I.Am.A.Food.Blogger.

I am a food blogger – I write about food among other topics such as wine, food tours and wine tastings, bee keeping and honey and an occasional travel post.  Some of the requirements of a food blogger are delving through countless recipes, recipe development, preparing the recipes, photographing them, editing photos, and writing. Oh and did I say eating?  Eating is a big part of my job!   This past week my “blogging” was put on hold as I was diagnosed with “acute diverticulitis”.  It isn’t the diagnosis in and of itself that put me on hold, but the liquid diet I was required to be on for 6 days.  I couldn’t bear to see or smell food. Tough for a for blogger!

I was stirred awake one Friday night with cramping in my lower abdomen, I dismissed it as indigestion.  Let me take a side step right here and say, “isn’t it interesting how these events always seem to take place on a weekend?”  The next day I still felt a bit uncomfortable but carried on as usual.  Sunday I began to experience some sharp pains and a ridiculous amount of burping, so much so that I noticed it to be abnormal.  By Monday morning when I first woke and tried to stand I realized the pain was worse but I went to yoga that morning and felt fairly good after.  That evening the pain was back and awfully uncomfortable. I pushed through, telling myself it must be from my recent travels, change in routine and eating habits.  My other thought was that it could be bladder related.  I was baffled to say the least.

Tuesday I again attended yoga. I left feeling good until later in the day when the sharper pains continued to stab and poke me in the belly, plus I felt lethargic, not like me at all.  I called my doctors office and got a recording that said the office was closed for the day.  Of course it was!  It wasn’t, but that’s another story…receptionist had inadvertently pressed the incorrect message button!  Wednesday I called first thing in the morning and asked to see the doctor.  Guess what – they don’t see patients on Wednesdays!  I made an appointment for Thursday.

I’m starting to feel rather unlucky at this point and the pain is so bad I have a hard time standing up straight and walking.   This pain was piercing, sharp and similar to labor pains – ladies, if you’ve delivered a baby you know what I mean.  It was the kind of pain that literally takes your breath away and brings tears to your eyes.  Coughing hurt, laughing was agonizing, sneezing was torturous.  If I woke during the night to potty I returned to bed with salty tears rolling down my face, keeping the sobs as quiet as possible, not to wake my husband.  Yep – it was bad!

Finally Thursday arrived!  I grabbed my latest read, “Sweetbitter” by Stephanie Danler and anxiously headed to see my doctor.  The technician drew blood, took a urine sample and then the doc poked and prodded around on my tummy and insides!  The pressure from her fingers pressing around on my belly was excruciating, causing me to groan on the examining table. That’s when my doctor said, “Whatever plans you have for today you need to cancel, I’m sending you for a CT scan”.  WHAT?

I’ll spare you the remaining details. I had a CT scan.  I also read multiple chapters of my book.  I felt thankful, lucky, I’d thought to grab it on my way out the door.  The only luck I was aware of on this Thursday.  With the diagnosis of “acute diverticulitis” comes prescriptions for two super strong antibiotics, Cipro and Flagyl and a liquid diet.  No food, no alcohol, no dairy products! Got it! I was so fortunate that this was Labor Day weekend and I got to be on the liquid diet for an extra day, since the physician’s office would be closed for the holiday.  I’d eaten a small breakfast on the day I saw the doctor, but that was my last meal for 5-6 days, depending on how you do the math.  After a day my body couldn’t remember it had enjoyed food on Thursday morning, it just felt hungry!

Needless to say “food” was not in my realm for the next several days and I would not feel up to being a food blogger.  Jello, if you call that food, (I don’t -it’s loaded with sugar or artificial sweetener and dye) popsicles (full of high fructose corn syrup-yuck), broth, juice, black coffee, soft drinks like 7-Up or Sprite and water.  So much of my social media feed is bombarded with food that I didn’t scan Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, etc..much during the last few days.  I am happy to report at my followup visit yesterday my compassionate doctor gave me the go ahead to eat “soft” foods for the next 5-7 days, followed by the gradual addition of all foods.  Halleluia! Hearing this news elevated my mood and my appetite, which was already voracious.  Today I am consuming copious amounts of creamy, soft mashed potatoes!

Here’s the kicker!  With this diagnosis comes the indication that my poor gut is full of nasty bacteria. My belly needs to be treated gently, not taxed with difficult to digest foods. This is known as a clear liquid diet.  Besides water, the majority of clear liquids available have profuse amounts of sugar or salt, and if you check the labels often times high fructose corn syrup.  I’ll be the first to admit I like sugar, well I like sugar in the form of dessert.  I struggled to find liquids without ridiculous amounts of sugar grams listed on the label, popsicles without high fructose corn syrup or broth with any flavor that isn’t loaded with salt. I managed to find some delicious popsicles free of high fructose corn syrup at Earth Fare but am sad to say finding juice without loads of sugar – even the “natural”, “simple” ones with no artificial sweeteners, or corn syrup or preservatives offer a whopping 24 grams in 8 fl.oz.  Rather an oxymoron – wouldn’t you say?  I needed healthy, simple fluids to help coax my gut back into shape and keep me from starving.  Yet my options were limited.  Needless to say I drank more water than anything. My adoring husband brought chicken noodle soup from Fresh Market that we strained so I’d be left with broth that had some flavor.  Drinking the low-sodium broths from the grocery stores render little to no flavor on their own and I was in no shape to make homemade broth!  Note to self, make some flavorful, clear broths and freeze them incase of another attack.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve ever had a similar experience.  What suggestions do you have for partaking in a clear liquid diet?  Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that I was diagnosed early enough to bypass admission to the hospital.  According to the physician another day or two and that’s where I would’ve landed.  Acute diverticulitis can be serious with complications such as blockage in the colon or small intestine, an abscess can form, a fistula can develop creating an abnormal passageway in the bowel and peritonitis which can occur if the infected or inflamed pouch ruptures, spilling intestinal contents into your abdominal cavity.  All, worse than my experience and not so uncommon.  I had no idea of the signs, abdominal tenderness, pressure, pain on the left side of the belly, fever, nausea. I know now, and in the future will pay close attention to any of these signs that last more than a day.  Can it happen again?  Maybe yes maybe no!  Of course, my fingers are crossed that this was a one time occurrence.  Only time will answer this question.

I am a food blogger.  I’ll be back to normal in about 10 more days and am already planning the first few recipes I’ll be whipping up.  In the world of a food blogger being diagnosed with this mess seemed almost laughable, and I am able to laugh now, that it doesn’t hurt so much!