So, after 8 days of the super drug cyclosporine not working, it finally kicked in and I recovered enough to be able to eat again. Everyone seems to put hospital food on the same level as airplane food, but I generally found it to be ok. What was not ok however, is that they didn’t offer foods to fit the diet my doctor recommended. They had great options for diabetics and people with high cholesterol, but nothing for Crohnies. It was very frustrating to have to break doctor’s orders while still in the hospital. I probably should have filled out a comment card or something.
If you’ve read my page About Crohn’s Disease, you’ve seen my blurb about diet and Crohn’s Disease. Basically, when you’re sick, you want to avoid anything that can get stuck in the sores and cause more inflammation. This means nothing with seeds, grains, or nuts, and no raw vegetables. The extreme version of this is called the low residue diet, which is actually not so bad. Just think of something a picky 3rd grader would eat. It basically consists of white bread, smooth peanut butter, cheese, potatoes, and chicken. It’s one of those things about Crohn’s that could be a heck of a lot worse.