Sunday, September 13, 2009

Can you spare a spoon?

It's Sunday night and I'm spoonless. Well, apparently, I have at least a dessert spoon left since I'm still awake, writing, and watching the season finale of Design Star. My body though, feels like a piece of burnt toast that fell into a sink full of soapy water. My knees hurt and energy is just seeping out through my pores.

I had high hopes for the weekend and thought I was conserving energy appropriately by laying around during the day. Not so much. I went out dancing last night and it was too much. The company was great and the music was awesome but I am too old and too MS-y to start dancing at 10pm. Plus, I thought I was good to get a ride home to send my babysitter on her way at 12:30. Again, not so much. I ended up spending $40 on a cab ride home which was not part of my entertainment budget for the evening. Live and learn. I will save the dancing for non-steroid weeks when the kids are with their dad and the babysitting meter isn't running.

The dancing isn't the only spoon-robber in my life. I'm not sure whether or not this is MS-related but my old Ulcerative Colitis (UC) symptoms are back with a vengeance. This is not One Woman's Journey Through the GI Tract so I will spare the gory details. Suffice it to say that I am pretty weak and depleted as a result of my symptoms. I know I need to call the doctor, but which one? I'm thinking I need to call my GP to get a referral to a new GI doctor since I haven't been to see one in at least 4 years. I dread it because I know I will get yelled at for not keeping up with my colonoscopies or maintenance meds. I hate the whole "non-compliant patient lecture."

I haven't had GI issues since I was diagnosed with MS. This is somewhat notable since I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) about 15 years ago and I've had symptoms on and off all that time. I actually used to think of UC as a horrible disease but MS certainly put it in it's place. I read a study somewhere along the way (that I'm too tired to search for right now) that said that an inordinate number of people with MS have either UC or Chrone's Disease. The findings indicate that there is some sort of link between the two disease groups that are both thought to have autoimmune components. I guess I assumed that was true for me and that either the MS disease-modifying drugs and/or the Solmedrol had "fixed" the UC. Apparently not since I'm still taking the Rebif and the steroids and now I have UC symptoms again.

I'm taking iron pills to make up for the loss of nutrients but I'm even thinking of starting to eat red meat again until I feel better. I'm still reading Julie and Julia and I just got through the part where's she's cooking organ meats. Julia Child's recipe for kidneys sounds absolutely delicious. I doubt I can get the kids to try it but maybe I could pawn it off as steak.

Now off to bed.

1 comment:

  1. I'm sorry to read that your UC is flaring up. I'm sure that is no fun at all.

    On another note entirely, if you are planning on preparing kidneys, please make sure they are organic! What with all the crap they feed animals these days, I'm sure they are not the same as they were in Julia's day. (BTW - I generally don't eat meat either, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't jump off the wagon to have kidneys! Just sayin'.) :-)

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