I have not had much to say ... Sometimes, it's better to just go silent and observe. Plus, life and the human body kind of have this way of sending you not-so-subtle messages that maybe it's time to change shit up.
Being prone to kidney stones, kidney infections, and the like, this one didn't feel so great, and knew she needed to get some medical assistance. So, I went, got an antibiotic, and it was hellish and made me feel like I had the COVIDs. Breathing, let us just say, was a challenge I did not appreciate. So, I stopped taking it, and things seemed all clear. Then, it resurfaced, so I went back and got a different antibiotic. Little did I know that the same antibiotic, taken years apart, can have drastically different effects on the person.
This one left me rather askew. It did do what it was supposed to do, but it also gave me many flu-esque symptoms, including weakness, lethargy, nausea, and it also reduced my appetite to about 0.55%. I haven't et so little in my life like ever. One day's meal included a small handful of cashews, and maybe half a serving size of almond-flour crackers. With the constant nausea, it made me not even want coffee! I KNOW!!!
I was also then left with tastebuds that didn't work quite right. Some things taste completely off, whilst other things, like potatoes, just taste like where they came from - dirt. Then, there's the meat stuff. I can't eat it. I did have some deli Cajun turkey, which was less than appealing, and one bite of grilled chicken which was okay, but nearly unbearable because I ALSO have become mostly sensitive to salt, of ALL things, and my husband added a copious amount of seasoning to the bird before grilling, so that one bite was more than enough.
Couple that with irregularity of the bathroom varietal, and you have one hot mess. As if THAT all weren't enough, though, then, when I did try eating (Greek yogurt, fruit, chia and hemp seeds, and some cinnamon), it was one of the worst eating experiences I ever did have. I was so miserably bloated that it took several hours, and several digestive enzymes to relieve the horrific feeling of near explosion.
I was afraid to eat. Anything. I was doing the softest of soft foods - applesauce, peaches, cottage cheese, yogurt (the junk kind), and sugar-free gelatin with a magical metric fuckton of Redi-Whhhhhip.
It's been a while, so I am not correctly recalling the timeline, but eventually, probably three weeks ago now, I ended up having to head to the ER because I had some horrendously painful stomach aching, and the nausea, which just hasn't gone away. I was never vomiting, or feverish, but that pain!!! It was like the pain after I had my gallbladder removed, in recovery - like WHAT the CAPITAL FUCK?
It was determined that I had what I guess they thought was a mild bout of pancreatitis, and also, it was discerned that I have "several" 1-cm stones living in my left kidney.
After a healthy round of gouging, blood removal, urine samples, a CT scan, and a less-than-spectacular dose of morphine, they sent me home, since I could keep the water down for half an hour.
Yeah, so they sent me home with anti-nausea pills which I tried NOT to take because she warned that they cause severe constipation. Not something I need at this point in time. I'm pretty much on a backed up, or don't make any plans kind of daily regimen. I can either feel the discomfort of not going, or the discomfort of going too much, too often, and without much warning. Ugh.
Last weekend, we went to look at the car we wanted to get (oh, and I forgot to mention that our Equinox was sacrificed at the body of a very large deer) ... Crunch. We went to Applebee's, and I had a side of mashed taters, and a cup of French onion soup. I decided, hey, maybe I can eat onion soup, so I got all the stuff, I made it at home, and something went awry when I added croutons and cheese - it was so salty, even though I did not add a profuse amount of salt during the cooking process, that I just couldn't. So, now, we have a plethora of homemade French onion soup in the freezer.
The new car
Proof of Destruction
I bet you always wanted to know about my digestive adventures, didn't you?
Frankly, I'm tired of the nausea, and the oft-present ache in the kidney, but since it's not blocking anything, or making me ill, there's no call for any surgical intervention just yet. I take my Chanca Piedra (called stone breakers) which do help alleviate the discomfort, but other than that, I'm just here, trying to exist.
ANYWHOOOOOOOOOOO, I got this brilliant idea that since I've probably not had more than 4 ounces of meat in the past month, that maybe it's time to try some more plant-based living for a minute. I did this several years back, but I did it all wrong. I was eating ALL the carbs, all the pasta, the bread, the junk, and NOT focusing enough on the whole foods.
So much has changed in the vegan world since last I visited it. I can't find the veggie snausages that we used to adore, which makes me sad. I will keep looking, though. We have a Trader Joe's in Fort Wayne, now, that I didn't even realize was open, so I am thinking that might be the best bet for finding it.
I have partaken of some heavier fruits, like fresh pineapple and watermelon, but I don't believe they are as kind to me as I would like. Much gastric upset ensues. So, it was good to have them for a moment, but I'll just leave them be. I've got berries, grapefruit, and banans. That's good enough for the sweet department.
I'll be trying to make some oven-roasted potatoes and hope they don't taste like what they grew in. Instant mashed potatoes seem to not be as harsh to the palate.
I'm scared to eat too much by way of the gassier vegetation, like broccoli and cauliflower because if the watermelon and pineapple did a number on me, I don't know what would be in store.
I'm also not going to be a True Believer type plant-based eater. I am going to eat what agrees with me, and leave the rest for everyone else. At least until this nausea subsides. I spend a lot of time chewing gum to keep it at bay.
This is a whole new world to me.
I've got some learning to do.
I guess I should also divulge that since the ordeal began, I started at 203lbs, and now I'm in the 186-188lb range. Can't really complain about that. It was effortless. Gotta look for the silver linings, right?
I just would like to find whatever the right path is for me and my body, and get past the nausea.
Oh, and it's been two months and one week since we stopped smoking in the house. All good. I suspect, with the introduction of the colder weathers, I'll be smoking way less, very soon. I just need to find things to do inside that keep me occupied, like writing really long-winded blog posts and working long hours when I don't have to.
I think that's it for now.
Just a trippy shot I captured during a storm one night. Not even digitally enhanced!
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