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Saturday at the Torrance Farmers Market
There has been a lot of healthy activity in our household lately, and not just Tanya\’s miraculous change in her well-being; we have also recently released a book of juicing recipes, \”Faces of Juicing, Visual Juicing Recipes.\” When the book was released Tanya suggested that she wanted to go on a juice fast; I just tried to change the subject when she brought it up. Since Tanya has recently learned that most of her health issues appeared to be the result of a profound Vitamin B7 deficiency, otherwise known as Biotinidase Deficiency, she started taking Biotin a week ago and is a new person today. This change has resulted in her appreciating juicing even more and has strengthened her resolve to increase her juicing at least for a couple of weeks. Since I know when I am beat, I decided to head over to the Torrance Farmers Market on Saturday morning and see what was available.
There is nothing like going to a farmers market to make one appreciate living in Southern California. So many vibrant colors and good smells; we have it all. The Torrance Farmers Market is held every Saturday at Wilson Park, located at 2200 Crenshaw Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and Carson Street from 8:00 AM until 1:00 PM, on Tuesday and Saturday. I have not gone on a Tuesday yet, but Saturdays are definitely fun for the entire family as there is not only fresh produce available but there are over twenty vendors selling cooked foods as well. Take the entire family, enjoy some good food, live music and that great California sunshine. Continue reading
Adult Biotinidase Deficiency and you
![\"Tanya](\"http://www.gotbaddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/painfree_5865.jpg\" "\\"painfree_5865\\"")
To say that this has been an amazing week would be an understatement; I would go so far as to suggest that it has been a miraculous week. I would like you to take a look at the photo of Tanya, to the left. I took that photo this afternoon (Saturday, July 27); there is no way Tanya would have even attempted jumping up like that a week ago. The fact of the matter is that in recent weeks, Tanya has been extremely clumsy; tripping over her own feet and walking into walls became pretty standard occurrences. She had numbness in all of her extremities, it was painful for her to smile and she could not follow a conversation to save her life. On the 19th, my birthday, she got a telephone call from her primary care physician\’s office and they informed her that she had a low B7 reading and that the doctor would be calling her with a treatment plan. So, that was a week ago and her doctor had something to do and would look into it when she got back. Luckily, Tanya had figured out that waiting for this doctor could kill her, so she went and got loaded up on B7 the next day and has kept at it since.
Since the primary care physician was pretty useless Tanya hunted down a doctor that practices naturopathy; figuring he would be more capable with vitamin deficiencies. She then picked up a copy of the test results so she could bring them to the new guy and discovered her B7 level was .05! People with B7 levels between .30 and .10 need treatment; below that is a profound deficiency and must be treated with urgency. While Tanya waited for her appointment, she did more research and discovered that almost every issue she has had since birth can be related to this B7 deficiency. In the 9 years she had been treated for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), no one ever suggested doing a vitamin test even though all the tests they ran on her said she did not have RA. Doctors agreed, something else was going on, but no one ever thought to check vitamin or toxin levels.
Thursday we went to visit the naturopathic doctor; that was pretty eye-opening. The first thing we learned was that he had never dealt with anyone that had a B7 deficiency; he had just had someone with a B6 deficiency recently though. B7 deficiencies are not tracked much it seems; they do it on newborns, but stop after that. Not really sure why that it. He agreed to do a complete vitamin and mineral blood test, so we will see what happens from there. Continue reading
Raw Box Organics, bringing healthy options to Tampa
Long time readers or even the newer, avid ones know that I have been juicing for several years now and that Tanya decided to get into it shortly after she moved here. In fact, in June she released her first book, Faces of Juicing, Visual Juicing Recipes. As a result of our marketing of her book we became aware of other health related businesses that belonged to friends of ours, one of which is Raw Box Organics, out of Tampa, FL.
Raw Box Organics delivers fresh organic produce each week from their truck to your home; getting all of their products from the harvests of local farms. Keeping it local not only supports the local community but it also ensures that the produce is as fresh as humanly possible. In order to guarantee freshness they only deliver in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater areas. They do not ship.
As owner Morten Due explained, \”Raw Box Organics was founded based on the principle that organic food is the key to good health. The body has an amazing ability to heal itself if fueled with the right food. We strive to make eating healthier easy by delivering fresh produce to homes and offices weekly.\” To make it easy for any budget, Raw Box Organics offers a variety of sizes, including Fruit Boxes, Vegetable Boxes, Mixed Produce Boxes, Juicing Boxes, Office Boxes and Kids Snack Boxes. Continue reading
Tuesday at the Vans US Open of Surfing
The 2013 Vans US Open of Surfing is happening in Huntington Beach, CA this week. I have never gone to a surf contest and did not even know it was going on until one of my acquaintances posted on her Facebook page that she was thinking of going out to watch it. I am not sure what it was, perhaps the great weather and encouragement from Tanya had something to do with it, but I decided to grab the camera and ride down to the Huntington Beach pier. It was a learning experience; that is for sure. For one thing, I need to plan this out better next time and have more time to devote to it. There is a lot more going on than just surfing.
There were lots of vendors there but I did not really check that part out much. There were more people by the vendors than on the beach so I would guess they were popular even if I did not recognize every name there. While I was there the skateboard bowl had the shop skate contest and the beginning of round two of the men\’s surfing competition.
