For ongoing and continuous 6 weeks before I left to Shanghai, I experienced excruciating pain around my lower back, closer to the right. In two weeks time, the pain grew to my stomach, still closer to the right side of the waist. The pain was similar to appendicitis (which I had mine removed) only that it affected my menstrual cycle, I even vomited a couple of times a day and it lasted for close to two months that I even had to take leave and skip teaching as the pain was to much for me to bear and at times, I can't even stand, walk let alone twist and pretzel.
My first visit to the doctor was horror. I was tested as if I was pregnant and if I had STD. I can only come back for the PAP and blood test result in two weeks time, which means I will already be in Shanghai. In the mean time, the pain grew.
My new housemate, Jamie is a fountain of knowledge and literally a walking Wikipedia. He knows everything and when I told him about my pain, he suspected that I might have kidney stones. He asked me to Google my symptoms for a general verification and go to my doctor specifically asking to be tested with the result. At first, I went, NOOOO. I'm too young and quite fit to
True enough, I googled back pain, stomach cramp, nausea and it led to kidney stones.
On another thought, it is somehow possible though. I drink almost if not at least 5 cups of strong coffee everyday, I used to drink a liter of milk everyday and my daily intake of water might not be enough.
The doctor confirmed that I have a stone in my kidney, or at least one that she can detect. It could have been caused by my habit of drinking a 1L of low-fat, hi-cal milk everyday when I used to want to gain weight (lesson learnt, too much calcium is dangerous for the body!). The stone was already 3.7 mm in size. If it exceeds 4 mm, I'd have to undergo operation or laser treatment, which was my last resort because I wanted to go to Shanghai in a couple of days.
Another option she said, is to cut my caffeine and milk altogether, and to drink at least 4.5 liter of plain water everyday to make me URINATE AT LEAST 2.5 LITER A DAY (by the way, do you know that an average adult urinates 1.5 liter of water everyday)! That's almost 2 big bottles of mineral water to pee in!
I tried for a week. In between my mom forced me to drink boiled daun pecah beling with honey to ease the pain. The pain still lasted and off I went to Shanghai with an effing stone in my kidney.
And there I met Rainbeau Mars.
As a yoga practitioner, teacher and adidas ambassador, I have always known Rainbeau Mars as the beautiful, hip and most sought-after celebrity if not Hollywood yoga instructor. I couldn't be more thrilled when I found out that she will be conducting the adidas Fitness Academy that I was to participate in.
During the ice-breaking session, Rainbeau stunned me with not only her beautiful, gorgeous face and figure but also by her instant kindness and choice of words. I also thought she looks like a cross of Alanis Morissette and Christy Turlington (and both of the mentioned are also very avid yoga evangelists, hmmm..).
I had the privilege to have a few prep talks with Rainbeau during our lunch and tea breaks (simply because not everyone there speaks English). I also had to apologize to her in advance for I had to keep making many toilet runs because of my condition.
Weeks have passed. I totally forgot about the stone until I got the call from my doctor asking me to go for another ultrasound to check the status and growth of my stone. Guess what, from 3.7 mm, it has shrunk to 1.2 mm, almost invisible! Even my doctor was surprised. She asked me, what did I do.
I told her, plenty of water and a lot of yoga.
I immediately thought of Rainbeau Mars and left her a message on her website's message board. To my surprise, she replied within a day.
(click to view larger)
About the 'sword-slicing' in Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) that I mentioned, Rainbeau did modify the Warrior II in which she asked us to imagine that one hand is a sword and to use the 'sword' to break / slice any pain we have always had in the body, any hatred towards anyone that we have been keeping and any emotional baggage we have been carrying all this while. It might sound absurd at first and trust me, it looked even more bizarre but I tried along. I imagined using the sword to break and destroy my stone to pieces. Strangely, I felt better almost immediately after.
Honestly, I don't know if it was Rainbeau's gift of sword in her yoga workshop or the gallons of water I have been drinking or the coffee I have
My heart (if not my kidney) strongly thinks it's yoga.
15 comments:
So shock to know that, you always looks happy and.....healthy. Take good care :)
God bless.
Hope you get much much better soon. hugs. :)
Can I lose weight through yoga?
Dear Ninie...
Glad to know that you're ok!!
