Guten tag. Today is day 35/7, that is, 35 days since I ingested my first dose of 200 whipworm, and 7 days since the second dose (300 wigglers) went down the hatch. I'm feelin' pretty darn sassy today. I woke up really early, 'round about 5:00 a.m., with a little bit of gas, but I didn't feel like I had to go to the bathroom. Dozed a little, then woke up again near 7:00 a.m., and this time I did have to go, but just to pee. That is huge. It is now 9:00 a.m., and I have yet to have a b.m. And I'm drinking coffee. I feel like I'm thumbing my nose at my tummy!
This week I had a check up with my family practice doc. She is supportive of my helminthic therapy and asked first thing how that is going. So I had to give her the news about the first round not making it and now we're trying again. I like that she has a lot of the same questions as other people, but she did ask one I hadn't heard before: do you have to warm them up before you take them? (The answer is no. Straight out of the fridge and down the hatch.) Because she is so supportive, I didn't have any problem asking her to order stool tests for me down the road so we can see if the fellas are surviving. She gave me a stool test kit and the paperwork I need to get that done whenever I want and told me to just not bring the stool sample to her--she doesn't think she can handle seeing any worms in my poop. This is all good because if I can avoid the havoc of shipping my poop to England for testing, that would be great. Even better that she completely put the tools in my hands so I can do this when I am ready. Yay for my doc!
Oh....wait....I need a bathroom break.....guess my streak is over for this morning.
So where was I? Oh yes, I'm feelin' good, but we know it's not because of the worms yet. If I understand their lifecycle, the fellas from the first dose have not even moved into my colon yet. The second wave are probably just working up to hatching in my stomach. I think my improved health status is likely due to the massive dose of suppositories and enemas I've been doing since my colonoscopy at the end of May. It's good that this treatment is having an effect, but by no means am I in remission. I'm still in the bathroom about 7 times a day. These trips are often very urgent--I've missed nature's call several times in recent weeks. And there's some cramping and lots of gas. So this is why I can stand up and say HIP HIP HOORAY when, like this a.m., I can hop out of bed without first running straight for the loo.
When you have UC, you learn to take these little things as big victories. I am also learning a lot of "there but for the grace of God go I" these days. I visited my friend in the hospital yesterday as she recovers from bowel resection surgery. They took two sections of her colon, totaling about 2 feet, I think. Yesterday, 3 days after surgery, her big news was that she ate two bites of jello and sipped some broth--but her tummy revolted, so she'll be going much more slowly on the food in the next few days. She will be in the hospital for a week, and is expected to spend a month at home recovering. Hopefully, after that, she will be well and will stay well for a long time to come. But, the truth is, a lot of folks who have this surgery will require subsequent surgeries; the Crohn's usually comes back, and often at the same site. BUT....that is not where we are putting our focus right now. Right now, we are laser-focused on her getting well and finally getting her life back after a really long year.
So I am very well aware of how lucky I am that I can sit here and drink a cuppa joe while she is staring down a jello cup from her hospital bed. I hope and pray I am never ever in her shoes, but I also thank god that she has this chance to feel better and do well. And I thank god for my little worms, who I hope are going to do the same for me!
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