Feeling old and weak

This is what 7 days of lying on a couch after a run in with Crohn's Disease looks like. 10+ pounds off the scale, I guess (don't have one).  

It's not even the pain of the first 24 hours that's the nasty thing about these episodes (OK, puking all night with a virtual burning iron in one's side is nasty enough), the really nasty thing is the fear that sets in the next day once the hurling has stopped.  

I'm STARVING.  What can I eat that doesn't start the whole process all over again?   And what minuscule amount of it is safe?  Not an easy experimental series to perform because in my particular case, the result does not come in until 8 hours after the food has been ingested.  And there is nothing you can do once it has started.  There is also no point going to a doctor or hospital, because they never believe a patient and insist of putting the poor pained sucker through tortures starting at first principles.  Been there, done that. NOT again.

Inept Emergency personnel telling you for 24 hours straight that you must not leave AND must not eat until Dr. Where'sMyGolfClub has finally arrived is one of the more exhilerating experiences offered by the Canadian Health Care System.  That time I didn't even have an episode but my MD had thought it would be a quicker way to an Ultrasound. At 2 am I told them to get stuffed at that time and went to Denny's.

already?

By day 3, 4, or 5, with guts still irritated and bloated and muscles being converted to food to keep from starving it is best to not look in the mirror.  For a moment I saw George's previously proud but now wrecked torso there with his bony shoulders and gassy midsection.  

This leads to the next step:  Maybe it isn't Crohn's disease this time?  Maybe this is something else! Better not to look in the mirror again; this is usually the low point and things will be better the next morning.


Rewards:  

Weight loss at a reasonably rapid pace and new or re-found insight into the vast amounts of food people shovel into themselves every day without even thinking about it.

A reborn lust for life and awareness of purpose when the signs of recovery can no longer be ignored.