Less Hustle More Coffee

So….took Mom to the eye doc yesterday in Hendersonville and she received her shot injection in her eye. We came home and George fixed an excellent filet mignon steak dinner. Mom was kinda sleepy after that and slept a lot in her recliner.

I was VERY tired and choose to lay down a bit before dinner and realized after taking my temp, that had a degree of fever. I often get that when I’m tired. I also have a round of diverticulitis or some kind of IBS thing going on as I began having pain and now pressure in my lower abdomen. So here we go again. I went to sleep pretty much immediately after dinner, vowing I was only going to have liquids today (Saturday). More on this later….stay tuned.

I felt better getting up at 6. Only I would NOT have gotten up at 6 and would have slept longer but we had to leave around 7 to get Fancy to her new groomer. We have all actually prayed that Fancy (and Mom) would like her new groomer. Sorry it is very much of a side view, but I tried to snap a pic real quick of the new place while helping everyone in/out of the car.

While Fancy was at the groomer’s we went to get Mom a sausage biscuit and also a jelly biscuit. I think George had mentioned we might do breakfast out the day before. I told them I was on liquids today so they opted to do drive-thru. Although George offered for Mom to have a sit down restaurant if she wanted it. George wasn’t hungry and just got coffee. I was just sipping my water after having 2 cups of coffee at home. I know Mom loves breakfast out and she reminded us that was her favorite meal of the day.

I know it’s inconvenient for me to not participate in “eating” with this tummy thing going on, so I told them they should eat what/when they want. I will just be along for the ride in the next day or two. I simply will have to excuse myself from eating like we have been. I told them we’ve been eating so much that I just can’t keep up. We have been overeating for days. Mom said “well no one was holding a gun to your head!” —–ummmm noooo eating is definitely my choice. And so shall not eating be my choice until I feel ready.

We are ALL guilty of eating too much, too fast, too often. We love food and good cuisine. We celebrate life with food – always! We associate good food with good times. We are all fat, lol. We all need to lose weight. And I don’t mind speaking for all of us on that point! It’s true! And correct, no one was holding any of us at gun point at any time. We all choose to eat and eat too much. I’m just the only “lucky” one that has to deal with this condition as for now anyway. I hope they do not. But if they do, they will find themselves having a liquid day as well one day.

The fact remains that my tummy is not in good condition right now. I don’t really know if the rest of my family knows how serious this kind of thing is, but people have died from it if it wasn’t taken seriously. I really have not been able to narrow down the exact threat of my own diverticulitis or whatever is going on with my colon or colon wall. But here is what I do know.

Whenever the gut gets into this condition it has been the result of some kind of “perfect storm” where usually these things have been the case:

• Periods of over eating/several heavy meals in a row
• Consuming a lot of bread in a short time period
• Not enough hydration
• A lot of sugar in short time period can throw things off
• Consumption of fries or fried foods
• A lot of sitting/not enough exercise
• Period of stress/anxiety
• Not enough rest/sleep
• Not enough greens
• Not enough fruits
• Blood Pressure meds with Water Pill in them/dehydrating
• Not eating enough fiber

How I deal with my flare ups:

I can usually feel the flare coming on – tightness in my belly, cramping, pain, sometimes constipation but not always, wanting to eat but not really being hungry, not having cravings for anything–“wanting something but not knowing what I want to eat” —are all MY OWN signs. But sometimes it is a complete surprise! Either way, I try to do the following. I’m not saying everyone should do this. I’m in a Facebook group of people with this condition and it seems like we all have different things that can trigger it and all have different things that work. Pretty much everyone has to do a couple of liquid diet days, followed by soft foods. If the pain is intense, bathroom trips are unsuccessful – then a call to the doc to be seen for antibiotics is necessary. I’ve learned I can usually pull myself out of it. I hope I can this time too.

