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).