Take care .. :) :)
firstly, welcome to the kelab kuari batu bergerak! i've been a "producer" since 1999 and every year, i'll get at least one occurrence of the rock trying to find its way out. so far, i think i've collected more than enough to make an engagement and wedding ring already (takkan nak lebih dari satu pulak kan?). i reckon nothing says i love you better than a gift from the bottom of my kidneys.
anyways, if possible, ask the doctor to check what kind of rock you're producing. if it's calcium, then yes, you might wanna ease up on the milk. if it's uric acid stone (like mine) then you might wanna ease up on some other kinda food.
take good care, quarry buddy! *grin*
janice:
Thank you Janice, that is very kind of you. Sometimes I just enjoy teaching so much that I get absorbed in other's pain while holding poses in my class that I forgot about mine. But yoga teachers are humans too, we get fall sick and get angry at times as well. Hopefully yoga helps us handle our pain and anger better :)
the lazy turtle and the razzler:
I feel all healed now by your kindness. Thank you very much for your hug and prayer.
anonymous:
Yes you can but losing weight shouldn;t be the main focus and goal when you practice yoga. It's wanting to get rid of things that are not good for the body, bad feelings that are bad for the heart and bad thoughts that conquer the mind is what I always suggest we aim for.
dj phuturecybersonique:
I love how you put it that way, 'i reckon nothing says i love you better than a gift from the bottom of my kidneys'. Although I'd love you more if your kidney bursts 'blood diamond' :)
Yes, it's calcium alright. And hey, we should catch up soon and main 'batu' seremban, maybe? Euwww..
you are my rainbow :) the one that colours my life, i look forward to being with you, after a rainy day, can u come out even on sunny days? just for me :)
Hello Ninie,
I agree with you on the milk. I stopped drinking milk around 8 years ago, and never felt better. It all started 8 years ago - like you, I used to drink milk every morning (konon mcm nak increase calcium la nih, maintain tulang etc etc), but I noticed that everytime I minum susu, I will always feel constipated later. Rasa bloated, stomach discomfort, the works. I didn't think it was the milk though, I thought it was something else. Then one day, I happened to read a book where it said "If you drink milk, and then feel constipated, or your stomach feels uncomfortable afterwards, try not drinking milk for a week, to see whether it helps". I tried this - tak minum susu for a week, and amazingly, I felt much better afterwards. MUCH better. Apparently, I am lactose-intolerant. Masa kita kecik, yelah, susu tu ok, but as we grow older, we don't need milk anymore. We are the only 'animal on earth' yg minum susu masa dah besar. Now, people ask me, kalau tak minum susu, camne nak dapat calcium? I agree that calcium is good for the body, good for the bones. As we get older, especially women, we do still need the calcium, to prevent osteoporosis etc etc. We know this. But you can get it either from supplements, or eating green leafy vegetables. Broccoli, especially, has good amount of calcium. So you kill two birds with one stone (appropriate idiom for this post, yes?) - you makan sayur, and also have your calcium needed for your body, you have the fiber that is good for the body anyway, and no stomach discomfort, no constipation from minum susu etc.
So to all the readers, if you think it's too difficult to give up milk - try this : Stop drinking milk for a week, and see whether you feel better. It's only a WEEK. Seminggu je. Takkan tu pun takleh. I guarantee you that you will feel MUCH better (like I did all those years ago, even now), no stomach discomfort, no bloating, no extra phlegm or mucus in the body (which is caused by consumption of dairy products); in short, you'll feel better. So, try it. One week without milk. One week only, and you'll feel the difference.
Dear Ninie,
Regarding the comment on being vegetarian... I guess a lot of people will be like "Haah? Tak makan daging selama-lamany???"
Let me share my experience. Like all things, if you want to try something, start slowly. I stopped eating daging around 4 years ago ever since I got high cholesterol. Meat, or rather, beef, in order for it to be digested it needs to rot first in the stomach. Imagine that. Something rotting inside of you. Imagine the toxin, the rotting process. A renowned doctor even told me this. But my not eating beef was simply a reaction to trying to lower my cholesterol levels at that time. In time, I discovered that by not eating beef, my stomach feels better. No bloating. My cholesterol level is also down now, alhamdulillah. My first vegetarian experience was when I was on a flight from New York to KL. Since the flight was not MAS, and thus do not serve halal food, I requested vegetarian food. So for 26 hours, I was served vegetarian food. The experience was wonderful. The food was delicious (even for airline food), my stomach felt good and happy, and I didn't feel lethargic. In fact, I slept soundly and wonderfully (I've been on a few long flights, and most of the time the sleep was tak tenteram. This was my first 'tenteram sleep').
