Favorite room in the house

Normally, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house. I don't think there's any need to explain this one other than I love to eat and I usually eat constantly. Unfortunately, this has all changed over the last week and my new favorite room has become the bathroom. When you have 6 - 8 BM's a day, you're not left with many options. Clearly, this where I spend most of my time these days. Let's just hope this will improve over the next few days. Depression is starting to set in and the fear of ANOTHER hospital visit is not helping.

I can't wait to see my new doc on Tuesday morning. I even went to Yale-New Haven on Thursday afternoon for a support group. Unfortunately, it was not held. I guess they need to update their website. Not all was lost though...at least I know know where to go on Tuesday.

Max Roids!!!

Since my UC hasn't improved since Sunday, my doc wants me up my prednisone to 60mg, which is pretty much the max I've ever been on. I had started 40mg on Sunday, but nothing has changed. Things should be happening much faster than they are. I like this aggressive action so we can nail this in the butt and avoid another trip to the hospital. I just hope I get back to normal soon and begin the usual taper. I also ditched the clear diet because I'm still losing weight and nothing solid is passing through my system. Now I just play it day by day and hope there's improvement by tomorrow.

My life sucks...

I know this sounds a little harsh, but my life totally f'n suck. Thanks to my 6mp, pancreatitis, CT scan prep, and the other BS, I'm back in full UC flair. Sunday morning I had to go back on prednisone (40mg per day). Luckily, the pain has not started (yet) but I'm seeing too much blood to make me comfortable. Hopefully, the prednisone will take care of things quickly. I'm only having 2 or 3 bowel movements a day, but the blood is scary.

I've contacted the Yale Medical IBD Group looking for a new doctor. I really like my current GI doc, but I want someone that specializes in IBD. I'm sure he hasn't seen as many cases like mine as the Yale group has. Now it's just a matter of getting an appointment. I've read their website and I already like them.

I've decided to put myself on a clear diet. Nothing but chicken/beef broth, clear grape juice, Italian ice, and jello for me for a few days. Luckily, my weight has plateaued since my hospital visit for pancreatitis, but I'm still 5 - 8 lbs less than my ideal racing weight.

As for cycling, I went out for an easy 2 hours on Saturday morning. I felt great. Maybe I was lacking a little strength from the weight loss, but everything else was fine. My symptoms were getting better, but they seem to have gotten worse since. I also spent the rest of the day cleaning up the yard. Perhaps I did too much (as Victoria believes), but it didn't seem that bad.

Oh well, I guess I just deal with it for now and hope things improve quickly. I don't know when I will be back on the bike. Maybe I should take it easy this year, build up my base with tons of easy miles, and get ready for next year. I just don't want to lose another summer thanks to my illness. So, I just play it by ear, and go on...

The saga continues...

Hi all. (I'm not sure anyone outside of my family actually reads this blog anyway.) Things have pretty much sucked the last few weeks, so I've had little motivation to write.

To put things in a nutshell, I was back in the hospital for the 3rd time in the last 12 months. This time is was a new one - pancreatitis. The med (mercaptopurine) I was taking the last 6 weeks for UC has some nasty side effects and luckily I was able to discover one of them. My lipase level was about 2,200 which is pretty high considering that normal is less than 60. Victoria was reviewing some of her clinical trials in which some of the patents also contracted pancreatitis and their lipase scores were around 800. Now I now why I was laying in agony on the bathroom floor and could not stop throwing up. After a painful ambulance ride to the emergency room I had the joy of spending the next day and a half attached to an IV and eating jello. Why is it always lime jello in the hospital? Hospital nutrition is somewhat of a joke. I always thought they are trying to make you better, but, based on the diet they provide, it's more like they want to keep you there. So now I've lost 5 lbs and thanks to the CT scan prep my insides are screwed up again and my UC is bothering me again. I've spent the last 9 months getting everything back to normal only to have it shot to hell in one day. I think it's time for a new doc. I need someone that specializes in IBD, not just a general GI doc.

So hear I sit contemplating my future. I just hope it includes cycling. After the way I felt after the 1st Bethel race, I was planning to give it up forever. Now that I know my issues were caused by meds I'm motivated to get back in the saddle and get ready for some future races. Not sure Victoria will be too psyched to hear that, but I cannot let go of my obsession. Looks like it'll be some easy training for the next few weeks and then attempt to do the last two Bethel races in April. After that, who knows. I will see how I feel and go from there.

Thanks for reading (I just hope someone is).