| Fascinating Musings |
| Season 1 – Monday – 19/12/22 |
| A healthier lifestyle |
| There have been many changes this year for me – from the deletion of the ‘A Guy Called Bloke’ blog in May to the arrival of this blog, Earthly Comforts, in August and the introduction of a different genre to what l was known for before writing-wise. That being more to do with working outside. This blog is similar to the last blog. It simply looks at my life from today more so than my life from yesterday. It’s a different perspective. I have always worked outside of sorts; l just never specifically wrote about it as l do now. I worked with animals exclusively for many years and only marginally worked with their environment. Now l have more to do with the environment than l do with animals, yet l still engage and interact with animals. It’s all just a different slanting. Also, my lifestyle is very different to previous years as well. Now, l WANT to be back outside more than inside. For the last few years alone, my body has craved to work outside more and be exposed to the elements, which was how l lived and worked my life from my mid-thirties to my later forties. I want to return to that. I love writing, and l love being read, but there are aspects to it that l am only sometimes fond of. I have changed significantly in other ways l may discuss in another musing. But that is more of a sociality aspect of my life—community versus society style. One of the most remarkable changes to this year has been a discovery only in the last few months alone, yet that has made the most impact on my life. That discovery was dietary, and habits around it formed over the previous five-plus years. Most of my eating habits from 2016 are now gone for good. I had several appointments with the medical industry a few months ago, and they tested for A, B and C, typical of how the testing had gone since 1994 when my problem first began. The results came back with an all too familiar phrase – “There is something there, but nothing remarkable”, Whoever created that particular phrase for the medical profession needs l feel shooting. Yet it is a term used frequently by doctors and consultants alike, and whilst it may be most assuredly accurate, that doesn’t make it any more palatable to the patient especially if said patient has been in pain and physical discomfort for years. It simply means that whatever your ailment is – it will not kill you or make you die, and no immediate surgery, action or treatment is required. But as a sufferer of whatever it is you become tired with the medical indsutry’s flippancy regarding remarkability. So after various blood tests, stool tests and ‘oscopies and scans, my surgery informed me that they couldn’t find anything. The days of your doctor following up have long gone. That level of care went out nearly ten years ago. Sadly, our local surgeries are understaffed and overworked, and if you want something done, you have to chase everything up yourself and become as boisterous with the receptionists as they can be with you. Unless, of course, like me, that’s not your style. What l heard was ‘You are not dying, you don’t have an illness killing you, and you don’t have cancer.” Okay, well, that’s all l need to hear. I have never been one to make a fuss. I just knew that whatever it was, l would have to find it, or rather Suze and l would have to find it. Suze and l have been working with my diet exclusively since 2016, and in the years from then to now, my actual ingredient list has continued to shrink regarding what my stomach can and cannot digest. This year alone, it has been at the lowest-ever quantity of essential ingredients that l can safely eat and not experience problems with. It was purely by accident that l discovered l would have to remove the white meat from my diet about two months ago. I released red meat in 2016, and l don’t miss it. Red meat can take ten days to completely digest in your system, which is a very long time. More so if you suffer from gastro problems. I had been on a white meat – mostly chicken and fish diet. However, l started to experience these severe, almost heart attack-like symptoms in October 2021. They were very frightening, and these attacks were ongoing till July of this year, so l started the fresh bout of medical appointments only to learn nothing new. Suze read an article last January about how chicken caused severe acid reflux, perilously dangerous for some people who might also be allergic to it without realising it. Suddenly everything clicked – all the symptoms of a person allergic to chicken suffering from acid reflux, and hey presto. We suddenly found one of the biggest culprits to my medical problem. I am now a vegetarian pescatarian with a few twists. This can make cooking awkward, especially as we must maintain a high degree of diversity in the weekly rota of dishes. For example, I cannot eat the same things two nights in a row. My dietary and Suze’s post-cancer nutritional requirements can make planning meals very hard. However, the good news is that we are now slowly re-introducing ingredients to my digestion again. Therefore, l am starting to regain the elements of a regular diet, which is excellent news. I will never have a diet that is like the average person’s. It’s also a challenging diet to work with every week. It means more batch and fresh cooking and more time spent with raw ingredients in a hands-on way. You can’t simply pop into the supermarket and buy ready-made or easier microwave meals and most assuredly no take out. You have to prepare everything. I will now always be a vegetarian pescatarian with a few twists, but l can live with that. I no longer suffer from digestive bloating, which plagued me for years, and l am starting to feel better, diet-wise. The aches, groans and creaks of ageing are different, but by improving on the vegetable matter, we can tackle arthritis and osteoarthritis problems. It just takes time. Everything worthwhile usually does. |
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Earthly Comforts 
That was a very interesting read, Rory. My wife had an acute attack of pancreatitis last year, gall stones hit her pancreas and caused duct blockages which caused the pancreas to malfunction and create sludge in her body. She was in and out of hospital for six months, couldn’t eat and lost 70 lbs. Every time she eat she would throw up. So she has been going through the same cycle that you are going through. She was on liquids for three months, too scared to eat because of the constant vomiting. But here we are fourteen months after it first started and she is on the same diet as you, vegetables, fish and chicken, and seems to be doing okay I on the other hand am strictly a carnivore. We are both in our seventies. Funny how food effects our bodies in different ways. One of the wonders of the universe.