The Vans US Open of Surfing runs until Sunday July 28 and is definitely fun whether you are alone or with friends and/or family. Parking is going to suck, so take advantage of the free shuttle service on the weekend. You can get details and the schedule on the US Open of Surfing website. All the activity is at the Huntington Beach Pier. Continue reading
Practicing medicine
![\"Tanya](\"http://www.gotbaddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/B7-shot_5372.jpg\" "\\"B7-shot_5372\\"")
Sometimes clichés are just a little too accurate; for example, to say doctors are just practicing medicine is sad but true and that is what brought about my writing of this particular article. Since I expect that there are new readers here that do not know the back story to my adventure in medicine, I will give a quick review. If you would like more details, you can click the link to the RAD Caregiver category.
In a nutshell; my girlfriend Tanya was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in 2004. In October of 2011 Tanya moved from Indiana to California and my life of living with RA began. One major change in my life was that I now had to start doing something I have most of my adult life avoiding; I started going on visits to various doctors. In case there is some confusion, I do not go to the doctor for myself. I tried it a few years ago but the experience was so frustrating that I said screw it. I admit, I was a little surprised when I first started going with Tanya on her visits to several doctors and specialists in Southern California. My initial impression with each doctor I was introduced to gave me the impression that each of these new doctors was a qualified, caring professional that was going to do their best to help Tanya. Unfortunately, as time went on, I came to the realization that there was one doctor that seemed to be basing his suggestions on kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company while the others seemed to be at a loss as to what Tanya\’s problem is, because every \”test\” they ran seemed to come back normal; it was almost as if they were suggesting that she did not really have RA. Rheumatologists would send her to neurologists and thyroid doctors. Everyone that tested her said there was nothing wrong that they could see, and her complaints essentially were not typical RA symptoms. Various drug combinations were tried and only through Tanya\’s insistence was a combination of drugs given to her that relieved her pain, quite significantly at that. The thing is, the new drug cocktail had side effects that required even more pills to be prescribed and some of the side effects got bad enough that she had to delay taking her primary pain relief cocktail. I started to notice Tanya experiencing the same frustrations that caused me to give up on doctors, but she does not have that luxury. Continue reading
Photos from Showcase Hermosa
Thursday, July 18th, the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau hosted Showcase Hermosa on the rooftop of the 200 Pier Avenue Building in Hermosa Beach. Showcase Hermosa was a reception that was to promote Hermosa Beach as a travel destination by showcasing various restaurants, hotels and shops that are based in Hermosa Beach.
The reception had snacks from a few of the local Hermosa Beach restaurants, as well as wines and American craft beer provided by The Brewery at Abigaile. Towards the end of the event the group went on a walking tour of the three hotels by the Hermosa Beach Pier; unfortunately I had another event to attend so I had to leave before they did that.
Judging by the smiles, everyone was having a good time enjoying the sunshine, food, spirits and networking with each other. Hermosa Beach is good for that. Continue reading
Vietnam Veterans Memorial arrives in Irvine
Tuesday afternoon I was alerted to the fact that the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and the Global War on Terror Wall of Remembrance would be arriving in Irvine, CA on Wednesday morning and that they would be escorted by about 700 motorcycle riders that were coming up from Riverside. That sounded like as good an excuse as any for a ride, so I headed down to Irvine to catch the escort as they paraded into the Woodbridge Community Park.
The Wall That Heals is a half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and has been traveling around the country since 1996. In 2011, the Global War on Terror – Wall of Remembrance was unveiled, which memorializes the two million veterans and civilians involved in the Global War on Terror. This is the first time that the two walls have appeared together.
Both memorials will remain open for public viewing 24 hours a day from July 18-21 at Woodbridge Community Park, located at 20 Lake Road, Irvine, CA. The opening day ceremony begins at 10:00 AM on Thursday with various ceremonies scheduled from Thursday through Sunday. You can find all the details at the City of Irvine website. Continue reading
Fallen Riders benefit at the Tilted Kilt
On Saturday July 13, the California Fallen Riders Memorial Fund (CFRMF) held a fundraiser at the Tilted Kilt in Long Beach, CA. The CFRMF is a non-profit that is part of the national network of U.S. Fallen Rider Memorial Associations. Their goals include raising funds to assist the families of fallen riders, to promote motorcycle safety and awareness. Through fundraisers, motorcycle events and donations the California Fallen Riders raise funds to provide direct support to the families of fallen riders. This event was to raise funds for families in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Funds were raised with raffles and specials on beers provided by Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Coors with the monies going to the CFRMF. There were a few girls there to pose with bikes for a few dollars which also went to the CFRMF.
It was a pretty fun event with about 40-50 bikes showing up; a little more publicity the next time will improve the showing, I am sure. The Tilted Kilt is located at 6575 E. Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, CA. This was only my second visit there but I have to say, the staff there are all quite friendly; I am sure I will return. Continue reading
Waves of Grain Beerfest: A huge success
![\"Waves](\"http://www.gotbaddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Shade-Hotel_3491.jpg\" "\\"Shade-Hotel_3491\\"")
Yesterday, the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach along with sponsors Brewco Manhattan Beach, Rock & Brews El Segundo, LA Car Guy and NW Real Estate Brokers hosted the 2nd Annual Waves of Grain Beerfest; this time benefiting the Richstone Family Center in Hawthorne, CA. The event was sold out and everyone seemed to really enjoy the craft beers provided by more than 40 craft brewers from around the country.
Congratulation to all the sponsors, breweries and attendees for making this another great event. My photos from the event can be found on CraftBeerGuy.com. I hope to see you there next year.