I have this problem...not sure why...but my body seems to target holidays to get sick. Remember Halloween 2010? I also remember once or twice being so sick on Christmas growing up that I didn't care about opening presents. So it should not surprise me when I got sick over Thanksgiving.
Sunday the 20th I started getting a stomach ache...I chalked it up to stress and went to bed. I woke up Monday feeling like I had a ball of nails sitting in my stomach. I immediately thought I had another ovarian cyst and figured I could tough it out...afterall there is NOTHING they can do for them except drug you. So you end up spending hours in the ER, getting poked, prodded and gawked at...all for naught. We had to run up to the base to drop off Miles' passport application (we FINALLY got his birth certificate...2 months after we finalized...and that was the "expedited" {read: expensive} timeframe) and while we were there I knew I wasn't going to be able to tough this one out...something was wrong. I could feel a large, hard something if I pressed on my lower left stomach...and it felt like a million tiny knives were stabbing me on the inside. I was pissed...I didn't want another solid cyst that would require surgery...but I was in SEVERE pain so we headed to the Navy Hospital. The doc I saw was really good...and after exams, blood work and tests I was expecting to hear "ovarian cyst" but instead he said Diverticulitis. Um...come again? (The lining of your colon gets inflamed and infected) He said it was unusual - it's usually a disease people over 60 get - but all the tests pointed to Diverticulitis. He got me an Rx for two antibiotics (one was the antibiotic they give to people who have been exposed to Anthrax...) and an opiate pain killer. He wanted me back the next morning...and he wanted me to go home and REST (Diverticulitis can be dangerous if your colon ruptures and all that gross stuff leaks into your abdominal cavity) so Nathan took the day off to spend with Miles so I could rest. I loaded up on the drugs and tried to sleep. Tried. Let me tell you - that antibiotic mixed with the pain killer was HORRIBLE. I was dizzy and nauseous and I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. Not to mention the pain never went away so I could never get comfortable. Every time I moved or breathed I felt lots of little stabbies.
I went back the next morning still in tremendous amounts of pain...and the diagnosis was still the same. Come to find out my parents both have diverticuli (pouches in the colon walls) so it isn't a total surprise that I got sick. But after discussing my diet with the doctor (which has recently been modified because of my pre-diabetes diagnosis...I never mentioned that? Ya...sucks. I found out the week before Halloween after a routine blood test) we discovered that my Diverticulitis was caused by the 3 tomatoes and 1.5 pints of raspberries I ate on Saturday. I was being punished for eating healthy. (ok...I know that's not actually true, but it's funny to say)
We skipped the traditional Thanksgiving activities (poor Nathan)...I spent the week in a drug-induced semi-conscious pain filled ball on the couch. For Thanksgiving dinner I had a glass of juice and a couple saltines. Yummy. So we had a make-up Turkey dinner on Sunday...and the turkey I cooked - HOLY MOSES was it awesome. (Stuffed the body cavity with lemons, clementines, garlic and onions...basted the turkey every 20 mins...covered skin with butter) My tummy still isn't 100%...but at least I can eat solid food again!