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Hey Len 🙂
It’s excellent news that your wife can now start to enjoy her food again. It takes life to a level of appreciating food rather than purely existing.
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Yes, watch that arthritis… especially that OSTEO-arthritis😂😂 Don’t wanna wind up like Mum, eh?
I’m mostly vegetarian with occasional beef, chicken, fish, pork 🤷🏼♀️ I had severe GERD in my late 20s and 30s but it seems to have chilled out (Knock On wood)
I’m very happy to read that your gut is responding well… FINALLY!! I hope it lasts🤞🤞
💌💌
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Well let’s be honest we are what we eat, we always have been and we can control our health through the brain mouth gastro relationship.
Our bodies change as we age and that is when the problems arise and as you have noted here, many of our problems begin in our later 20’s.
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Dietary issues never seem to be resoled by doctors. Instead we suffer. I am wondering what my diet will be once I start chemo. I am glad you are finding out what works for you.
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Hey Lauren, you are quite right – considering how many people suffer with gastro problems of one sort or another, there isn’t a lot of progession.
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This is good news indeed. We sometimes don’t realize that we are allergic to something and it’s the cause of all that’s causing us problems. My son has given up gluten a few years ago and now his gastric issues are under control. Take care my friend. I’m glad that things are better for you.
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Well l never knew l would have been allergic to chicken, reflux or acid l could more easily accept but allergic to white meats was quite soul destroying especially given how ill l had been over the years and not once did anyone ever suggest medically – chicken and turkey might be an issue for me – but hey ho, if l am to be a vegetarian, then that is what l must be to avoid troubles 🙂
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It’s the first I’ve heard of allergy to chicken or fish.
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Well it was for me too, l could understand being allergic to the feathers of a chicken, but the meat? That was new.
However we discover more things to do with diet as we traverse our world 🙂
I suspect l have the same problems with the white meat of turkey also judging by some of the reactions l have had over the years.
It’s a huge discovery considering how much l had taken out of my diet over the years.
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I hope you find nutritional substitutes to replace these allergens
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It’ll take time, and l will never have the full range of a diet afforded to me, due to other restrictions, but l haven’t had a serious attack like the one l had in July for quite some time and my six weekly flare ups have eased off as well 🙂
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That’s good to hear.
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It seems you have figured out much of what was bothering your system, Rory! We can grow in and out of allergies. I am highly allergic to certain types of fish, yet I can tolerate shellfish if I consume it only now and then. I’m also allergic to many medications which I have gotten even more sensitive through the years. I break out with internal hives and my throat closes so if I have any aches and pains, I take baby aspirin. And for stomach issues, I take Apple Cider Vinegar gummies. Both seem to work fine and have for several years. Have a great day and thank you for your visits to my new blog, Ongoing Whimsy.
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Hey Eugenia, always a pleasure 🙂
I use a lot of Apple Cider Vinegar in fact it is one of my direct go to’s these days also. Not gummies though.
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🙂
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