Newbie here. Really REALLY newbie...

[rAwesomeBlossom]

Wow. I think I finally found the button for actually posting a post! I'm slow but I can be taught.

Yes, I am new and have questions but the stickies say 'no questions here - just introduce yourself' so I'll start by doing that.

I am on day 8 of my new raw food lifestyle (I think pretty much 100% - like I said, I have questions).

I'm one of the lucky ones. Been really healthy most of my life (I've always believed in eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies-not big into meat). My cholesterol is in the mid-100's. I'm a bit overweight but that wasn't my driving force for being here though it sure doesn't hurt knowing I will lose a few pounds by going raw.

My driving forces:

*Nagging inflammation/edema in my lower legs that won't go away. It's been bothering me for years. It can't be good.
*My grandmother died at age 74 from heart disease.
*My mother at age 74, last December, had a triple bypass. Heart disease.
*I am 53. In 19 years, I will be 74. I don't want to die OR have a triple bypass.

Like I said, I'm pretty healthy. I'm active. High energy. Never (NEVER) had a hot flash (I attribute that--right or wrong--to a life free of caffeine). But the inflammation in my legs is a constant nagging reminder that something is just not quite right.

I have 4 great kids, age 34 down to 16 so I just have one left at home (yeah, I got started early but with no regrets). I have three awesome kids-in-law;and 9 grandchildren and 6 step-grandchildren and a few "adopted" ones thrown in to boot. I spent most of my adult life single but married a good guy 2 1/2 years ago who I love dearly and is very kind and loving to me and my son but who is challenging to be married to because he is low energy, passive (not goal oriented at all), hates vegetables and doesn't care to become enlightened or improved in any way which I find extremely frustrating--and even rather unbelievable. I honestly didn't know such mindsets existed.

I am a processing/packaging Engineer for a global nutritional supplement company - I love my job (as jobs go - who doesn't dream of not having to go to work?) and they treat me very well.

I live in a small town in Central Utah though I'm not native to Utah, having grown up on a ranch (my dad and my brothers are total meat-and-potatoes guys!) in Arizona.

I'm eager for the comradeship and support I hope to find here on this website and based on the posts I've read so far, I know I have come to a good place.

Now, on to my questions...

[Aleesha Sattva]

Welcome! i love your user name... i saw awesome possum all the time... your name reminds me of that (((smiling)))

[Moretta]

Welcome and good luck on your RAWNESS journey.

[Dararaw36]

Hello and Welcome!!!

[VeGenesis]

rAwesomeBlossom - Rawesome handle!

Welcome!

Did you every look into Celiac Disease? It is rampant in my family and something you said about the combo of your legs, your son's attitude, heart disease, rolled oats - it just seems so familiar to me. My docs insisted I did NOT have it until I insisted on being tested and the test came back positive. Since it is genetic and I believe my grandfather was the oldest source in my family - I started begging others to be tested. So far everyone tested has it! (that is unusual!)

It is easy to avoid gluten (the only treatment for CD / DH) when you eat raw food. For me a whole dark cloud or "brain fog" lifted off my mind when I got off gluten - does that sound like the mind set of your son?

Likewise gluten free raw food healed in a few months a nagging 30 year inflammation/edema in my lower legs (DH) - and my heart diseases (more than one). You are on the right path. Check out CD and also CD/DH (Dermatitis herpetiformis) - both of these are usually misdiagnosed by doctors the first few times. If you have questions we can take this to a regular thread. I am one of the founders of the Celiac Society (both CD and DH) of the Philippines.

It is a fact that 97% of the people who suffer with CD/DH in the USA do not know they have it!

I know you will love Living on Live Food - Raw Food has so many advantages that you will discover as you travel this road - enjoy your journey and welcome.

There is also a special place for us over 50's you might enjoy!

-Lan

[rAwesomeBlossom]

Sorry, VeGenesis - I must not have written that well - it is my husband, not my son, whose mindset I discussed in my opening post.

