from one extreme to the other

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:51 pm

LUCKY YOU! Finding a doc who supports you. Can you get a cloning?
At least he agrees that the diet can't hurt!

What liquids? And why? Make a chicken broth and drink that. Get some nourishment.

Apropos your garden - be careful. Veggies have to be OVERCOOKED. And you have to test each one to make sure you can tolerate it.

I wish I had a garden. I have a balcony, where tomatoes, strawberries and herbs are growing. My son and friends are getting a lot this year )-;

dawnpice · Post by **dawnpice** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:57 pm

Clear liquids tomorrow to prep for the colonoscopy Thursday. Clear broth is on the list so I will be doing that. :-)

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:02 pm

Hi Dawn,

You should be fine with the veggies as long as they are OVERCOOKED. Plus it will be extremely healthful (read stress relieving) for you to be working in the garden. Agree with Lesley...when you eat veggies try one at a time...i.e. don't do a stir fry with 6 in them. Test one at a time.....like one new veggie a week to see if it is ok. Brandy

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:02 pm

Forgot to mention to stay away from lettuce and raw veggies for a long time. Brandy

mturn2 · Post by **mturn2** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:05 pm

Hi Dawn, Just wanted to say Good luck on Thursday from a former Hoosier! (I'm from Fort Wayne but have lived in Florida for 2 years now).

Lesley, how do you make the coconut ice cream? I must have missed that being posted.

Take care,
Sondra

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:08 pm

Hey Dawn,

Great news! It seems your GI doc is open-minded. Did he mention adding the Entocort as the tapering of pred. begins?

I doubt that a colonsopcopy will shed any new light on anything, but I have a suggestion. You might ask your doc to rule out mastocytic enterocolitis (one of the forms of MC). You have had such a rocky course that I think this would be important. It can only be diagnosed during colonoscopy, by staining the biopsy specimen with tryptase, which helps to identify mast cells. You might want to mention this ahead of time so that he can be prepared to order this test. It is best diagnosed during colonoscopy, so this is your chance to rule it out. As you have read here, many seem to be suffering from this form of MC, and it needs additional dietary and medical strategies.

I have a feeling that you have just made some significant progess on your path to health. WAHOO!!!!!!!!

Love,

Polly

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:30 pm

Duh! Colonoscopy, of course! Though once you have been diagnosed I don't know what it's for, except, as Polly says, a chance to find out about mastocytic enterocolitis.

Coconut ice cream - 2 cans of coconut milk. I like to use a TJs lite one with a full fat one. Gives me the creaminess without being too much. 1/2 a cup of agave syrup. You can add more if you want to sweeter, but I love the fact that this is not too sweet. 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla paste, or extract. Use a good one. 1 tsp if you are going to add other flavorings, 2 if you are leaving it plain coconut.
1/4 teasp of xanthan gum if you tolerate it. I don't, so I do it without.

If you want strawberry - what I did was to puree a full cup of berries and use only 1can of milk
Chocolate - add cocoa to taste
coconut - add flakes (you can also use one can of coconut water so it's more like sorbet)
Lemon - grate lemon peel and squeeze juice. Add to taste. My family likes it tart. Strangely this doesn't bother me.

Puree all ingredients in a blender. Chill well. adjust flavorings and blend again if necessary.
Pour into an ice cream machine and churn till the ice cream is like a stiff soft serve. (though soft serve has another implication here!)
Freeze in containers, and enjoy!

I write recipes as I cook. throw in stuff and try. It's not scientific but it usually works.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:41 pm

Hi Lesley, thanks for the tip. Looks yummy! brandy

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:07 pm

I'm really happy to hear that you will be going off most of the meds. It's never fun to "prep" for a colonoscopy, but hey, we're use to being in the bathroom all the time :) I don't know what he expects to see though. Microscopic colitis can't be seen without a biopsy under a microscope. Is he gong to have biopsies done? If so, can they stain them to look for mast cells?

You will probably be able to enjoy fish soon, but you might have to cook those garden veggies :)

Take care and keep us posted
Leah

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:10 pm

ooops, I guess I should have read what Polly had to say before repeating it all. Good luck :)

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:17 pm

Brandy - my diet is way more restrictive than yours. The ice cream keeps me sane.

dawnpice · Post by **dawnpice** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:37 am

Thank you Sondra. I live in Sheridan, IN but grew up in Kokomo, IN.
Polly, Yes I am going to ask for that specific test. I have written it down so I wont forget, which is something I do a lot here lately, Im very forgetful. Not normal for me. Anyway, I had a colonoscopy done about 5 weeks ago and thats how I was diagnosed with MC. This new dr thinks that there is more to it though and wants to go in and see. He thinks that all these meds have created more damage than good. He also believes there more than just the MC since I am did not respond to the Asacol or the prednisone so far. The Asacol just went straight through me and I ended up with Conjunctivitis as well as strep throat, which I found out are side effects of Asacol!! So I was put on a zpack which probably aggravated everything even more!
He was impressed though that I have been researching things myself and having an active role in my case. One has to these days or they will never heal, they will just exist on drugs and that is not what I want!

So today is clear liquids and the prep starts at 6pm and then the rest of the prep tomorrow morning at 8 then the procedure at 1. The last time the prep was aweful and painful, they had me do Dulcolax and Mirilax.

This time I am doing Moviprep. Supposed to be much easier on the system.

Is there anything else I need to be asking the Dr??? I am determined to get this under control ASAP!!!! I have a life to live!

Thanks again for all your support.........I have hope because of you all :-)

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:31 am

I don't know if you remember the last time you "cleaned out", but you might consider starting a little earlier then 6pm because when i did it, I couldn't stop going to the bathroom until very late (which meant I couldn't go to bed and get some sleep). I hope this time is a bit better for you.
Leah

dawnpice · Post by **dawnpice** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:38 am

Oh yes I remember Leah. Thats a good idea, I think I will. This is supposed to be gentler and only have you going for about an hour and a half but I dont want to take too many chances.

Thanks! :-)

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:04 pm

dawn wrote:This is supposed to be gentler and only have you going for about an hour and a half but I dont want to take too many chances.

I don't remember how many times I had to go through the cleanout process, back when I was going through all the tests, but it was at least 3 or 4 times, and each time, I would complain about how sick the previous drain cleaner had made me, so they would give me something different to use, and each time, it was claimed to be "milder", and "gentler", and much easier on the patient.

Every one of them made me sick as a dog, so I couldn't tell much difference.

I hope you have better luck with it.

Tex