Monday, July 29, 2013

Bloggers inspire me

Have met the most amazing people on the internet since I got cancer. They inspire me. They have oomph and voomah and get on with things, no matter the circumstances. They rejuvenate me, make me bristle with energy and, through their example, help me feel better, make me realise I am not alone.
Three blogs hit me tonight.

Jill Cohen is phenomenal. She does so much, from going to the synagogue to going to dinner parties to hosting dinner parties to singing in an eastern European folk choir Dunava - all while having on-going treatment for metastatic cancer. Be touched by her enthusiasm and zest for life in Dancing with Cancer.

Joanna plays tennis. She loves tennis. She played it through chemo and she plays it now, even though she has on-going Herceptin treatments. Read her story in Life has its Ups & Downs.

Julie Goodale is my hero. She sets herself new challenges, each more adventurous than the other. A classical musician, she pushes herself to the limit physically, whether it is climbing mountains, to running ultra-marathons to running across America to raise funds for cancer in the Million Dollar Marathon. Hold your breath and see if you can keep pace with Fitness for Survivors.

And they are just some of those whom I have met, none in person, on the internet.




Saturday, July 6, 2013

Distended tummy

Have had a particularly bad week regarding bloating. Saw the original gastroenterologist on Monday - the locum I saw the week before was clueless and then didn't contact me when he was supposed to - and he gave me new pills, natural ones, called Canulase.
They haven't helped at all. So I phoned him back on Friday, was told he would phone me in the afternoon but he didn't. Fabulous...
Last night I went out for dinner. For the first hour just drank water. The gastro had told me what I eat must be making a difference so I was being so careful, keeping to the fodmaps. Well, while on water my stomach just blew up. Fabulous...
The ate two teeny pieces of chicken and some rice. That's it. Was a dinner party and left all the salad, the veggies, the puddings, the sweets - which I love  - served after dinner.....no alcohol....
By the time I left I felt nauseous 'cos my tummy was so distended.
I felt irritable and in despair. Have spent today in bed but have enjoyed i
Butt. Just taken the day off but will probably go out tonight.
Now (post more internet reading on  fodmaps - the Wikipedia guide) it appears that the culprits could be the guavas I have been eating - they are just my favourite fruit - and the cough mixture I have had for my cold.
Fabulous...
From tomorrow, well, from now, won't eat any fruit beyond bananas, kiwi, grapes, granadillas (passion fruit) and whatever else fodmaps says I can eat. Oh citrus is ok. Else I might only eat bananas and see if that improves. This is hard. Makes me sneer and grimace 'cos I love fruit.   
But the gastro said I must eliminate stuff and then re-introduce things one at a time.
So far I have not found food to be making a difference.
Meanwhile, am getting thinner although just ate such a huge chunk of camembert - allowed on fodmaps - that I wonder. Want to go out for curry tonight but will eat chicken vindaloo and allowed chilli and vinegar which the dish contains and rice is also fine.
Gave up bread yesterday - was eating one slice of 100% rye for breakfast but it is part of my elimination - and need to buy spelt bread. The local Spar used to stock it but didn't have it when I went the other day and hopefully the health store in Emmerentia (can never remember its name) is open tomorrow (Sunday) as I sure they will have it.
Last night I decided I was cursed. This huge bloated tummy that just grows and grows. But I have to deal with it. Have to resolve it and if doctors cannot do it, I will have to experiment until I do.