Tag Archives: illness

Be Finding Food For Fuel (4 Pillars of a Healthy Fuelling System)

Isn’t it funny how a few days flat on your back allows you the privilege to reflect on health? February flu season is wafting through the house and it happened to grab on to me last Friday. The weekend was spent trying to breathe, staying warm and lying in a slightly upright position. Fun time for this jet engine energy girl. One thing about me, though, is situations like this help me grow.

These last seventy- two hours have afforded me the opportunity to think deeply about what I put into my body. Over four years ago, I was forty pounds heavier than I am today. Over four years ago, I was on a deep growth journey working through the grief of my loving mama. Over four years ago, I discovered, by my own willingness to never sit or lay in a pit too long, the best fuelling system for my body. And I want to stress “system” because there are no miracle products. Sorry. There are no one week detoxes that are going to fix your eating habits. Sorry again. And there are no amount of counting calories or points that will teach you how to nourish and listen to your body. Truth.

I now have partnered with the company that formulated this system over fifteen years ago. I have left my full time teaching life that I was very passionate about because I think all children are a gift from God. I now help match people’s personal goals to a system of products that support the systems that work within the body. And yes, we even touch on poo! After my mom died, as well as weekends like I just had, I know with 100% certainty that if we don’t have health we have nothing. If we don’t get a handle of how to fuel our bodies, we don’t have energy. If we don’t understand what our individual bodies need, we will have “dis ease”.

Here are my few gems from lying in the couch with “dis ease” if you truly want to learn how to fuel your body:

First, before you even try to uncover the food dilemma, how is your water intake and what amount of sleep are you currently getting? Furthermore, are you drinking enough water and sleeping enough for your body? How is your sleep hygiene? Are you able to sleep without your “handheld computer comforter” beside you?

Second, what do you LOVE to eat? Do you enjoy plants, meat, soups, fruit? Just because the current rage is to eat no fruit (no carbohydrates) or only eat meat (protein), you decide what is best for you personally and build your fuelling system around that.

Third, are you moving between the eating habits of starvation and overindulgence. Most people do. My company’s name literally means “balanced life”. This is your ultimate destination with your fuel. Eating every couple of hours with a balance of variety of foods that nourish you and bring you energy.

Water.

Sleep.

Love.

Balance.

Simple.

Isn’t it!

The four pillars of a healthy fuelling system.

One that doesn’t rely on feelings or emotions.

One that doesn’t flutter in the wind depending on the current ‘famous food’ that you can’t pronounce or diet plan you really only can follow when motivation is high.

Something that relies on you nourishing and listening to your body.

Something that allows your body to become more alive as you age and continue to grow.

Until we breathe no more.

Fuelling with water.

Recovering as we sleep.

Nourishing with lovely food.

Finding balance in all areas of our life, but especially with our food.

Comment below with your favourite fuelling tips.

Follow me on Instagram: @cannjoanna

If you need support in your fuelling, be free to ask me for more information at jj_cann@yahoo.com

With gratitude for feeling healthier,

😘 Joanna

Be the Gift of a Vomit Bowl

After my mom died, there were few things that I asked for nor wanted.

Stuff just doesn’t hold much “significance” for me.

One thing that we did take was the two blue bowls that my mom had during her cancer journey.

It wasn’t until this morning that I understood the significance of these bowls and the gift that I had been given.

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Last night, my oldest threw up, eleven times… yup, we counted.

We slept for about two hours and now we are into our day, living our life.

I have learned that we don’t live in a world where everything is perfect or where everything will go as we planned.  BUT we can find comfort in chaos and beautiful moments while cleaning a vomit bowl.

My Sexy Neck sent me this text after JC and I’s long night:

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The gift of watching my mom vomit over and over and over again as she journeyed through cancer.  My mom and I would laugh as we were the two most squeamish members of our family when it came to vomit.

The gift of a bowl to help my children and to be able to walk with them through their sickness.

New beginnings.

New Learnings.

A blue bowl.

The gift of a messy, marvelous life that my mom lived fully.

My own messy, marvelous life that I live with in freedom and grace.

Be Recounting the Past to Live in the Presence

October, 2012- Sexy Neck tears his Achilles & has surgery

November, 2012 – Move our family to a rented basement suite closer to Sexy Neck’s work

February, 2013 – Sell house (in a day!)

March, April, 2013 – Pack house and clean

May, 2013 – Move stuff into storage container and garage of new house.
Live with my parents while renovating new house

July, 2013 – Move into new house. Next day mom is diagnosed with cancer.

August, 2013 – Mom spends 17 days in hospital enduring acides (from cancer) bowel obstruction, dehydration and a blood clot in her lung. Oh ya, she also started chemo.

September, 2013 – Boys start new schools and new activities in new city.

October, 2013 – Pneumonia! Whew!

Tired.

Fatigue.

Drained.

Empty.

Coughing.

Hacking.

Crackly breath.

Rest.

Rest.

Rest.

Nothing else I can do!

Be Thankful for the Walk-In Clinic

Four weeks of coughing.

Two, two hour trips to the Walk-In Clinic. (We are definitely in the big city now!)

Two rounds of antibiotics.

One song that made me laugh out loud while waiting. Thank U Alanis.

Thank you walk-in clinic.

Here’s the first line of the song:

“how bout getting off all these antibiotics”

Here’s the link

I love coincidences. Thanks God for the laugh.

Be Eating Gummy Bear Soup

Whenever change occurs we have an opportunity to go with it or rebel against it.
For some strange reason I enjoy change and look forward to seeing what will unfold. I do grieve and grumble some losses deeply but most I can see the good and keep on moving. Like the autumn leaves, I embrace the change of seasons.

