Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A Quick Update

Hi my fellow Crohnies!

I wanted to write a quick update to reach out and make sure everyone is keeping hope alive, staying strong, and fighting hard. I know, with these diseases it gets so, so awful sometimes, and keeping a positive outlook can be nearly impossible. You can do it. Yes, you. You have people who care about you, hobbies to have fun with, holiday seasons coming. Just breathe. Watch a good TV show. Read a good book. Hug your family. Call your doctor and work together. You can do it.

Me? Well life is insane. Insane...
With 3 sons (4.5y, 2.5y, & 9 months) there is very little sleep happening around here. And add my Crohn's to the mix plus diapers, toilet training.... let me just say I practically live in the washroom! My oldest started junior kindergarten this year, and since Sept we have had constant colds, fevers, runny noses, ug! But all in all things are great. My Crohn's Disease symptoms are there, they came back after the baby was born as expected. But my last round of blood work came back looking all good according to my doctor, so he sent me for a recent CT scan to check for any scar tissue or strictures from my resection surgery. Waiting on those results. And meantime, eating lots of bananas and yogourt!

Halloween is coming. Crohn's or no... I'm gonna eat SO MUCH CANDY!!!

4 comments:

  1. Tell me more about the yogourt and the bananas. I love bananas. They are God's gift AND the least expensive fruit on the market out here in the west. I am so so about yogourt but could do better with it if you have found the combination to be rewarding. As for candy, I have always loved chocolate and caramel but have been able to resist excesses most of my life until now, so I buy more and consume more, and at Halloween we always buy enough to have a great bowl of treats left over to satisfy our own cravings. Yet I see that white sugar has now become the devil incarnate. Brown sugar is good and good for you. It is how I dress my gluten-free oatmeal (porridge). Cook with dash of salt and vanilla. Pour into your bowl over a lump of butter and dress with brown sugar. Delicious! (Sorry to all my Scottish relatives)

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    1. Thanks for reading, and commenting!
      I eat bananas because they tend to slow the bowels down. They also have potassium which gets rid of my leg cramps completely. Also, they are delicious! :)

      I eat yogourt for the probiotics. More and more research about diseases like Crohn's/Colitis is pointing to the gut's micro-biome and the presence of harmful bacteria. A diet rich in sugars promotes the growth of harmful bacteria (not to mention the other harms of a sugar-rich diet).

      I have also read that brown sugar is _better_ than white... but it's still sugar. I have also been a turn-the-oatmeal-brown person with gobs of brown sugar. But over the last couple years I have slowly weaned myself off of most added sweeteners. Instead I enjoy oatmeal with a small spoon of br. sugar plus slivered almonds and unsweetened apple sauces.

      When I eat less sugar I notice my IBD symptoms improve a bit, my skin clears, and my moods even out. So... it's always a good idea to go light on the sugars, pastries and carbs.

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  2. Wonderful wisdom from one so young. I think everyone is young since I jusdt turned 70. I do know that I must do better at resisting the sweets, and even though I still referee basketball, I carry too much "flab" so perhaps it will help with that as well. You might have also explained at least in part the recent temper flares I have been experiencing (usually expressed against myself). The probiotics seem to be a path to better health. A dear friend down the block who contracted a lung infection bad enough to send her home from her holiday in Britain said after weeks of misery, her son broght her back some "extra strength" probiotics from the States and within four days she was back on her feet and feeling wonderful. She also recommended a book her son (a health and fitness coach) had loaned her called "The Gut." Are you familiar with it. I am going to hunt it down. It claims that our gut is central to our well-being. I don't think any of us need to be convinced. Cheers.

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  3. for me, bananas actually make me run to the bathroom...

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