest ribbon their husband piped on to the top of the cake.

I love frosting.

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

When I was first diagnosed, one of my most annoying MS symptoms was my numb left side. My hand bothered me so much and I would rub my left fingers together. When I would do that, it would cause me to look down at my hand. It was a constant reminder of a new reality that I was so sad about. Talk about a downer.

Now before I go any further, I should confess that I am a watch addict. I love watches…. I love cute ones…. I like fun ones…. I like plain ones….I like bright ones… I like cheap ones…. I like expensive ones, and because of that I have quite a collection.

So back to looking down at my left hand, I would be annoyed looking down at my left hand because it was tingling and bothering me and before long my cute watch would catch my eye. I would think to myself, man am I glad that I bought that watch. It is so cute. Wow, I am lucky to have this watch. It wasn't very long and I started calling my watch “my frosting”.

That is where my theory was born.

Life can 100% be like dry cake. Dry cake was not the plan. It is not what we wanted or hoped for or expected, but when we get bad news, when our life goes another direction, when the future that we had pictured is changed, I believe that life is like dry crummy cake.

Chronic Illness

So many things related to health problems cannot be changed . We cannot go back and reboot and reset and redo. We have to move forward, we have to look forward, and we have to make peace with our new reality . In other words the cake is the cake. You get what you get. It just is what it is. We've all made a cake that wasn't amazing, moist or as tasty as we had hoped.

So we looked to the frosting to rescue us. Can the cake still be enjoyable? Can I rescue this flop of a recipe? The answer is absolutely for sure 100% yes! Now depending on how bad the cake is, the layer of frosting might have to be really thick, but it is still effective. In other words, when life is really stinky , not what we chose, super tough, we have to figure out a way to still enjoy our days. That's where frosting comes in.

Perspective Examples

So, like my watch, there is a lot of figurative frosting. I always challenge people to look for things that make their days sweet. It could be the sunshine, healthy kids, new running shoes, the list goes on and on. It really is a perspective tool. The power of how we look at things is real. This is my favorite example of perspective and how much it can change our outlook.

Remember, frosting can be anything that makes you smile, makes you pause and appreciate what you have, takes your mind off of the crummy and actually gets you to a place that you can say you had an enjoyable day. All the things that make your days sweeter.

Do you think you will try this? Join me on Instagram and share your frosting with #frostingfridays -- it's a way to notice and celebrate all those good things!

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:38:23 GMT

Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis

When I was diagnosed with MS in 2009 , my 4 loudest symptoms were numbness, muscle twitching, balance issue, and fatigue. I classify the first 3 symptoms as sensory. It took awhile but I did acclimate to the new feelings. In the beginning, I would rub my left hand and look down at it constantly. It was always reminding me of my new reality. It was a wonderful day when I realized I had not wasted a lot of time annoyed at these symptoms. I am pretty sure the very next day I was annoyed again…but alas. ��

Multiple Sclerosis Symptom: Fatigue

Above, I talked about 3 symptoms and left out fatigue. I am quite certain a person can not get used to fatigue. It is the worst, period, end of story. Okay, so I guess I should pause and remind you that this is my story and perspective on my own MS symptoms. Let me share with you a little bit about fatigue.

Fatigue is not solved with a nap. Fatigue is not just, “I am tired.” It is a different level of tired. In fact, I cannot always sleep when I am fatigued. I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. It is like my body is powering down and I just need to sit down. I could be standing while washing dishes and then just find myself sitting on the rug in front of the sink. It is like I am on empty. I just have absolutely no energy.

When I was diagnosed, my 4 kids were between the ages of 1 and 6. Nap time was a regular part of our schedule. Of course, as a busy mom, I loved this time of day. I was good at keeping a schedule. I was almost always home at 1:00pm! It kept me sane and my kiddos rested. Although I have to admit, I was looking forward to the day that we could stay out all day and not pause for kiddo rest time. Then I was diagnosed, and I was the one that needed a nap. So here we are over a decade later and I am still pausing mid-day to rest. Big time eye roll! As a person that likes to keep going and go on adventures and not pause, this has been hard. I don’t want to stop.

Now I have older kids and they don’t need to nap. In fact, they grew out of naps over 8 years ago. I have made peace with needing a rest every day. It is something that I can address myself. I don’t need to go to the doctor every time I feel tired. It is still annoying when everyone wants to go go go but I am so thankful for my family that cares so much and makes room for me to pause and recharge.

I always remind people that there is so much of our disease that we cannot control. But, we can work on reducing stress and managing our fatigue. If we do those things well, typically our other symptoms will not be as much of a bother. When I am super worn out, my limbs go numb and my muscle twitching increases. I may not even realize that I am tired until I start to notice my sensory issues and it becomes clear why they are so much worse.

