Most often I write the post for this blog every other morning. This morning, as typical for medical procedures, we must be out the door before 8 am. Tom is having both his colonoscopy and endoscopy, the final medical tests before we leave the US, four weeks from today.
Yesterday, was “clear liquids only” day. He amazed me how well he did without a single complaint about hunger. Since we’ve been on our low carb, gluten-free diet, either of us is seldom hungry, certainly never ravenous. It’s ironic how, when you feed your body what it needs, whole nutritious food, it sends out a few hunger signals.
Recently, we decided to stop eating based on the clock. Could we get our appetites in sync eating whenever we felt hungry as opposed to the time of day? Did the caveman watch a clock and go out and kill his meal in time for lunch or dinner?
Hardly. Most likely he hunted and gathered food for himself and his family, preparing it quickly to prevent spoilage which they consumed until stuffed, perhaps not eating again for another day or two. Maybe we are meant to eat the same way to a degree.
It’s not so much about hunting for our food in this modern world, but gathering our ingredients to create a healthful, nourishing and delicious meal to be fully enjoyed, eating again only when we’re hungry. Both Tom and I love this concept. Over the past several weeks, we’ve had dinner at varying times, huge breakfasts, and no dinner later that day, and now, for the first time, no real food all day.
So, yesterday, when “my hunter” was unable to hunt, I decided that I too would follow along and consume only simple liquids. In this temporary home, smaller than that which we are used to, there would be no place for me to eat without him smelling and seeing the food. His gentle soul encouraged me to have whatever I wanted and he’d be fine. Instead, I decided to join him in this one day fast.
I considered making myself liver and onions, which he dislikes, but figured the smell might be intolerable on an empty stomach. Instead, we ate a few sugar-free Popsicles, chicken bouillon, sugar-free Jello that I’d made the night before and plenty of iced tea and purified water. We made it through the evening, hardly giving it a second thought as the day wore on.
At 5 PM he drank the first of two 6 ounce bottles of the prescribed SUPREP (with a ridiculous retail price of $75. We paid a $25 co-pay) mixed with 10 ounces of water and the same again this morning at 5 AM, each time followed by an entire quart of water within an hour.
He managed to chug down the 16 ounces of nasty tasting liquid along with the required quart of within an hour. Nonetheless, it worked. Surprisingly, he slept through the night to be awakened by my cell phone alarm clock going off at 5 AM. After the same drinking process again this morning, the results continued. All in all, the prep was relatively easy.
If you have hesitated to have a colonoscopy due to fear of the prep, please reconsider. A day at home watching mindless TV, lots of liquids, a few minutes of chugging a foul-tasting drink, multiple trips to the loo, and the first phase is over.
So, this morning we’re preparing to go out the door for the appointment soon for the second phase. We’ll be reporting back here later today with what we hope and pray will be great results…that all is well and we may proceed with our plans to travel the world for as long as we want, as long as our health holds out until we get tired until we are sick of our bags or until we find a place along the way, that we mutually agree is truly where we’ll call “home.” One never knows.
11:15 AM – We’re back from Tom’s test. His signs of Barrett’s esophagus are gone! He has no polyps! The visible signs of irritable bowel are gone! Dr. Larry Pass, here in Scottsdale, tells Tom to keep “doing what you’ve been doing!” Our healthy diet has paid off in only 16 months.
We hoped for this good result since Tom’s acid reflux disappeared within 30 days on this way of eating: low carb, grain-free, wheat-free, starch-free, and sugar-free (no corn, no rice, no beans, no grains of any type). Plus, he’s lost 50 pounds of belly fat since August 2011!
We’re free to breathe easy knowing we can continue with our plans to travel the world. We are grateful. We are relieved. Perhaps, now, we can begin to allow ourselves the privilege of getting excited without trepidation and without hesitation.
Now I must jump over to Dr. William Davis’s blog and thank him for the great inspiration he offered us when we read his book, Wheat Belly so many months ago. Thank you, Dr. Davis!