Since my mom has been healing from cancer, she has been provided with a variety of food and drink that do not normally adorn her refrigerator. You are probably wondering how this affects me.

One of the changes that has occurred for me is that I have become the next stop for these interesting food and drink. My parents don’t like throwing things away.

I hadn’t realized how my own refrigerator contents have changed post-cancer diagnosis until today.

I pulled out a plastic container given to me from my dad and opened the lid. Our four year old guy was standing beside me and started to jump up and down. He then exclaimed, “Mom, look gummy bear soup!”

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I responded, “Yup, sure looks like it!” (And probably had as much sugar!).

The gelatin wasn’t a hit for lunch, even though we called it gummy bear soup.

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Now can someone please tell me what to do with my pomegranate juice, pure cranberry juice, prune juice and coconut water. These aren’t big sellers in our household of water drinkers.

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Be Laughing In The Midst Of Tears

Sexy Neck and I enjoyed a beautiful moment on the deck last night. We laughed til we cried while reading these stories posted on Facebook.

This morning I read this to my mom and cousin Rea. The nurse came in right after we finished the last story. She asked mom if Rea and I needed to be kicked out because we were drinking. Mom had to assure the nurse that everything was fine with us.

Brace yourselves!

EMBARRASSING MEDICAL EXAMS

1. A man comes into the ER and yells ..’
My wife’s going to have her baby in the cab.’ I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady’s dress and began to take off her underwear.
Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs – – – and I was in the wrong one.

Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald ,
San Francisco

2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient’s anterior chest wall.

‘Big breaths,’. . . I instructed.
‘Yes, they used to be,’. . . Replied the patient.

Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes ,
Seattle , WA

3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct.

Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a ‘massive internal fart.’

Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg

4. During a patient’s two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with One of his medications. Which one?’. .. . I asked. ‘The patch…
The Nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I’m running out of places to put it!’ I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn’t see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body!

Now, the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair ,
Norfolk , VA

5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, ‘How long have you been bedridden?’
After a look of complete confusion she answered .. . . ‘ Why, not for about twenty years – when my husband was alive.’

Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson-
Corvallis , OR

6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while checking up on a man I asked . . .’ So how’s your breakfast this morning?’ ?It’s very good except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can’t seem to get used to the taste. Bob replied. I then asked to see the jelly and Bob produced a foil packet labeled ‘KY Jelly.’

Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf ,
Detroit ,

7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled
Into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered . . . It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery.. When she was completely disrobed on the operating
Table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green and above it there was a. Tattoo that read . . .’ Keep off the grass.’

Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient’s dressing, which said ‘Sorry . . . had to mow the lawn.’

Submitted by RN no name,
AND FINALLY!! ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB. I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams… To cover my embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly.

The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said. . ..
‘ I’m sorry. Was I tickling you?’
She replied with tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard . . ..

‘ No doctor but the song you were whistling was .. . . ‘ I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener .’

Dr. wouldn’t submit his name….

ONE MORE

Baby’s First Doctor Visit

This made me laugh out loud. I hope it will give you a smile!

A woman and a baby were in the doctor’s examining room, waiting for the doctor to come in for the baby’s first exam.

The doctor arrived, and examined the baby, checked his weight, and being a little concerned, asked if the baby was breast-fed or bottle-fed. ‘Breast-fed,’ she replied..

‘Well, strip down to your waist,’ the doctor ordered.

She did he pinched her nipples, pressed, kneaded, and rubbed both breasts for a while in a very professional and detailed examination.

Motioning to her to get dressed, the doctor said, ‘No wonder this baby is underweight. You don’t have any milk.’

I know,’ she said, ‘I’m his Nana, but I’m glad I came.

Be Writing A Letter To Cancer

Yup, cancer. The big C. The beast. The indiscriminate illness. One of our worst nightmares. I am talking about you little c-a-n-c-e-r.

First, I want to introduce you to my mama. She’s magnificent. Really magnificent. She celebrated her seventieth birthday in a March. In April, she rode in a Tour de France training Camp for two weeks riding sometimes 90 kms per day. She even fell off her bike three times.

Yup, that’s my mom, she’s one tough, athletic, caring and beautiful woman.

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She came from a small farming town where she rode a horse to school. She is resilient.

She loved helping her dad around the farm rather than hanging out with her mom in the kitchen. She is strong.

She was a leader at school as well as an academic and basketball star. She is all around smart.

She put herself through University to become an excellent teacher and then she gave up her career when my sister and I came along. She is passionate and compassionate.

She went back to work once I hit school and she managed to do it all – work, home cooked meals, travel, organize our lives, plan fabulous parties and I could go on. She can do it all!

Cancer, I almost forgot to tell you, if my mom is feeling tired and weary from trying to cast you away. She’s got my dad at her side. Her knight. Her partner in crime. No cracks have I seen in their 42 years of marriage. He’s even put his golf clubs on the shelf, so watch out. He is a force!

Plus you’ve got to add one power into this “thing” you are trying to do in my mom’s body – God. My sister and I plus our hubbies, we know Jesus. We know his power to heal and transform lives. You bet we will have our mom and dad covered with prayer. We know the angels will be sitting by her beside. We will also be by my mom’s side to love her up and keep her going, especially with a few good books, reality tv shows and neck kisses.

And if that ain’t enough, we have got family and friends all over the world ready to kick your butt. Special niece in Spain, nephew up north, siblings to the east/south and friends in PG, Vtown, Western Canada, Australia, and 100 Mile. You don’t know who you are dealing with.

So, cancer now that you’ve met my mom, and her team brace yourself because you aren’t going to know what hit you! And we haven’t even met her medical team yet!