My oldest son, Bill, and his family came up to our homestead along with David and Javid. Together we made a happy feast of all those homestead foods. None of us had room for pie! I made two “pumpkin” pies from part of a Hopi Pale Grey squash (which I always use as it tastes great), an apple pie, and of course Will’s cheesecake.
I guess David hadn’t had any good home cookin’ for awhile as right after dinner he went in the living room, sat in my chair, and fell asleep for two hours — with all of us chatting in the same room!
For the last week I’ve been having severe lower abdomen pain and made two trips to the doctor, finally having a CT scan on Friday. Of course, after surviving cancer that’s always right on your mind. Luckily it was not cancer but diverticulitis, an inflamed pouch in my intestine. Funny — we always try to eat “good” with plenty of fresh vegetables, salads, and whole grains. Now I’m not supposed to have them as it will probably come back if I do. I’m NOT a white bread, processed food kind of gal so I see we have some adjustments to make. At least I got Thanksgiving dinner! — Jackie
All,
Thanks for your tips and care. I was wrong about having to completely change my diet. The doctor said I had to cut out fiber until my symptoms were gone, THEN I could resume them as it does help prevent it coming back. I misunderstood, which is why I always re-ask important questions!
I’m feeling better. The pain is pretty well settled down but my stomach isn’t used to heavy duty antibiotics and it bothers me.
I asked the doctor what caused it (she’s an internal medicine specialist) and she said while some is caused by constipation that frankly they don’t know why some people develop those “little pouches” in the intestine. (I’ve never had constipation!)
Jackie, I agree with the suggestions to do some research.
During the acute phase of your problem it may be necessary to be extra careful. But once that passes, I would cautiously experiment.
Years ago when dealing with what was then called spastic colon I received some good advice. Pay attention to what irritates you. For me, it is iceberg lettuce, black pepper, coffee and artificial sweeteners. Especially coarse ground fresh black pepper, because black pepper is indigestible and can irritate the colon as it passes through. Green chilies aren’t that much of a problem.
In the acute phase I learned to love cream of wheat, Jello and cottage cheese. I have now been diagnosed with diverticulli, but my doctor says if it isn’t acting up fiber is very helpful.
Feel free to email me, if you have questions.
My husband has been dealing with a digestive problem for most of our 42 years of married life. Metamucil has helped, but diet has become a way of life for us.(good life) He loves sweet corn, but only eats fresh corn about 3 times when it is ready. He can eat well of it if I pressure can it. We stay away from freezing corn. Peas, Cherries, anything with a hull gives him trouble fresh, but if I can it he does well. Also we watch the spices and hot peppers. Take care, it will take some time to get it calmed down.
Maybe try juicing your vegetables for a while? As I understand it, it’s the fiber that irritates, not the vegetables themselves.
And for some veggies, a masticating juicer would probably work better than a steam juicer.
I forgot to add a BIG no-no for him. No corn (it doesn’t process well thru the body).
My brother in law suffered from this for years. Then last year went to Europe for 2 1/2 weeks and didn’t have access to fresh milk which he always drank a couple glasses with each meal. Surprise. After cutting this out of his diet he wasn’t in pain all the time. Now never drinks it and is doing fine!
My husband has this (was in the hospital for a week when it burst). He drinks Metamucil everyday & avoids hard small seeds (poppy, sesame, peppers, grains on bread etc).
When he feels “that” pain coming on, he stops eating. Just broth or jello for 1-2 days. He also has an antibiotic prescription from his doc. to take.
Hope you feel better.
Jackie, I enjoy your blog very much.
Recent research has found that two of the main culprits in diverticulitis are inflamation and stress. You seem to have had more than your fair share of stress of late dealing with government bureaucracy while helping Javid.
I would encourage you to try the Paleo diet to reduce inflamation. Your set up nicely for it with all your pastured meat and fresh veggies. (pastured meat is very expensive where I live)
All you have to do is give up dairy, grains, legumes, processed oils, and refined sugar. Sounds rough but it’s really not.
I personally am on the Auto Immune Protocol of the Paleo Diet to fight inflamation which also excludes eggs, nuts and seeds, nightshade veggies and artificial sweeteners. I started feeling better in three days. Eventually I will try adding eggs and nuts/seeds back into my diet and see how I do.
After the acute phase of the diverticulitis has passed, cooked veggies should actually be a good thing.
The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse recommends that people consume a high fiber diet (from veggies not grain) to help prevent a diverticulosis attack.
I plan on ordering some of your Hopi Pale Grey Squash seeds in the near future.
Good luck. I hope you feel better soon.
:side note to commenter Carol. I promise that you can enjoy eating without tomatoes. I recently made a no-mato sauce (served over spaghetti squash) from beets, carrots, and onions (sauced up with an immersion blender) using a recipe I found online. If I hadn’t made it myself I wouldn’t have known that there were no tomatoes in it. good luck to you too.
That used to be the recommendation but I think your doctor needs to upgrade his/her information. Check Mayo Clinic or some other online information you trust (if you are friends with a doc who subscribes to MedRef, ask to use it). I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV, but what I’ve read says eliminating roughage is not a good idea. Please research this and/or get a second opinion.
I couldn’t guess how you feel about traditional sourdough and fermented vegetables, but they are supposed to be much easier to digest. Sourdough has been a real savior for me since being told I had to eat gluten-free.
Before making such a drastic dietary change I’d get a second opinion.
I like your table. I’m sure everything on it tasted good too.
My daughter was told to not eat vegetables or anything with fiber. She gained so much weight. When she went back to all the forbidden foods, she fared just fine.
Good luck with the diet change. I, too, have been challenged with the task of changing my diet to curb nocturnal acid reflux. No tomatoes or spicy foods. My entire diet is tomato-based and spicey! I’ m not doing too well with the change. I hope you fare better. Your motivation is to keep your family healthy, which requires YOU to be healthy.
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