Lifestyle Change to help my Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

Now, I have a sleep recipe. This recipe doesn’t include all the times I just need to sit down and not use energy, but this is what I plan on every day. I am headed to bed at 9. I am laying down in the 9 o’clock hour and asleep by 10. I sleep until the 5 o’clock hour. Thank goodness for 7 good hours of sleep because I have had seasons of insomnia that messed up my recipe. After lunch, I need to lay down and I will normally sleep anywhere from 15-45 minutes. I prefer a half hour or less because I tend to feel less groggy after a nap of that length. If I am able to be true to my recipe, I can manage my life better.

Chronic Fatigue Research

If there are studies related to fatigue, I make sure to sign up. Just recently I did one that was a lot of education about fatigue and how to manage it. It would have been perfect to have that resource in my first year after diagnosis. I made sure to tell the organizers that they should make it available to clinics to give to patients as a resource. In that study, they taught about energy banking and redoing regular activities so that they require less of us. I was already practicing many of the principles they taught us.

When we are faced with challenges, we show up and fight back against whatever is dragging us down. I love what this says about the human spirit. I am certain my fatigue will not go away, but I try very hard to make the most of the hours that I do feel like I have energy. We can do so much when we make our minds up to do so.

Benefits of positive thinking

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 00:34:17 GMT

Are you born positive & optimistic?

Okay, so do you think that you can learn to be positive OR do you think that it is a personality trait that is determined at birth or by your parents or by the way you were raised? I think that all of those thoughts and assumptions are very common. Many people would agree that that is how they see being positive. I believe that I was born positive.

My paternal grandpa we called Papa. He was a breath of fresh air. He always thought that he had the world by the tail and yet he never had much money. He always brought the joy. It is because of him that I believe I'm genetically optimistic. I have noticed research articles that have confirmed that genes do have some say in our outlook on life. So, I am so thankful that when the genetic dice were rolled, I was lucky enough to be born optimistic.

How to be positive when things are falling apart

Now, our personality traits are tested when we face challenges and being diagnosed with a chronic illness at the age of 29 was the ultimate test of optimism. While I didn't click my heels when I came out of the doctor's office with my bad news and I did go into a period of mourning for a couple months, I have to say that signing up for my first triathlon was proof that my optimistic gene was pulling through. When you are not a runner, biker, or swimmer and you sign up for a triathlon, you can either be called crazy or extremely optimistic. I am going with the latter of the two. I am so thankful for the gift of being positive.

Improvement is possible – practice, practice, practice

Positive Thinking Techniques

When someone is a talented musician, part of that is just in who they are. They were born that way. Due to being gifted, they often enjoy music more than the rest of us and because they enjoy it, they practice and because they practice, they get better. So even though they are gifted, it does not mean that they don't work at their skill and improve it and push themselves to be even better.

Do I think that being positive is a gift because it's not super hard for me to be positive. I enjoy it and because I enjoy it, I use it and because I use it, I keep getting better. So, I just want you to look at being positive as a skill. If we can improve and get better at something, it's a skill. We can improve and get better at being positive. I love this because it gives so much hope to those that don't feel naturally positive.

I do take music lessons and I was not born a gifted musician, but I take lessons from someone that is. And I enjoy the lessons and I enjoy learning, but the real progress is made when I'm willing to practice. Now when I go to the lesson, I learn quite a bit in 30 minutes but my teacher doesn't play the instrument for me and he doesn't come to my home and check in to make sure that I'm practicing every day. That is all up to me. So, because I don't take as much time to practice as I should, I am not really improving very much. That is not my teacher’s fault. He is a skilled musician and a good teacher but I'm not a great music student. The same applies to being positive.

How to be positive and happy

If you want to get better, you will have to go home and practice. It's not just about learning, it's about doing. I think that there is so much hope in knowing that we can improve our outlook and how we deal with problems. You can become positive, you can become an optimist and because I'm optimistic, I 100% believe in you.

If I haven’t convinced you to lean into learning this skill. Let this inspire you.

Here are some health benefits of positive thinking

• Increased life span.

• Lower rates of depression.

• Lower levels of distress.

• Greater resistance to the common cold.

• Better psychological and physical well-being.

• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

I love this truth!

Interestingly, being positive or negative requires the same amount of energy, but with two different outcomes that impact your mental health. Why not give it a try? When we are busy being positive, we can actually forget about staying negative. Could we actually save energy because we keep moving forward when we aren't stuck in a negative place?

Why is positivity the key to success?