I'm encouraged to hear that you were able to heal your lower leg inflammation/edema through diet and nutrition. I know that inflammation is a sign that something is wrong...I thought I better get a grip on it BEFORE I ended up like my mom or my grandmother. I currently show no signs of heart disease unless the edema is an early warning symptom - I have had it since I was in my mid-20's. It's odd. It's in my lower legs between my ankles and knees but doesn't extend to my feet. I've always thought it was more along the lines of a lymphatic system issue.

Thanks for your heartening response.

[VeGenesis]

it is my husband, not my son

No problem, with 10 kids of my own, or maybe 11, and my tenth grandchild arriving any moment (a girl we are told) I frequently say things the wrong way... "Oh Papa - You're so silly." ;)

Hey, my cousin with Celiac married a man with Celiac and that was before either knew they had it. The reason was because they "understood each other!" For whatever that is worth!

Celiac is so often confused with other conditions that it is called the great pretender or the counterfeit disease. I wish everyone was checked for it.

heal your lower leg inflammation/edema through diet and nutrition

I could actually take your descriptions of your legs to describe mine. I would go on to say that I then began feeling this heat coming from my legs. Then the heat gradually turned into a wet ooze that I thought was lymph fluid. It then developed a slight rash on top of that. All that took years! Decades actually, since my mid 20's. It really started to discolor just before my heart attack.

There were a number of wrong diagnoses and treatments that never seemed to work (elevate the leg, ice, heat, pills, etc.). When at my insistence, I was tested for Celiac (3 doctors told me I didn't have it) and it was proven I did have Celiac Disease, the diagnoses was changed to Dermatitis Herpetiformis (CD/DH). It is worth getting tested for, even if you or your doctor don't think you have it. If he can't tell you for sure with a test result what it is, get tested for Celiac - it can change your life!

I am trying to put my raw food / Celiac experience into a Social Group called A Silly Act For Celiac (also CD/DH) at http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/group.php?groupid=17 You can also get there via a link on my profile.

There I tell the things I did to "get fixed". If you have no intestine problems, that would basically be raw vegan and no grain except sprouted Millet.

It's in my lower legs between my ankles and knees but doesn't extend to my feet.

A perfect description where mine is. Please be careful. My brother had the same and it got a worse infection and had to be amputated. Before he realized he had Celiac.

I thought I better get a grip on it BEFORE I ended up like my mom or my grandmother.

Tell me about it! My grandfather had a massive heart attack at age 52, half of his heart never restarted. His daughter, my mother, died at age 49, I am already six years older than that! It used to weigh on me all the time, but when I realized I could beat this with raw food and staying away from grain (except millet sprouts) I stopped worrying and started enjoying my life again.

Hope you have the same good blessings as raw food brought to me.

.

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW..........Welcome to MY World.

[rAwesomeBlossom]

I feel very welcomed. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

good!!! cause you are!!! (very welcome that is)

[Soldier Girl]

Hey Rawsome! I am also 53 and live in Utah. I'm in West Jordan. Whereabouts are you? Hubby and I are looking for property to build our retirement home on in the vacinity of Junction. I tried to send you a message but it wouldn't let me

Celiac - wow, I may have that also. All this time I thought I was the only one in my family, besides my mother, that retains water real bad. Maybe it's really Celiac? I should test. Thanks for the info!

Anyway, feel free to contact me. It would be "awesome" to live this lifestyle with someone fairly close by. My hubby will not do this either. Oh well! He will come around when he sees all the improvements in me. But it is a struggle for me to be 100% raw when I have no support at home

~Debbie

[rawrawks]

I would venture a guess to say that many, if not most, people that are having distresses are having reactions to the wheat and gluten in our world.

We go vegetarian and all natural and think we are helping ourselves yet we continue to get worse and worse and cant figure out why!!!

Sticky, sticky, sticky....look at the word gluten! Get it? GLU-ten
Sticky, gummin it up, gluing it all together.

Raw foods are light, cleansing and get the glue out, get the gunk out, open all the tubes and tunnels. Profound my friends!

[Frugal Raw]

Welcome!! I wish you the best of rawesome health!!!