Off Steroids

At long last, I post again.

I am now officially off steroids. I've been off them since Sunday, and it's going well! I feel just fine. Whenever I have gas or something irregular, I can generally trace it back to a risky food choice or stressful time. Praise the Lord!

I have some goals for myself in the next few weeks. I say "few weeks" because I am afraid to do them and want to give myself time to build up to them. My goals are as such:

--Metamucil.

I always assumed I couldn't have any kind of fiber, but the more I read about fiber, soluble and insoluble, the more I learn that insoluble fiber is my enemy, not soluble fiber. I should be having soluble fiber for good intestinal health (sometimes weak intestines can be reason enough for surgery) as well as for the reasons everyone else takes extra fiber: regularity, bulking, lowering cholesterol, etc. And Metamucil is a safe brand. So, I'm going to start it tonight. Yup, tonight. And I'm going to see how it goes.

--Omega 3's

"Didn't the dietician tell you about that in July?" Yes, she did. I'm just, well, afraid of trying that, too. I feel lots of fear about putting unknown items down my throat--which makes medicine hard to try out. And honestly, to give myself some grace, who could blame me? Two hospital stays don't make a woman more confident about her health. But I need to try these out. I'm only on one drug right now and feeling good--a person could even say that I'm stable. Perhaps I should try some remedies that could play a big role in getting my health back on track, and maybe even lessen my Crohn's.

--Florastor (probiotics)

I can't use this without a prescription, so I'm going to ask my GI doc about it next time (in about a month). It feels extremely risky, because it plays around with the bacteria in my digestive system. I don't know if I should upset the delicate balance of things, but maybe my balance is off and this probiotic would help. Heck, they give this stuff to newborns.

So, we'll see what happens. I'll let you know.

While taking the Eucharist last Sunday, I had a moment of feeling like I should open my mouth, because when healing comes, it will come into my mouth. Not a prophetic word or anything fancy, just a sense that I need to be open to healing, that I need to be willing to open my mouth, to open my mind, to take risks. My husband felt like healing through my mouth could also mean a healing of my relationship with food, because I'm afraid of food in many ways. It just reminds me that God heals in many ways, and even if He didn't heal my body completely, He may have other ways of healing in mind for me.