Positive mindset helps you to seek happiness, health and a happy ending regardless of the situation. Lots of successful people have recognized the positivity as the key to success. Power of positivity may change your personal and professional life. Thus, in the tough situations, people ask you to think positive. The road to success is paved with tough situations so we have lots of opportunities to flex our positive muscle. It's it exciting to think about where it will take us?

Do you struggle with this? Start practicing today. Follow me on Instagram for lots of tips, tricks & reminders to keeping working on the positive project. I am cheering for you - big time! Share your thoughts below - I love to chat about this topic

My Experience with Covid-19 While Having an Autoimmune Disease

Sat, 23 May 2020 00:26:59 GMT

When you look at the list of higher risk people and see your disease listed, it’s sobering.

I’m not in a relapse. My disease is totally invisible. I am 10 years post diagnosis and I still surprise people with the fact that I have MS. It makes me happy because, even though I know that I am not beating the disease, I’m thrilled with every day it isn’t progressing. I feel fine. Mostly. I do not have a cold or any other virus. I take a nap everyday to manage my fatigue. My symptoms come and go…but that is nothing new.

I am on the higher risk list. I’m in the immunocompromised community. When you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system is confused. It was designed to fight the enemy. When a bug comes in, it is supposed to attack, kill and return our system to strong and healthy. When you have an autoimmune disease part of that system is attacking you. For Multiple Sclerosis patients, our immune system is destroying our central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, optic nerve). As you can imagine – when the immune system is not all available to fight for you – you are considered immunocompromised.

My disease modifying therapy (DMT) is Lemtrada. This drug comes with a long list of possible side effects. The drug manufacturer requires that I have my labs done every month. To help make sure this happens, they send a nurse to my house…which is amazing. So, what if you don’t let people into your home because of Covid-19? I set up a table on the front porch and met her outside. My labs in March were a little chilly, but I knew I had reduced my risk of germs entering our home.

Today I feel fine. I am healthy (virus-free). I am an extrovert. I want to go see people…any people but, my immune system is not all available to fight Covid-19 if I picked it up. I would probably be fine but, there is so much we do not know and what I do know is that part of my immune system is not doing what it’s supposed to do. So, I stay home. For another day. And that is OK.

Surprise! You have MS!

Sat, 16 May 2020 00:22:17 GMT

I remember the summer of 2009 was a beautiful one in Illinois, and I spent it enjoying my four kiddos. They were 1, 2 1/2, 4 and almost 6. My whole life I had wanted to be a mom and thankfully we had been given 4 healthy, beautiful children.

Busy was the name of my game, and so a tingly, slightly numb left hand wasn’t something that could slow me down. I’ve been carrying at least one sweet baby around for the last six years, and I just assumed I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder that was giving me trouble.

After several months of this symptom, I made an appointment with my family doctor.

At the time our health insurance was an HMO, which requires a referral to go to a specialist. I was convinced I just need to see a chiropractor and get an adjustment, and my left side will be good as new.

Thank goodness my family doctor was very conservative and didn’t totally agree with my plan. He sent me to a neurologist instead.

At the time I thought it was overkill and a major annoyance to have more appointments to fuss with.

The neurologist did a physical exam and then sent me for a MRI.

On October 23, 2009, I went to the doctor to learn the results of the MRI. My husband offered to go, but I was optimistic. I encouraged him to not jam up his schedule for this silly appointment.

When she said I had Multiple Sclerosis all I could think of was a wheelchair.

I’ve often thought we should be thankful for all the things we don’t know about because, we’ve been saved from having to deal with them. I never suspected I could have MS, and I knew almost nothing about the disease.

My unawareness made this day so scary.

Would we have to sell the three-story house we’d built and move to an accessible ranch? How on earth would I keep up with my sweet children?

For six weeks after my diagnosis, I mourned as the future I had once pictured. Now my future included a chronic illness that would affect my family in who knows how big a way.

After realizing that a pity party is the least fun party to host, I decided to focus on fitness and fight back against this auto-immune disease that I was learning about. Fitness was something I could control, and I decided if I can run today, it’s more likely I’d be able to run tomorrow.

I signed up for my first triathlon and pushed back against my disease. It’s been almost 10 years, and my theory on activity hasn’t changed. In fact, it has served me well. As I’ve learned so much more about MS, I realized there are as many stories as there are patients, and I could have some say in writing mine.

I cope with MS by educating, connecting with other patients, cheering for others with MS and advocating for myself. Though my kids can outrun me now, we are all signed up to do a 5k together.

I haven’t had to sell my house. I love the advice another patient gave me that first month – think about the worst case scenario, make a plan for how to deal with it, and then move on and don’t dwell on that version of your future. I’ve shared that a zillion times.

Have a plan. Be a warrior, not a worrier.