New Year New Woes

I'm tired this morning so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write.  When I get fatigued my concentration levels plummet.  Nevertheless the show must go on.  

I don't normally start my new year with resolutions like everyone else.  I believe in setting short-term goals all year long.  It helps make them a little more obtainable. Goals weren't even on my list for this year at all though. Having a productive day was a goal enough.  By January I was on yet another antibiotic.  My 4th to be on now.  The visits to the lab for blood work was becoming so routine that the person drawing my blood and I would talk about our families and how everyone was doing.    Doctor's visits were growing mundane.  I had come to realize that what I had thought would have been soon and over with in a matter of 6 months was going to be much longer.  Doc told me at the least another year.  All the antibiotics had taken a toll on my gut.  It had gotten to where I could not eat because of the pain and when you kill the bad bacteria when on an antibiotic you are killing the good as well.  My stomach was a constant burn and now in addition to the antibiotic and the arthritis medication I was now on something for a yeast infection in my stomach! The doctor was not fond of the fact that I couldn't eat or sleep because of the pain.  She also wasn't too excited to find that I had lost over 20 lbs in a month.  (I didn't see the problem there.)  She sent me to a gastroenterologist.  The GI doc thought that it was possible I had a simple food allergy going on.  I had also suffered from acid reflux for years.  She ordered a colonoscopy and endoscopy.  It was more work preparing for the procedure than the time it took to perform the procedure.  Man that drink was NASTY!  I was done in a matter of 10-15 mins and then recovery and then on my way home.  Results.... severe erosion of the esophagus and stomach lining, deep ulcers, hiatal hernia, and spastic colon, and candida (yeast over-growth) WOW.  Add this all to the list of other stuff.  Time now for a change in diet.

This diet is strict and I still attempt to follow it in moderation.  No spicy foods, no caffeine, acidic foods such as tomato, no breads, pasta, rice, no sugar, no alcohol. Let's see, that leaves me green foods, and fruits, and some meats.  Well, I'm happy to announce I have cut super duper back on the alcohol (mainly because I cannot tolerate it anymore) sugar was easy, pasta and breads were surprisingly easy, but caffeine? Come on.  I have started limiting my intake to a cup of coffee about 4-5 times a week.

I started to get relief when changing all of those things.  Heartburn at 1AM keeping me up all night started to go away.  My stomach eventually started feeling normal again. I knew I was going to have to change my lifestyle of rich foods, fast foods, and processed foods for the rest of my life due to the damage already done.

I started feeling more and more helpless.  I hadn't had a good herx in a few weeks.  The good days and bad days were all starting to run together.  I wanted to work out and I tried on occasion when my knees would allow it.  I even started pursuing a dream of mine I'd had for years.  Soap making.  I had baseball season coming up for the boys, and a spring break trip to make in Missouri.  I started growing very numb to the fact I was sick and there was a slow festering of frustration lurking it's ugly head around the corner. I wanted to give up. This was becoming no way to live.