Sick, Sick, and did I mention Sick?

Boy, it's been quite a while since my last post! Not an intentional thing, trust me. I have a disease called Ulcerative Colitis and it's not a fun thing to have. Mostly it remains in remission and life goes on with happy things like wildflowers, daisys and sunshine. But, occasionally, for whatever reason, the colitis comes out of remission and raveges and attacks the body in such a way you have to experience it to fully understand it. That's what's happening to me right now.

This 'flair' [as it's called] actually began about May 6, 2008. Normally, 99% of the time, the medication I'm already on will stop the flair in it's tracks. This turned out to be one of the 1%-ers. Due to our move from Arkansas to Washington already planned, set and confirmed and ready to go, I continued to believe that the flair was a 99%-er and would go away. By June 12 it'd gotten so bad that I'd gone into a mild state of shock and ended up in the hospital from June 12 to June 23. June 23 I was released on an oral steriod commonly used to put colitis into remission, prednisone, but for some odd reason my body refused to accept and absorb it and I ended up right back in the hospital again on June 30 to July 11. This time they had to insert something called a port in my chest to receive IV medication at home. Not a bad thing, looks weird, but it's making me better.

I'm 20 pounds underweight and very weak still. Colitis can be compared to cancer, even though the two aren't related in any way shape or form. With cancer, you know you can get it into remission, but there is no schedule or law or rule that says when that will happen. You just do your meds and follow the rules for getting to remission and that's all you can do. That's what I'm doing with my colitis. Taking my meds and following very strict rules with diet and rest.

The diet for colitis really is a vegan diet and since I'm allergic to animal protien, it's not a new thing for me. I was vegan before this flair started. You learn what your colon likes you to eat and what it doesn't. What you could eat while in remission you can't always eat during a flair. Spices and fiber and water content all effect how your colon will react to things. The hardest part of a vegan diet and food allergies is the regaining the weight part. Vegan just isn't a high fat diet! So that will take time, too.

What I miss most during this healing process is my crafts. I am too weak to sew. I can't take the pictures I need to reopen my store right now, but if I did reopen my store right now, I'm too weak to keep up with it. That's been the down side, the sitting and doing nothing part. The upside has been our new home with 5 picture windows, each nearly covering the entire wall it's placed in, plus a climate cool enough for me to leave doors open for an amazing sea breeze to gently grace it's presence in our home. My view is from the top of a bluff looking down over Ediz Hook in Port Angeles Washington. I get to watch the ships and sail boats come and go. The sea [The Strait of Juan De Fuca] is calming and soothing and on clear days I can see Mount Baker 88 miles away in the northern part of Washington all the way on the other side of Puget Sound near Canada. I can see Victoria British Colombia, too. Despite being confined to the house and not being able to do a thing but sit and rest, I don't feel trapped or confined. Too much bright sun and fresh air all right in my living room.

I do hope to make more posts, of my progress if nothing else, as time passes. There is no way to predict how long it'll take to get my colon into remission, but prayers and healing vibes are always welcome.