• Pray for God to heal me b/c HE is the great physician
• Increase water intake and lots of it
• Take Ibuprofen or something for anti-swelling/inflammation
• Drink hot liquids such as coffee, tea
• Drink chicken both or bone broth (I use one with collagen in it from my program and it is my preferred lunch on cleanse days or flare days)
• Take probiotics
• Sip a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar
• Have a drink with Ginger in it
• Take Vitamins: B, D, C at least – don’t skimp on these while you feel bad!
• Keep a positive outlook and enjoy the day regardless of the changes in food intake, embrace the rejuvenation you feel by “not eating” as it clarifies the mind – you get positive benefits from a day of liquids.
• Avoid drinking anything with bubbles (gas/bloating hurts)
• Eat jello at night when everyone else eats dinner (George makes it for me – I love him for this!)
• Usually no alcohol is preferred as it dehydrates you
• Make sure not to take blood pressure meds with a water pill at night when you are not awake to hydrate – take it in the mornings so you can hydrate as you lose it. (Rolling my eyes here).
• Collagen Elixir daily helps from the program that I do (soothes the skin so it’ll sooth the colon too)
• Sometimes I alternate between cold and hot drinks
• Exercise or walk a lot
• Stay busy or focused on your to do list, do something fun, to keep your mind off the situation.
• Enjoy any and all tummy growls and noises – that is usually a good sign 🙂

After a day or so (your body will let you know) you can eat soft things like Mac and Cheese, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, applesauce, white rice, maybe even yogurt. I keep microwaveable instant potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and rice both at work and at home for these flares.

I have to work my way back up to meats and solids when I feel my intestines are ready. My body usually lets me know when I’m ready and cravings for various foods will come back as my colon heals. This past week, I’ve let it go on though instead of switching to liquids already because I didn’t quite realize what was going on. I thought something I had eaten was just not agreeing with me. But after a couple of days and the increasing pressure, I began to see I had a flare up.

So I made some lemon, cucumber water for the day. The lemons are just about to go bad, but still hanging in there. This water is also what Katy and I called “detox water”. It’s very good for you. This did not have any pulp in it. I guess the way it pours from this container keeps it from coming through.

Wow, at Publix, my eyes took me to this drink. I really believe it was a God – led thing. This was excellent. I think it was about $2.49 or something like that. I wish I had bought 3 or 4 just for these occasions. It tasted like a Moscow Mule without the alcohol. lol. I pretended this was breakfast. It was just enough punch to make me feel like I’d had a meal.

In the afternoon I began to feel like I could eat some instant mashed potatoes. They are easily digestible and made me feel good. And although I had no makeup on today – here I am when we picked up Ms. Fancy from her trim. She “did good”. They sent her home with a Report Card, LOL. It said “she was perfect”. She got to play with other small dogs instead of being in a crate. She loved her spa day.

She was a happy girl coming out of the place and we took her too her Momma! And her Momma was happy. It was a lot more pricey than Mom’s – almost twice the price. It was $75 with tax and tip. But will work out fine as we’ll trim her every 6 weeks instead of the 4 Mom was doing. So yay! Everyone is happy.

And the video is done and I’ve exported it. About to upload it to YouTube. I’m hoping for a 7:00 a.m launch time in the morning. As long as the rest of the uploads go well and I get time for the thumbnail and all that.

So far a good day at home. Washing sheets for Mom’s bed and my own, including our quilt/blankets we use on top. Oh we went to the grocery if I didn’t mention that. I was fine being there and got some things I could eat/drink.

Church tomorrow, unless it’s raining real hard. Mom doesn’t want to go if the weather is bad. I’m kinda glad. I don’t like rowing in the rain either. Anyway, better go get this video uploaded and finish getting sheets back on Mom’s bed. Looking forward to jello tonight! It was going to be ribs. George said he’d wait a day or two for that. Not sure what he and Mom are having. I try not to think about it so I don’t miss out. lol lol lol

Ya’ll have a good day. Will try to post tomorrow along with link to the video!