and Life Goes On...

Well, I had intended to be more active in my posts, and there's certainly been plenty to provoke comment, of late, but as they say, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans....

A few weeks ago, I gave in to the considerable stomach discomfort I was enjoying[sic] and went to the doctor. Come to find out, it was just gastritis causing the pain -- but -- the gastritis was caused by pancreatitis, a more serious issue. Now the good news is, that on a scale from 0 to 1000, with 65 being normal maximum, and 700 being the level that gets you slapped in the hospital, my reading was 81, so it was something we caught early. Still, the fun was just beginning.

If I had needed hospitalize, I would have been treated to an enforced 4-day fast, with nothing but a glucose drip. This might be a good time to mention I am hypoglycemic....

Instead, as I had only a mild(!) case of pancreatitis, I was put on a zero protein diet. Now, having managed my hypoglycemia for almost 40 years by controlling my diet (meaning, for the most part, no carbs unaccompanied by protein), I was dismayed to learn that I was now looking at a diet of... carbs. The first few days were predictably unpleasant, but I slept through much of it, because with my blood sugar down, I had no energy anyway. A first experiment with protein (hard-boiled egg whites), after four days, was a painful failure, so back on the carbs. Zzzzzz....

I've also been taking pancrease, which pretty much tells the pancreas to do nothing. And Protonix, which shuts down production of stomach acid. After two weeks of the carb diet, I am now slowly adding protein, and it seems ok. So now I am beginning to reduce the incidence of a) headaches, b) low energy, and c) shaky hands.

The bad news is that it may yet be months before I can indulge in anything as radical as a medium rare steak. I am in mourning.

In spite of all, now that brain function is returning, I will endeavor to make some semi-regular entries here. Watch this space!