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| During the recovery from my flare in late 2005, my doctor, "Dr. A," decided to relocate to an area near Houston, leaving me with one of his colleagues, "Dr. B." "Dr. B," told me numerous times that this disease is hereditary and that it is not caused by diet or any other outside factor. I didn't buy that. One hundred years ago, this disease was almost non-existent. People groups that I had considered to have a healthy diet seemed to have a drastically lower rate of this disease. Despite my efforts to mimic those cultures with the pursuit of "healthy diet," in August of 2006, my bowels once again started acting up again. I was trying to consume more soft fruits and was eating homemade biblically-based bread (seriously--the book of Ezekiel states that millet, spelt, etc. should be used to make bread). However, my bowel movements started to become more frequent than I would have liked during the day--they increased from 2 per day to 6 in a matter of about a week. They were becoming harder to control as well. I periodically weighed myself on the shipping scale at work--I was shocked one day to see that I weighed in the 150's fully clothed with steel-toe boots on. My energy was plummeting. The cycle had started and I didn't know how to stop it. One day during a lunch meeting, I ate Pizza Hut pizza. The next day, a lot of blood was in my stool. I'm not sure if the pizza was the final straw, or if the flare-up was inevitable, but no matter the reason, it started and there was no stopping it. Over the period of the next few months, I again walked that long road that led through the middle of the valley of death. | |
| My status became worse and worse. In late August, I began keeping a journal of everything I ate, every time I exercised, and details of every bowel movement, hoping that I could find some type of trend that worsened my condition (the journal will soon be documented online). Nothing worked. By the time I actually started my journal, I was having 6 to 9 bloody stools per day. I put myself on a broth diet for a couple days, but as soon as I started on solid foods again, my bowels got worse. Pretty soon, I started missing work a couple times a week, and was having 10-12 bloody stools per day, along with a lot of pain. Friday, September 22, 2006, after I informed my nurse about my condition, I was admitted to the hospital--only 10 months after my previous hospital visit. I was broken. | |
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"Talk to Jeff"
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| During the period that my system was worsening, two people from different walks of life told me to visit a man named Jeff at a local health food store (Granary St.). He was apparently knowledgeable about numerous diseases, disorders, and their natural cures. I was willing to try anything since conventional medicine had offered me little hope. Jerica drove me to Granary St. to visit Jeff. Upon arrival and explanation of my condition he told me that he wasn't very knowledgeable in the area of Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis, but that a man named Jordan Rubin seemed to have the disease under control with some probiotics called Primal Defense(R) a product of Garden of Life(R). Even "Dr. B" believed probiotics were beneficial and he is the most skeptical doctor that I have spoken with on the subject of dietary symptom relief. He even once told me, "Probiotics many times have been found to work better than the prescription medication." So, I bought a bottle of these little gems and left the store. While still in the parking lot, my nurse called after speaking with "Dr. B" and told me to proceed immediately to the hospital. | |
| God had taken the opportunity during my first hospitalization to show me how much I relied on the flesh, and how I needed to rely on Him instead. This hospital visit, my emotions were more intact--I was prepared for what was to come and tried to relax and trust God. Once again, blood samples revealed that I had an abnormally high white blood cell count, indicating that I had infection somewhere in my body. The assumption was that it was in my intestine, so without any stool samples, antibiotics were administered. I was again put on a liquid diet for a day, and then a bland/low residue diet which included things like oatmeal, grits, toast, eggs, coffee, juice, Jell-O, popsicles, meats, and vegetables. After five days, my symptoms were still bloody diarrhea with no sign of improvement. My room had a view of the roof of the 2nd story of the hospital and I wasn't allowed to go anywhere except for walks around the hospital... Finally, I asked my doctor to send me home. He consented since all of the medications could be administered orally. He said that he would schedule an appointment for a couple days later. | |
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This is all we have for now. Please check back soon for the rest of the story--the part about when we learned about
the truth regarding Crohn's and diet! Thanks for reading!
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