Month: May 2017

The IBD Siren Part 4 – The Crohn’s Saga Part 50

As with the other IBD Sirens, salad is a tempting treat that is ultimately a bad idea during a flare. This is another fun counterintuitive Crohn’s diet thing. You always think of a salad as being healthy, right? It isn’t. Even for a healthy person, raw fruits and vegetables are difficult to digest and often cause gas. They are particularly dangerous during a flare though, since roughage and skins can cause blockage, which results in discomfort at best and infection at worst.

So how do you get your fruits and veggies in during a flare? Either cook them carefully or blend them into a juice. Both can still cause issues however. Cooked veggies are easier to digest, but you still need to watch out for skins, seeds, and fibrous bits. So, mashed potatoes are ok, but mashed potatoes with skins are not. Blending or juicing will prevent some of the risks, but you still need to be cautious about skins and seeds. As with all foods during a flare, you have to be careful and responsible.

Turn Signals – The Worst Person Ever

Failing to use a turn signal drives me crazy. All I ask of people is that they put in the minimal effort to be considerate of those around them. Flicking on the turn signal is literally the most minimal effort I can think of. Yet, there are those out there who don’t do it. Why? Seriously, it’s the simplest thing ever, it makes a huge difference in traffic, it reduces stress and confusion for everyone, and oh yeah, it’s the law! Even if it weren’t the law though, seriously, just do it so that you aren’t that guy. You live in a world with a lot of other people. Just give a shit. Please.

For over 8 years, I spent at least 2-1/2 hours a day in my car for my commute to and from work. I live in Chicago, so during rush hour, there are cars everywhere. People zig zag all over the highway and in the city, they suddenly slow down, stop, or pull over at random. It’s chaos. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten stuck behind someone at an intersection because they want to turn but didn’t use the signal. It’s infuriating. Again, it comes down to a minimal effort for a minimal amount of respect for the people around you.

After a few years, I even wrote a song about it to help me deal with my road rage. I’ll spare you the details, but basically, take the tune from the theme to Goldfinger, but use “Turn Signal” instead of “Goldfinger”. Wah waaah wah.

Dealing with Disability 3 – The Crohn’s Saga Part 51

As you’ve seen previously, dealing with disability was very difficult. As some of you noted, the corporation in charge of this benefit still has the ultimate goal of making a profit. So, even though I was grateful that my company offered this, I was irritated at all of the hoops I constantly had to jump through.

At this point, I was about 4 months into my leave and I’d had to renew it every 2-3 weeks like clockwork. I’d already been hospitalized and released, and the cyclosporine was keeping me stable, but it was starting to take its toll. I couldn’t sleep, I was regularly getting sick out of both ends, I was shaking constantly, and my stomach hurt all the time. Spending hours on the phone and stressing out that I could lose my pay and insurance was the last thing I needed.

But, if you’ve learned anything from The Crohn’s Saga so far, it should be that Crohnies are a tough breed. We persevere not because we’re brave, but because we have to. We’re survivors.