November 19th I was supposed to be on my way to feeling better. That's the day John and I were heading to Vancouver, B.C. to receive my special shipment of whipworm ova, the parasite that I am planning to host in an effort to make my u.c. better.
Although I can't help but be a little bit nervous about this adventure, I was getting past the jitters and moving into giddy optimism. I was starting to think about how I will wean myself off my meds, wondering if it might be possible to take up "serious" running again, and getting ready to jump into the job hunting game without worrying whether I can find a u.c.-friendly workplace. Or even whether I can get through a job interview without running to the restroom!
That's when I got a call from our "worm wrangler"at Autoimmune Therapies, the company I am working with on this treatment. Sadly, he was calling to let me know we had to cancel our Vancouver rendez-vous. Seems he's been having some issues with recent shipments to Canada, and he didn't think it would be smart to travel there when there's a chance I wouldn't get what I came for.
To say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement. Initially, I felt like someone had socked me in the stomach. I was at Target right after taking the call, wandering the aisles, completely unable to focus on my list, and finally had to just leave because I felt nauseous. I was jittery, with what felt like an adrenaline hangover, for the rest of the evening. Guess that reaction tells me I was more than just a little excited about my treatment!
But I'm not totally out of luck. The recommendation is that I just travel to Europe instead and pick up the little fellas there. So John and I are now in the throes of planning a trip in early January. Unfortunately, that means I will START down the path of feeling better almost 2 months later than I had planned. Considering it can take 10 weeks for this treatment to start working, that's no small difference. Plus, travel is pretty hard on my system, and it gets even worse when you talk about trans-Atlantic travel, what with the jet lag, and multiple flights, and layovers, and such. So I'm not looking forward to what I assume will be a pretty rough road. Or to European pay toilets.
Meantime, my symptoms are all over the map. I seem to bleeding quite a bit right now, suffering from a fair amount of gas whenever I eat, waking up to very painful cramps each morning, and generally feeling like I've got a bundle of barbed wire stuck in my abdomen. However, I'm able to exercise pretty regularly, and I'm trying to eat less overall, and less sugar and refined carbs in particular because these foods are thought to contribute to the inflammation that rules this disease. But let's get real: it's the holidays, and I love to eat, not to mention bake! Well, we'll just have to see what happens there....
Right now, I'm just focusing on keeping a good thought and being ready to feel better soon. Just not as soon as I hoped.
No comments:
Post a Comment