Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Life has gone to shit.

Anyone following my blog knows I have been dealing with health issues for many years now, the most recent issue having started after a very bad gallbladder attack April 30th of last year. I started to get this pain in my sternum area, and it would progress down to a squeezing burning type pain under my breasts. This pain mostly came from eating, and sometimes if I had not eaten for a long time.

I ended up in the hospital in the summer and they found an ulcer and gastritis. This was treated, and follow-ups showed no further issues. But yet the pain continued.

In October I had my gallbladder removed. This helped with the intense attacks I would sometimes get in the middle of the night that were so bad I could barely breathe and almost always cause me to vomit until relief finally came. But, this did not help with the pain I experienced after every meal.

The pain got so bad that even with liquid and soft meals it would come. It got so bad that it was constant. Yet no one can seem to figure out what it is. I wake up with a sore throat every morning. I get super nauseous when I lie down. Sometimes I wake up abruptly as what feels like hot acid comes up my throat and out, sometimes this even happens when I am sitting reclined in my chair relaxing! We have tried every stomach medicine and nothing works, often it makes matters worse.

I have another specialist appointment in August. This doctor specializes in the liver, pancreas, sphincter of oddi, etc. I really hope he can help me, but after already seeing so many doctors related to this issue, (at least 7), I am not holding my breath.

The pain is so bad currently that I can barely sit up in an office chair for more than a few minutes. If I recline it back I can at least get comfortable, but then I need to move my keyboard and mouse closer to me. I have a setup in my living room right now with a wireless keyboard and mouse with my laptop.

I had to leave my job. It was busy tax season and I obviously couldn't keep up, and they needed someone there that could. I might be able to return if I ever get better, but there is no guarantee.

I remembered a movie I saw once called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, by Joe Cross. I searched on Netflix and it was there. I immediately watched it again. This was it, this could be the answer! A 30-day juice fast to "reboot" my system. I remember the first time I watched this I said to myself, I could never do that, that's crazy! This time when I watched it something Joe said hit a nerve, he said that people often say they can't do it, without even trying, but that all changes once you get to your breaking point. His breaking point was at age 41. I am also 41.

We already owned the book as well so I flipped through it, picked my plan, and prepared to start. I dug out the juicer and made sure it still worked. It's an oldie but a goodie!

The next thing I did was weight myself. The day before I started transitioning I weighed in at 183.5 pounds. I certainly wasn't happy about that!

I decided to transition in slowly since I had been eating pretty badly. After already trying soft foods, and liquids, and it not helping, I had pretty much given up caring what I ate. I was still gluten free so I didn't have to worry about transitioning that out. Day one I stopped chips. I had eaten the last I had and refused to but more. The second day I did the same with chocolate. The next day I went down to one tea with sugar. The next day no tea or sugar. The last day before my transition I was only drinking juice and eating fruit.

Today, Thursday, April 5th, 2018, is my first all juice-only day.

Let's hope this helps! And even if it doesn't, at least it will reboot my system and my taste buds and I will crave healthier food instead of junk. Joe said he sometimes feels lucky that he got sick, that a dramatic change was what he needed before he killed himself with his unhealthy lifestyle. Hopefully I will one day feel lucky that I got sick as well...