The nutmeg chronicles Part 2

So, once we returned home after my scope, I heeded the recovery room nurse and looked up “erosive gastritis” on the internet.
Bad idea.
I read for a bit, had a little cry, then went to find The Mister.
“It’s irreversible,” I said. “You can manage it, but it can’t be completely cured.”
The Mister didn’t miss a beat.
“I don’t believe it. Anything can be reversed. Diabetes can be reversed. Heart disease can be reversed. Ebola, for cryin’ out loud, ebola can be reversed!”
“Well, I think ebola can be survived, but…”
“It can be reversed!”
“Beg your pardon there, Dr. Beaudoin. While we on the topic…”
“Of ebola?”
“Uh, no, of reversing erosive gastritis.”
“Oh.”
“It appears that high fibre vegetables, the kind I love, like brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, all those send the stomach into higher acid production to break them down, which is obviously not a good thing in this case. But I can’t stop eating them! I can’t lose out on all the wonderful health benefits from them! That could lead to a whole other bunch of health problems!”
The Mister nodded sagely and took a moment to think about that. At last he said, “You know how your teeth don’t meet in the front?”
“Well…yeah…”
“You know how the dentist says you’ve got the worst bite he’s ever seen in all his years of practice?”
“Yyyeah…”
“And how he’s always calling in his colleagues, and how they all point and laugh as soon as you open your mouth?”
“He’s never done that.”
The Mister smiled.
“Not yet he hasn’t.”
“Got a point there, Pa?”
“How is it that someone who has the worst bite in the history of dentistry still manages to down a handful of nuts nearly every day?”
I shrugged. “I grind them up first.”
Dawn broke.
“I grind them up first!! I could grind up the veg into a pablum, already predigested! My stomach won’t have to work hard to break it down which will save it from turning up the acid. That’s brilliant! When did you get so smart?”
“When I married you.”
“Good answer.”
“Been practicing. And here’s something else. You’re feeling overwhelmed right now because you don’t have a plan. Remember what Dr. Rankin said in Mind Over Medicine – how you should think about who you want on your team to help you heal? Put together that ’round table,’ and think about what other practices you want to add to your self-care…” he leaned forward “…to help you completely reverse this.”
I smiled at his subtlety.
“Those are all really good ideas,” I admitted.
“It’s the only kind I get.”
I might have objected to that last statement if I hadn’t been feeling so much better.
So here’s my round table of healing professionals – first, Dr. K. for meds and procedures. My NP for primary health care. A dietitian, who I’ll see early next week. Various online naturopaths and health web sites to help me tweek my herbs and supplements. And my massage therapist who I’ll see twice a month instead of just once.
And healing practices – I will no longer set an alarm unless I have an early morning appointment, and I refuse to feel guilty about sleeping in. I’m healing. I will have two “relaxy” times during the day, unless I sleep in, in which case one will do. I will take time to meditate every day. Housework, never very high on my agenda, has slipped even lower. I need to marshal my energy even if that means saying no to events, even events I’d love to attend but know I don’t have the energy for.
And I will learn to express anger. That last one is the most important of all and will be the subject of my third and last post in The Nutmeg Chronicles.
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading and leaving your comments. Just lovely to have such support and company as I journey through this.