A Writer's Life Interrupted #crohns #uc #autoimmunedisease

I had a really nice weekend. My brother and sister-in-law came up and we hung out, drove to Tahoe, and ate. Did I mention EAT? Oh, yeah, that thing I do with so much caution. Well, I decided to push the limits to see how far I could go.

Idiocy. Complete idiocy.

BUT, I enjoyed it while it was happening!

We started off the weekend with hamburgers by the pool. Along with the mouth watering aroma of burgers, pretty little corn chips dotted the creamy American cheese that oozed between the bun.  Diet Coke (small not large)  slaked my thirst. Desert was ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. Did I mention sugar cookies, too?

Damn the husband!

Saturday morphed into scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and bacon. Lunch was Subway, though I did eat turkey and didn't put on mayo. What I did do was for the second day in a row I ate bread. It was a heavenly treat. And chips and another diet coke. Dinner was pre-marinated chicken accompanied by grape juice and then cookies and ice cream.

Is it any wonder I woke up on Sunday sicker than a dog?

The guests left and I spent the rest of the day in extreme pain waiting for the esophageal spasms to stop and the burning belly to calm down. We won't mention the rest of the symptoms. I mean, why bother. I did this to myself. It is said that esophageal spasms mimic a heart attack. I can tell you there is no other pain quite like it. I did the usual with antacids, heating pads, burping, crying, and eventually, a muscle relaxer. Still, I woke up today not much better.

Thank heaven I'm not hungry. I am down to taking small sips of warm water every few minutes hoping that tomorrow, my belly will have calmed down. This type of episode, which generally comes with a little duodenitis and ileitis, neither of which is fun, only happens when I eat more than I should or consume foods that react with Crohn's disease.

I guess I wanted to say to my fellow Crohnies that unless you have the will power of a Greek god you will fall off the diet sometimes, and yes, those junk food foods do slide down the throat with minimal pain and sit so nicely in the tummy--for a while. But they are no good for you long term, as my belly is letting me know. My wonderful (junk) food filled weekend will be my last for quite sometime, but I have to admit, it was fun while it lasted.

Damn the doughnuts and full speed ahead!

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