Just in case you're wondering, I am not a full vegetarian yet, although I am getting there. I stopped eating beef 4 years ago. I still eat chicken once in a while, but even that is losing appeal. Probably just once in two weeks ke... camtu. Like I said, some people can be a vegetarian in one night, but for others, it may be a process. So if anyone masih tak nak give up daging ke apa, I suggest you give it a try. Treat it like puasa la, do it once in a while, bagi biasa perut. Last Ramadhan, I went all VEGAN. Bukan je vegetarian, but VEGAN (FYI, there is a difference bet. Vegan and Vegetarian. Google kalau nak tahu, too long to discuss here). ONE MONTH no daging whatsoever. Veggie je. The experience was wonderful (compared to kalau orang selalunya bukak posa ngan daging kurma, rendang etc, ADOII! Dari tak makan ke makan berabis, perut is worse off than before !)
So my suggestion for those who are wary of being vegetarians, give it a try. Try one week. Try it during Ramadhan. Your stomach will thank you, believe me.
kidney stone at your age.. scary huh?
take care ninie.. drink lots of water and keep on yoga-ing ! :)
Ninie,
sorry to hear about your condition. try drinks a lot of barley, not the one from can or cordial or anything but the one where you make it at home. My dad suffered from a bladder stone when I was a child and all he did was drink lots and lots of barley and watermelon, until one day the stone just come oout when he was peeing. Gross i know but hey it works right?
Batu karang runs in our family...^_^ Kind of a shock to heard from ur mom that u of all ppl got it too (since u r doing yoga and stuff)
You got it after I did. Now I dun eat red meat coz of the uric acid it has...mine was uric based so the only way to control it is to balance the ph in the system so that it's not really acidic. For this types of stone, carbonated water, sea food is also a big no no.
btw, your stone ni coz of high in acid or high in alkali in your system?
on the bright side, getting it while we're young is good since we're more alert and not to take things for granted...end note: cut off on those caffeine, one healty way to jump start your day or even stay awake during late nights is just lots plain water and fruits.
FYI, caffeine reduces the ability of your body to absorb Ca. So if you're a serious hard core 5 cups of expresso per day, i don't think it's due to your milk consumption.
Being a vegetarian doesn't make you any healthier if you eat excessively. Anyway, you'll lose some nutrition that you can only get from meat - so personally, I'm not sure if it's better.
my lovely julie:
I count the days when I get to see that beautiful smile of yours again and rain or shine my lovely, I'll come out or even stay in, just for you. Miss you beyond words and my love and heart are yours no matter where you are :)
anonymous I & II:
What I feel exactly :), I thank you for taking your precious time writing and sharing our thought on this. I have given up meat and chicken, went literally cold turkey for almost 7 months now, didn't miss them at all. In fact, I have never felt better and lighter, not only in kilos but more of the tonnes of knowing I didn't have to kill and take lives of others just to keep me alive and bloated.
I guess it depends on why you do you it or how strong is your will in wanting to do it. Thank you again for your time and for your contribution in stopping red and going green.
rumet:
Yes, scary! But illness and warnings like these just give you a knock in the head sometimes to choose not to be ignorant and harming your own body anymore :). Yes, water is great. The more we consume, the better, the cooler and the cleaner we'd feel. Or at least that's what I feel.
m.s:
Guess what, other than the daun pecah beling I mentioned, my mom has been reminding me to make and boil the barley everyday! With right amount of honey, they are easily my favourite drink now, other than wheatgrass. Watermelon juice is great for kidney cleansing too, only if they are taken without chilled or sugar :).
For guys especially, passing the stone out through their bladder must have caused more pain, I'm sorry your dad had to go through that. My prayers that he's better now.
abang nabil:
Ha haa, yes yes. No matter how many hours or even lifetime of yoga you do, if we don't take care what food we put in our system, it will tell us that it can't take it anymore, one day in it's one way. If we are lucky, we detect it early, we could save ourselves from worse pain and learn to love and protect our body more in future.
Mine was clearly alkaline. Too much calcium and it started to show in my teeth (extra white) too! Been cutting my caffeine now and yes, lots of plain water (at least 4 liters a day now!) and plenty of fresh fruits plus veggie now. Better late than never :)
anonymous III:
Yes, I admit I was a coffee addict. I was never on espresso though, but I even depended on milky ones to help me sleep! I should have known better, one cup a day helps digestion but one too many dehydrates and tires the poor body.
On a personal reason, one of the biggest factors I don't mind not getting the nutrition I can only get from meat anymore (and I'm sure you do know vegetables offer us a lot more and better ones too) is, I simply want to stop putting dead animals in my body and stop taking the lives of others just so that I can feel filled. Anymore :). Just FYI.
thanks ninie,your post inspire me to practise yoga more often.
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