I'm having a bad morning. Overdid it yesterday - cleaned like mad and put up the xmas tree and walked the dog in the frigid cold. It was in the low 30s but 20+ mph winds so it was sooo cold yesterday (of course, my dog loves when it's that cold, she's weird that way!). Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, cleaning & organizing, ran errands - during all of this, I forgot to eat, so when I finally did eat I had what was quick & sounded good, which was french fries! Needless to say, my stomach did not like all that grease. Not good! And today my period started, so my guts are crampy too. At least my house looks good and my dog is happy, so hopefully once I get my guts back under control again I can enjoy that. Ha ha.
On a happy note, as part of my spree of housework, I actually had to do the dishes myself, but that's a good thing. My brother usually does the dishes, that's the one chore around the house that he reliably has done since he's lived with us. But, he recently got a better job and he's finally moving out! I overheard him making a phone call the other day, and he said "Hi, I'm calling about the apartment." When I heard that I did a little dance of joy! After nearly a year and a half, he's finally moving out! I'll miss the extra money that we get from him paying rent, but he hasn't been paying very much so it's not a huge deal, and I'd rather have my space and sanity back. Yay!
Star, I'm also guilty of eating too many potato chips and not enough fruit or veggies. Have you tried juicing? We've got a juicer, and fresh home-made juice never bothers me. Store bought juice does bother me - I think it might be the added sugar? And sometimes regular fruit & veg bothers me, seems to be the skins and/or seeds that is problematic. Like, whenever I eat tomatoes, always I see the skins in my poo later. But when I juice fruits & veggies, it sits really well in my tummy and doesn't cause d later and my poo looks normal. If you've got access to a juicer, I would highly recommend giving it a try.
Sunshine, if it is Crohn's, they should be able to see it laprascopically. My understanding is that Crohn's affects the entire thickness of the bowel wall, so if it's there it should be seen from the outside of the bowel as well as the inside. It certainly sounds like it's worth a shot - it's not an invasive surgery and I believe the recovery time isn't too bad either. I know that Crohn's Mom had laprascopy a few months ago so you might want to ask her more about it.
Allie, how's the stress level? Only, what, less than 3 weeks to go until you graduate? And then you go back to Germany? What's the plan after that - are you going to get a referral to a rheumy in Germany? I hope you're able to rest a bit when you get back but I also hope they can finally get you a firm diagnosis quickly. Are you still on 5mg of pred or are you all done with it now?
Flowergirl, glad to hear that you're still doing well on Remicade and are gaining some of your weight back! Just be careful with that, I gained a bit too much back when I was on Entocort, ha ha. And now that I'm in remission, it's harder to lose weight than when I was sick all the time. Of course I'd rather lose weight the proper way, with diet and exercise, rather than though illness, so I'm pretty happy with things even though I've got 5 or 10 lbs to lose. And frankly a part of me would rather have a few extra pounds on me just in case I do flare up again, like a little buffer zone.
Carrie, I totally understand, it's hard to do crafts and be on the forum at the same time. I sometimes crocheting and checking the forum at the same time but it just can't be done! One or the other gets totally neglected. How many xmas cards are you making? And, I guess this question is for everybody, would you guys be interested in sending xmas cards to each other this year? I wouldn't mind PM'ing my address to the regulars in this thread if you'd all like to exchange cards. What do you guys think?
