to help your lymph nodes

what helps the lymphatic system? here are the things that i have read and researched about:

• acupuncture*
• lots of water*
• dry skin brushing*
• massage*
• exercise, especially rebounding. that's right. buy a trampoline.*
• yoga*
• breathing*
• oil pulling
• loose clothes*
• magnesium oil
• clay bath
• chiropractor appointments
• pooping!*
• lymphatic drainage massage

i have starred the ones i've tried. i'm totally wrapping my lifestyle around everything else. 

take every moment as it comes, we are never promised another.

please tell me if you've tried anything different and how it's helped you!

love and light to you all,

the globetrotting gamine

"c" is an inflammatory bitch

today, post-thanksgiving stupor (though I hope yours was WONDERFUL!) I decided to post some things I've learned this past year about health, wellness, and nutrition during this mess until you and me are in remission!

1. use food as medicine. research. i will help a long the way.
2. understand the stress connection!
3. heal your poor gut that's under pressure from our "american" diet. i quote "american" because in the last 30 years they've added just plain chemical-ridden slop into our foods.
4. support your liver--please research this, too!
5. Gluten is *believed* to cause auto immune disease. 
6. to support your immune system, you need vitamin D, vitamin A, selenium, zinc and healthy fats. you have nothing to lost except hunger, weight and stress. trust me.
7. turmeric is a miracle spice and one of the best anti-inflammatory ANYTHING you can use!! go for it!
8. prayer works
9. meditation works
10. HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: examine your own life and look for unusual challenges that presented themselved and that seemed to go against the grain, more or less forcing you to make some changes you might not otherwise have made. can you imagine your life without these changes?

hope to hear from you soon!

stay toasty!

the globetrotting gamine

i don't know about you...

but doesn't having cancer just bring out the poet in you?

i used to write poetry all the time as i was growing up, especially when i was in high school. the words flowed through me and i could never write anything down fast enough.

there were times during my stem cell transplant that this happened constantly, but i was too sick to get up and grab a pen and paper.

the following poem was written a couple of months before my transplant. i was feeling lost about everything, as you'll be able to tell.

my advice about a harsh thing like this? whatever creative animal keeps harping at your brain-- just write, sing, dance, paint it out. there's a lot more about to flow through you...


"unnamed"

happiness ever fleeting
love never ending
like my heart betrayed me
i can't hear the music anymore.

how to work through the pain
when you're left helpless, bound
nothing anyone an do
just like you'll never be found.

your mind turns dark and cold
anger, fear, like being on the edge of despair
tears never stop flowing so it seems
and you're left gasping for air.

when will i taste my life again?
when will i once again be whole.

-written by me©, 6.12.13

my life so far...

hi.

i'm the globetrotting gamine.

i'm a daughter, sister, auntie and great-auntie.

i'm a greek-american new yorker, and a writer to boot.

this is my family.

i'm married to thisguy.

this is the first book signing i ever did with my first ever published book.

those are my niece and nephews with me.

last november, i was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma.

i think it's bullshit.

a year of traveling, and basically being carefree was robbed me,

and i had to learn how to dance in the rain.

i've been through hell since (and last december, my hubby shaved my hair off).

don't worry, it was falling out anyway.

 this is me and my great niece.

 i've created this blog as a central hub of my year with hodgkin's lymphoma.

i'll write about the good, the bad, the ugly, my saving graces, 

and weird life lessons i've learned along the way.

i'll try to make it as detailed as possible!

please e-mail me if there's anything you want to know!
whosthatgamine@gmail.com

love and light,
the globetrotting gamine