It's been a fairly quiet new year so far, aside from my most recent medical issue acting up again. This Omicron variant is everywhere so we're trying to be extra careful. We, or mostly just I, had been going out for lunch once every weekend for a while now just to get out of the house, but no longer. Other than that most trips outside the house are for necessities only.
I've been on antibiotics again for two weeks now, yet I started to get a fever and more pain again on Thursday, so I contacted the specialist I'd been seeing. She had me go to a clinic on Friday, not the overflowing-with-Covid hospital thankfully, for lab work and another CT scan and it showed inflammation and still a micro perforation of my colon. She does think that this is still treatable at home, but if it worsens I may have to go into the hospital again for IV antibiotics for a few days. Worst case scenario is emergency surgery to remove part of my colon then I live with a colostomy bag for about 8 months. For now, another two weeks of antibiotics. This time a combination of two different antibiotics than I had been taking. Wish me luck, I really need to get over this hump.
The weather is very cold and it snows now and again but nothing major to complain about. We had the plumber out again due to a clog in our kitchen sink drain, same guy who was out in December to clear out our main waste line that goes to the the street. The sink pipes likely have never been clogged or cleared before judging by the muck he got out, the main needs to be cleared every couple of years now due to tree roots. Not much else that I can think about now, but that's okay, I'll take a quiet new year for now.
It's winter in Wisconsin during a pandemic. We just don't do much of anything exciting and likely won't for several months, so not sure what I'll be writing about but I'll think of something every now and again. Aside from my health, just a mundane time of year.
10 comments:
Same problem with delays in delivery of new furniture on the UK. Very odd.
Hope your perforation heals soon. Have you had any advice from a dietitian on the best things to eat and what to avoid?
Keep warm and germ free!
There's a lot of information on what to eat on the internet about fiber, popcorn and seeds, etc. But what the surgeon tells me is that low fiber when it's acting up and more fiber when feeling well is the best they can really say, otherwise they just don't really know.
And I really have to be careful of the lactose now. Had a sandwich last night with a thin slice of cheese. Didn't even occur to me and I paid the price.
I'm the same with wheat. It's frustrating isn't it?
Some vegan cheese is very good these days... but a good one takes a bit of finding.
FWIW (and I am only an 'aware consumer' not a doctor as you know) I'd say that soluble fibre rather than fibre from popcorn or seeds (always very bitty even after digestion) is the way to go.
Wishing you well with the treatment and hopefully it will work. Certainly best to avoid hospitals if you can.
Today is sunny with intermittent showers and not too bad as I gaze out of the windows and still sadly confined to the house.
Thanks, folks. Popcorn and seeds are discouraged because they can get trapped in the diverticuli and causes infection like this, not for the fiber. So far so good. :)
Hope all ends well and you can get out and about soon, Delcatto.
Sorry to hear about your ongoing health issues, Scoakat, must be a real pain.
I've been on a low FODMAP diet for a few years now as a response to a form of IBS and occasionally still get caught out by a small amount of something in a foodstuff. Home-cooking solves most of it but beyond our walls you never quite know what's going into your food.
Was the slice of cheese a real hard cheese or a processed one? Hard cheese has very little lactose as cheese making is fermenting lactose but processed cheese has milk products added back and these can be high in lactose and thus a definite no-no for those of us with lactose issues. I expect with your current issues you're ultra-sensitive too....sincerest sympathy from a fellow cheese lover!
As for Witchy's tale of edible vegan cheese....best to ignore her on this one IMHO. Vegan in-laws say the same but it's so bad even our dogs won't touch it.....
Take care.
Thank you, Nic. I had to look up FODMAP. Very interesting reading, and sounds worth it to find out what foods are most troublesome.
It was provolone cheese, relatively bland. I'm normally very careful with dairy now and have been taking a Lactaid when I eat any. A month or two after I get off the antibiotics I'll be experimenting to see how I handle eating dairy without it. I was mostly all good 2 months ago, but I'm afraid I may be more intolerant than not after this.
And no chance I'd be trying vegan cheese. Wisconsin is the dairy state, after all!
Provolone is probably medium when it comes to lactose content (whatever that means). I'm still surprised such a small amount gave such a bad reaction but I know myself how some things can.
I sometimes wish I was still doing my old proper job where I had access to all the equipment to check the levels of lactose etc in foodstuffs, sadly I never checked cheeses as it wasn't the nature of the business. Some of the published values for lactose levels in various cheeses are pretty vague.....
As an aside some of the most useful information I got about my problems (after I'd discovered low FODMAP) was from a former work friend (on the way to a Muse/Tom Morello gig!) who was a food technologist and also had a son with Crohn's, he knew way more about the biochemistry of any of it than any of the doctors i saw!
It's the antibiotics that are causing the lactose reaction, I'm sure. But aside from Lactaid I'm also taking Florajen daily to help with that, a probiotic supplement specifically for these antibiotic side effects. I'd hate to know how bad it would be without it.
So far so good, *knock wood. No more fevers and the pain has melted away. I have another appointment with the specialist in a month so I hope to remain without issues until then!
Yes, antibiotics knock your usual gut flora way out....really feel for you. Hope it's better sooner rather than later.
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