Progress?

Time has been ticking by slowly.  I sleep a lot, I wonder what's safe to eat, and I'm probably making some progress.

At this point, I'm on what I call a "gluten reduced" diet.  I still can't digest big amounts of gluten, like pasta or a sandwich.  Last week, I made some yummy CSA salsa, and bought what I thought were my usual blue corn tortilla chips.  Turns out I grabbed the 8 grain chips, which included corn, barley, wheat, rye, and a few others.  I was frustrated - 5 minutes before Packer kick off, fresh salsa and possibly "poison" chips.  I thought about running to the store, but instead opted to eat the chips and salsa I had one hand.  I was fine! This causes a lot less stress.  I don't have to freak out if i go out to eat and a crouton touches my salad.  I don't have to worry obsessively about cross contamination!

My doctor, in a sort of "let's try and see what happens" way set me up with some digestive enzymes.  These aren't the kind you can pick up at your local hippy store, made from pineapple and papaya enzymes.  These are the real deal - the kind for people with cystic fibrosis and pancreatic cancer and other such undesirable illnesses; the kind that cost around $280 for a months supply.  They seem to be helping - a lot.

I take a pill before each meal, and the enzymes in the pill help digest the food for me.  After reading the package insert, apparently the enzymes come to me from the pancreas of a pig.  I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not crazy about using pig parts 3 times a day.  But I figure I've been not eating pigs for over a dozen years, so eating just the enzymes to keep me going ain't so bad.  Unless you're the pig.

I was talking with my nutritionist about the new pills, and my curiosity as to why they seem to be helping.  By all accounts thus far, my pancreas is fine.  She says the pancreas is a busy body part, it probably does more stuff than any other organ.  Maybe mine does most of the stuff it needs to, but just slacks off when it comes to pumping out the digestive juices it should be making.  A pancreas need not be full of tumors or gangrene or something to "slack off".  I sure hope it's just slacking off.

In other good news, I've put on a few pounds.  I'm pretty excited about that.  It's always been a struggle, and it probably always will be, but I'm happy for the progress.  Maybe more to come?

Running has also been happening, but just a bit.  It feels good to get out now and then and get in a few miles, without having to worry too much about where the nearest bathroom is.  Running brings a feeling of normalcy to my life, it lifts my mood and makes me happy. It's also been incredibly meaningful for me to be running this time of year.  I started running 20 years ago.  Sure, I took some time off in there.  Running has always been there for me, and it's great to have such a lasting relationship with something that makes me so happy.  Sure, I've been faster and stronger than I am now, but it's important to me that I'm still going.

This past summer, I was all ready to do the Minneapolis half marathon  - but it got rained out, so they allowed me to register for the 2015 event for $20.  I signed up since it was a limited time offer.  In the next couple days, I'll be writing out a plan for that race - looks like they don't have a date yet, but last year it was June 1.  I figure until actual training needs to happen, I'll run 3-6 miles a few times a week and ramp things up when the time comes, hopefully I'll be feeling well enough to do so then.  Heck, I might even be able to do Syttende Mai as a training run.

I'm really happy with the new medicine.  It's the first thing that's seemed to help at all.  Given the expense, I sure don't want to be on them long term - but if that's how it's gotta be, then that'll just have to become my normal.  They don't seem to have any side effects.  Hopefully, I'll be fully functional and back to work in October.  Return to work stuff is up to my doctor, but I'm hopeful.