Lesson #10 Colon Health AND Happy Birthday to me!!! 29 Baby!!!

Go Shannon. It's your birthday!! See I can have cake.... When it's watermelon cake. Yummy!!

Today is my birthday and I got to watch my nephew Miles earlier in the day. He couldn't be more excited that it was my birthday.

This past weekend I was out working on getting the garden ready. Very excited to start it. I can't wait to try some new veggies.

Well, it's my birthday today and I have some very exciting birthday health news about me. I went for my oncologists appointment yesterday and had the tumor marker blood test drawn. Last time it went up which is bad. Ultrasounds showed new spots on my liver but the larger spots had shrunk by 25%. Didn't know how to feel about that news. The last time my blood test went up by 100 points in 4 weeks which is bad. I had gone 6 weeks since my last appointment (I love to stall them) and my blood test came back the same. YEAH!!! Yes, stable and staying the same is a good thing for me. I am so super excited. I'm staying on hormone therapy and we will re-test in one month. Can I get a hell Yeah??

What a great way to celebrate my birthday. I'm finally posting my colon health lesson. Let's talk about poop and the colon. Get ready because there is a lot of good info in this entry. (nice drastic subject change huh?)

There are so many studies, books, and people that will say an unhealthy colon is what causes disease. A healthy colon one of the keys to living healthy and disease free.

Googelers BEWARE!!! If you go searching colon health online, there are a lot of pictures out there of what has come out when some people do enemas and other colon cleansing stuff. At least don't be eating when you do research.

A healthy person should be going #2 about 2 to 3 times a day. Do you????

What makes an unhealthy colon??

Over the years we eat crappy food and are exposed to toxins. We also take many drugs (prescriptions count as taking drugs) that are toxic in our bodies and also cause constipation. I learned that the hard way when I started chemotherapy and was on viccodin after my surgery for a week straight. I think a whole week went by without a bowel movement.I was pretty miserable. The level we are exposing our bodies to these toxins are much higher than our bodies have the capability to get rid of. Our liver, blood, lymphatic system and all our other avenues of detoxing can not keep up. So, all these toxins end up traveling through the colon and get caked up on the sides where they are reabsorbed by your body sometimes doing twice as much damage to your body. We end up with loads of excess crap on the sides of or colon that never get properly eliminated. Our large intestine/colon is about 5-6 feet long. That's a lot of area that excess waste can build up on.

We also have taken our diets from being fiber rich to being refined and almost void of fiber. There are doctors out there who will argue against colon cleansing saying that it is unnecessary. They say our bodies naturally remove toxins. Well, the amount of toxins in our environment and the sad state of our diets is not natural. Our bodies cannot keep up. Fiber plays a very important role and acts like a broom that sweeps all the crap (literally) off the sides of your colon. Without it, all the yucky stuff stays inside us.

Why is it important to have a healthy colon???

Fecal mater can get stuck on the walls in an unhealthy colon. Some of this matter can be stuck to the sides for YEARS. Not only is this coating not good for you, it also prevents the absorbing of nutrients. Yep, we absorb nutrients through our colon wall. So when I do a wheatgrass implant, I completely absorb the wheatgrass through your colon wall getting all the nutrition as I would drinking it. (just an example of how the colon absorbs)

The problem grows and grows. Once you are constipated, you go to the bathroom less, making your colon weak from lack of exercise, in turn making it harder for you to go.  As a result you end up going even less often.

Some ways to make your colon healthier:

Eat better - More organic foods and less processed foods

Eat more fiber (perhaps an apple a day) - stop taking the skins off of food (but choose organic if you eat the skin). Eat apples, cucumbers and potatoes with the skin still on them. Fiber is in the skin. Lots of veggies and fruit have fiber (this is for the people who only think of cereal when fiber is mentioned)

Enemas and implants - you can do filtered water enemas as often as daily and wheatgrass implants too. I'm just giving you all the info. I'm throwing it out there. If you don't like it, you can throw it right back at me. I feel great after doing an enema. It really works to get some of the built up stuff out of you. I have a little mental "hell yeah!" when I know I got some toxic stuff out. The bad stuff usually makes your stomach hurt when you are going. I do the coffee enemas because the coffee stimulates your liver to purge toxins, so you could also consider doing those. Just make sure you let the coffee cool. I don't want anyone suing me like McDonalds.

Colonics - Monthly is recommended, but even yearly will be better than nothing. 1 colonic is equal to about 30 enemas (If you want to know what a colonic is like you can email me or go on youtube. I found a guy who video taped his whole colonic experience) There are a couple different kinds you can get. One I did not like at all and the other was perfect for me, so remember to shop around.

Supplements for colon cleanses - If the enemas, implants and colonics are not your thing there are some supplement packs you can get for cleansing out your colon. You buy the set all together with a bunch of supplements that you take a few different times a day for about a week. This is a much less invasive way to get some colon cleansing done.

Probiotics - keep the good bacteria in your digestive system which will make your colon healthier and will help you break down food

Drink LOTS of water - water is the best way to prevent constipation. The more water you drink the easier your bowel movements will be. It keeps your colon hydrated and soft. In addition to drinking lots of water, avoid soda, coffee and other caffine drinks that cause constipation.

Squat when you go. I always think of my nephew, Drew, when I think of this. He's just getting potty trained, but when he used to go in his diaper, he would stop what he was doing and squat down really low. It was a dead giveaway that he was going. He has it right though. We should have our knees higher when we go because it is the best direction for our bowel to eliminate. Some people get a stool in their bathroom to prop their feet on. Knees up.

Lay off the drugs - okay, not like you guys are drug addicts, but those over the counter ones and prescription ones cause all sorts of havoc to your system. Most cause constipation - especially pain pills.

Relax man - People can get so stressed out and uptight that they actually tighten up their colon wall therefore making themselves constipated

When you do go, it should be relatively effortless. If you are straining then you are constipated.

Here's another interesting tidbit. The morning poop is supposed to be anywhere from 1 foot to 2 feet long. (I read in some places up to 4 feet, but I'm not sure that ever happens or that any toilet could handle that) Holy crap!!! Ha ha. I love how literal all these words I am using are. Also, your poop is supposed to be soft but not runny. S shaped means your colon is healthy too. You shouldn't have to strain to go and it shouldn't take you long to go. I am always proud of myself because it takes me no time at all to go. So, there are some things to look for. Now, when you go to the bathroom, you have a goal. No more being ashamed of pooping. Go do your #2 and be proud.

It's funny. I used to think pooping was bad. I was almost ashamed to do it and I'll be damned if I did it when anyone was around even in my own house. The less I went the better as far as I was concerned. I spent a good majority of my life being constipated and not really realizing it. It's amazing how things change. Now, if I don't go in the morning, I am crabby for the day. Things are a little off. If I have a "successful" experience in the bathroom, I walk out of there with a smile on my face and a skip in my step no matter where I am. I get so happy and appreciative that my bowel is working correctly and getting rid of all the waste my body no longer needs. I love how I feel after and I go at least twice every day.

Once again, I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I'm just someone trying to stay alive for as long as I possibly can so I have done loads of research and talked to many people who have naturally cured themselves or other people. I love sharing what I have learned, but I am always the student as well.

I am doing something SUPER cool for my birthday, but it will be a little delayed. Stay tuned.....

29 and Feeling Fine

Shannon : )