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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Sunday, February 08, 2009 Thank God some people can still laugh Work has kept me from posting much, that and a totally unexpected diagnosis of colitis. It seems that the "stomach flu" I had a couple of weeks ago was probably the initial flare of colitis. And now that I've been thinking back, I recognize other more subtle symptoms from months ago. There was increasing fatigue that I never recognized as fatigue. I thought I "just didn't feel like doing anything," and put it down to old age and laziness. Then there was the inability to eat fast food without running to the bathroom within an hour. But I eat so little fast food anyway that I thought each episode was an isolated instance. It's hard to make connections between something that happens perhaps once every couple of weeks, until you start looking for clues.So I went to Petersburg for a day of inspections, punctuated by bouts of agonizing abdominal cramps and blind fear that a restroom wouldn't be available when I needed it. I coped with that one by just not eating or drinking anything, pretty much what I'd been doing for days. When we got back home, I caved in finally and went to the Emergency Room. One store owner had followed me around the whole time I was there, worried that I was going to collapse. If my condition was that obvious, it was clearly time to call in the pros. Long story made short--they wanted to keep me for a couple of days, took one look at Clarence, whom they would have had to keep as well, and decided I didn't really need to stay--I'd be fine with prescriptions and a visit the next day for an ultrasound.So now with a week of high-powered antibiotics in me and the advice of an herbalist friend, I'm feeling much better, thank you. It hasn't gone away, and from what I've read on the net, it isn't going to. Just something you have to live with. It seems really ironic that someone who has been aggressively careful about what she ate should develop one of the irritable bowel diseases. Stress, and all that, I guess. The various colitis and Crohn's sites (the two are related) say stress doesn't cause it, but I think that's a load of you know what. Stress damages the immune system, and colitis is defined as a chronic auto-immune disease. I don't believe there isn't a strong connection.So back to the title--a Ravelry friend posted a link to Urban Survival. This is a serious blog, focused on the economic situation, not exactly a funny topic. But once a week, the author posts his weekly update, and somehow manages to find some humor in the situation. Worth reading.Today I'm making a pot roast, with pastured beef from a local farm, so I can have something fit to eat in sandwiches. No more fast food at all, not that I'll miss it. But eating out of town is going to require that I carry all our food with us, no exceptions. We spent four days in Richmond this week, and because I hadn't allotted enough time to prepare food in advance, I ended up buying grocery store food for nearly all of it. Better than fast food, but not what I need to be eating. So the coming week's trip will be a test of just how much I can reasonably carry with us. Fortunately both Richmond and Tidewater have good natural food stores, so if I find myself short on something, I'll probably be able to pick up what I need.Clarence has agreed to no more Hardee's burgers, though he still demands three or four large diet cokes every day (shudder). I've given up nagging him about what aspartame and other synthetic sweeteners do to his health. He doesn't want to hear it, so he'll have to find out the hard way. posted by Liz @ 2:37 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Work has kept me from posting much, that and a totally unexpected diagnosis of colitis. It seems that the "stomach flu" I had a couple of weeks ago was probably the initial flare of colitis. And now that I've been thinking back, I recognize other more subtle symptoms from months ago. There was increasing fatigue that I never recognized as fatigue. I thought I "just didn't feel like doing anything," and put it down to old age and laziness. Then there was the inability to eat fast food without running to the bathroom within an hour. But I eat so little fast food anyway that I thought each episode was an isolated instance. It's hard to make connections between something that happens perhaps once every couple of weeks, until you start looking for clues.So I went to Petersburg for a day of inspections, punctuated by bouts of agonizing abdominal cramps and blind fear that a restroom wouldn't be available when I needed it. I coped with that one by just not eating or drinking anything, pretty much what I'd been doing for days. When we got back home, I caved in finally and went to the Emergency Room. One store owner had followed me around the whole time I was there, worried that I was going to collapse. If my condition was that obvious, it was clearly time to call in the pros. Long story made short--they wanted to keep me for a couple of days, took one look at Clarence, whom they would have had to keep as well, and decided I didn't really need to stay--I'd be fine with prescriptions and a visit the next day for an ultrasound.So now with a week of high-powered antibiotics in me and the advice of an herbalist friend, I'm feeling much better, thank you. It hasn't gone away, and from what I've read on the net, it isn't going to. Just something you have to live with. It seems really ironic that someone who has been aggressively careful about what she ate should develop one of the irritable bowel diseases. Stress, and all that, I guess. The various colitis and Crohn's sites (the two are related) say stress doesn't cause it, but I think that's a load of you know what. Stress damages the immune system, and colitis is defined as a chronic auto-immune disease. I don't believe there isn't a strong connection.So back to the title--a Ravelry friend posted a link to Urban Survival. This is a serious blog, focused on the economic situation, not exactly a funny topic. But once a week, the author posts his weekly update, and somehow manages to find some humor in the situation. Worth reading.Today I'm making a pot roast, with pastured beef from a local farm, so I can have something fit to eat in sandwiches. No more fast food at all, not that I'll miss it. But eating out of town is going to require that I carry all our food with us, no exceptions. We spent four days in Richmond this week, and because I hadn't allotted enough time to prepare food in advance, I ended up buying grocery store food for nearly all of it. Better than fast food, but not what I need to be eating. So the coming week's trip will be a test of just how much I can reasonably carry with us. Fortunately both Richmond and Tidewater have good natural food stores, so if I find myself short on something, I'll probably be able to pick up what I need.Clarence has agreed to no more Hardee's burgers, though he still demands three or four large diet cokes every day (shudder). I've given up nagging him about what aspartame and other synthetic sweeteners do to his health. He doesn't want to hear it, so he'll have to find out the hard way.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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