Sunday, July 20, 2008

...it burns, it burns...

(originally posted on 'The Beef, the Bass, and the Booze...' on May 17, 2008)
Early on May 5th, I was struck with a sharp pain in my side. I woke Gina up and told her,"...now, don't panic, but...". Of course, if she were to wake me up and look at me and say those words, I'd panic...we had to rush me to the emergency room at 1 in the morning and they x-rayed me, stuck me w/an IV...I was in massive pain (like my gall bladder pain a few years back), bazooka barfing, the whole works! Anyway, I thought it might be kidney stones...turned out to be pancreatitis...they gave me the option to stay in the emergency room or get home care. We chose home care. So they discharged me an gave me instructions; part of which stated that I was to eat small more frequent meals rather than large meals...finally got an appointment w/the gastroenterologist on Thursday(the 8th), and he put me on an all-liquid diet; indeed, he was rather surprised that I was not already on a liquid diet. Anyway, it was water, juice, popsicles, Jell-o, and broth until Tuesday (the 13th), when I finally got the blessing to eat bland, mostly solid foods (white toast, applesauce, rice, etc.)...I've been steadily but slowly building up my belly for regular food, I've been drinking plenty of juices and water, and things are feeling better inside my gut...apparently, one of the main causes of pancreatitis is excessive alcohol use. Ergo, as of early May 5th (Cinco de Mayo, go figure!), I have effectively stopped drinking alcohol. I suppose sometime further on down the line, I could have a beer or two, but that really is further down the line (6 months to a year minimum), and I'm not even 100% sure about that...I pretty much have to cut down on high fat foods...I suppose in a way, it's a blessing in disguise. My senses of taste and smell, however, don't agree...
So I'm grinning and bearing it...all things considered, it could be worse. I suppose that's it for now...I will let you know how things pan out...

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