My days of having an iron stomach are long gone and I have been struggling with digestive issues for an entire month now. I started having reflux and heartburn out of nowhere in September, and was diagnosed with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (aka GERD). I treat it with Zantac and don't really have too many issues related to it. In February the GERD symptoms were flaring up around my "time of the month" as usual, but then new symptoms started and knocked me on my ass. I thought it was the flu at first, but after 5 days of unrelenting abdominal pain, nausea and other unpleasant bodily functions I realized it has to be something else. I was referred to a digestive disease specialist and they got me right in. I was prescribed anti-nausea medicine to go along with my Zantac, which worked it's magic within a few minutes of taking it. I ate my first real meal for the first time in 6 days and didn't die! We did lab samples, that all came back clear so I was scheduled for upper GI endoscopy 2 weeks later.
Over the course of the last month, I have basically been surviving on peanut butter toast, yogurt and bananas. Occasionally I will feel pretty good and branch out, only to feel like crap later. I have missed a lot of work, and derby practice. I don't like to miss either, but when I feel like this I don't want to be far from the comfort of my own home. There have been times that I get all ready to go to work or practice and get sick right before, or make it there and have to leave early from getting sick.
During the procedure on Friday, they took biopsies and saw some inflammation of my esophagus and stomach. They also found residual food in my stomach, even though I had fasted for over 12 hours and barely eaten anything the day before. I have a follow up appointment next week, 10 days from the procedure, during which I am supposed to be trying a low fiber/low residue diet. The idea of this completely freaked me out at first, all of the foods to avoid are what I normally eat. No whole grains, raw vegetables and even some cooked vegetables, no potato skins, no nuts, beans, oats or grains. I will be honest, the first few days I completely disregarded it and in the meantime, ran out of my anti-nausea medicine. Oh boy, did I pay for that Sunday night at work. I ate a turkey sandwich after practice on my way to work, seems like a pretty bland dinner right? Well no, deli meats and whole grain bread are both on the no-no list. As soon as I finished it I knew it wasn't a good choice. I made it almost 1 full miserable hour at work, to the delight of my co-workers, before it decided to make it's escape.
Stubborn Jackie just isn't going to win this battle, so I started researching the low residue diet and got really discouraged. It seemed like the no-no list was full of things I enjoy and I was starting to worry that I would have to survive on white rice for awhile. Then, I found a website with over 400 low residue recipes! I purchased white bread for the first time in my adult life, and a stupid amount of white rice.
Meal #1 was pretty simple: chicken, white rice, broccoli and cheese bake. It was also pretty bland. I do have to give a major shoutout to Cecil for not only helping me make it, but eating it like it was delicious without a complaint. I have no choice in this matter, but she does and she was a champ about the pile of boring slop I subjected her to.
I spent the entire morning pinning recipes from this low residue cookbook, and some of them actually look really easy to make AND appetizing. I feel a lot more positive about my dietary choices and even made a pretty delicious breakfast about it.
Meal #2 was much more delicious. Scrambled eggs with cooked spinach, yellow and red peppers (had to pick out the onions and green peppers from the frozen blend), turkey bacon and dry white toast.
This whole ordeal has been pretty miserable, I hate feeling like have no control over something that is affecting my life so much, but I am also in a really positive place in my life otherwise. I'm just trying to do everything in my power to start feeling better and get myself back to a healthy Jackie. I also really appreciate all of the support I have been receiving from friends and family, and the well wishes.
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