my apologies

[earendel]

I have been remiss in my transcriptionist duties primarily because I am suffering through an illness that, among other things, saps my energy as well as limiting my appetite and inflicting intestinal issues. I have the programs still on my DVR but currently am without a computer - yet another hard drive crash, less than 3 years after my previous computer suffered the same fate. Once my issues are resolved, I'll have the transcripts up.

[Bob Juch]

Good luck with all that. I'm sure there are better weight loss programs. I run RAID 5 on this system as well as having an external full backup drive. Over the years I've had to replace three external backup drives as well as three of the RAID drives.

[a1mamacat]

hope you feel better soon, Ear

[earendel]

So it's colitis. Now the question is what type. My endocrinologist referred me to a gastroenterologist, and my first appointment is tomorrow afternoon. That's when the journey toward diagnosis and treatment begins in earnest. My endocrinologist is pretty sure it's not ulcerative, or that it's IBS or Crohn's, so that's a good start. We'll just have to wait and see.

I did get the backlog of transcripts posted - except for the one with Ken Jennings. I had transcribed it and erased it from my DVR but when my computer crashed, I lost that particular transcript.

[Catfish]

Ouch. Hope whatever it is is easily treatable and that you feel better soon.
Love,

[ghostjmf]

Good luck on this. Hope its confirmed its not any of those diseases your doc doesn't think it is.


Its all the rage these days for people to presume they have gluten sensitivity/celiac condition with no evidence, but since you do have digestive problems you should be checked for this, I'd think. There are tests with varying levels of accuracy.

[earendel]

Good luck on this. Hope its confirmed its not any of those diseases your doc doesn't think it is.


Its all the rage these days for people to presume they have gluten sensitivity/celiac condition with no evidence, but since you do have digestive problems you should be checked for this, I'd think. There are tests with varying levels of accuracy.

It's possible that it's celiac disease but the fact that my condition came on just recently makes me think it's not that. I'm sure the GI doctor will look into that possibility.

[ghostjmf]

The thing about celiac is that it really can be brewing in the background for years & suddenly manifest itself more openly. This is probably what happenned with my friend who has it; a colonoscopy showed ripped-up intestines, the drs suspected the worst, but all the tests for cancer etc came back negative; it was only then that they considered celiac. Turns out the friend's family had a history of this they'd never known of 'til they enquired. And they religiously swear by "no gluten", won't eat at restaurants they don't trust to have cooked their food separately, etc. For people who've really got this, its a big hardship, not a faddish "I will eat gluten when I feel like it, but trendily claim I have celiac disease" thing.


I know someone who says a member of their family died after childbirth because the depletion of nutrients due to pregnancy combined with their inability to absorb nutrients due to ripped up intestines from celiac disease was just too much for them.


One aspect of avoiding gluten is that when the ripped up (because the immune system was attacking them) intestinal walls heal, people who had thought they were lactose intolerant find the healed intestines can produce the enzymes to help them digest milk products again.


My brother may have had celiac disease as a young child. At the time, they had no official tests (& didn't do colonoscopies on infants). At any rate, he had a diet restricted pretty much to bananas. My dad had a special prescription that said "this kid can only eat bananas", because during WWII you were otherwise restricted in buying bananas. My brother supposedly outgrew the celiac condition, which can happen; environmental conditions can switch this on & off, no-one knows what the specific factors are. But he's got such problems now that I want him to get tested but he refuses. Having your gall bladder removed (it did have lots of stones) & continuing to feel bad while he eats what he wants is apparently a more acceptable situation to him.

[earendel]

And the winning diagnosis is...ulcerative colitis. Incurable but treatable. I've already started the first line drug, lialda (4 huge pills taken with breakfast). The symptoms don't seem to have diminished any, but then again it's only been a week. I have a follow-up appointment with the GI doctor on Wednesday.