A Tale of Two Colons or Great Expulsions

In August of 2001 my life changed drastically. (Yes, this occurred prior to September 2001, when all our lives transformed.) My life change was a deterioration of sorts and may seem less dramatic than falling towers, but for me it was far-reaching and ground shaking.

It began with unpleasant symptoms not discussed in polite company, so if you’re squeamish, here’s your chance to bug out.

Pain in my lower right side was accompanied by intestinal gas and diarrhea. Not intermittent diarrhea, daily and often hourly bathroom runs (bad pun.) Long story short, diagnosis: Crohn’s disease.

A healthy colon is a lot like a big pink waste reclamation plant; it’s job is storing waste, reclaiming water, maintaining water balance, and absorbing vitamins such as vitamin K.

A diseased colon manages poorly at most of the above functions, leading to malabsorption, water imbalance, diarrhea, and pain.

Now, for the ironic part, at diagnosis my doctor states “diet has no effect, eat whatever you want. And drink lots of juice.” I have never believed diet is irrelevant to any health issue, but I wasn’t feeling all that frisky and just accepted it. And I proceed to drink lots of fruit juices including ones with high fructose corn syrup. Big mistake, as you will see.

I couldn’t keep up my old lifestyle, I worked less, my work out routine changed drastically. I got minimal exercise - mostly swimming - and watched my eating, so I managed not to gain much weight and hovered around 135 pounds. That’s up from 120 in late 2000, and for me that’s overweight, a BMI of 26.4.

Nearly two years passed and I was in constant pain. I was taking too much Aleve. It hurt to sit still and it hurt to move. I managed to keep most areas of my life going on some level, but I was deteriorating. My esophagus became affected, I had trouble getting some foods down, (still do.)

And I began to wonder if I’d live to see my son graduate high school. If the disease didn’t kill me – Crohns sufferers are more prone to digestive cancers, and complications include obstruction and perforation of the small intestine, abscesses (collections of pus), fistulae, and intestinal bleeding, massive distention or dilatation of the colon (megacolon), and rupture (perforation) of the intestine are potentially life-threatening complications - the constant pain was going to drive me insane.

Then in the Summer of 2003 a miracle happened. I found a book by a medical doctor who suffered from colitis and had experimented with diet to relieve his symptoms. Then he rallied other sufferers of intestinal disorders to test his diet. Nearly all had some relief of symptoms.

The book was a life saver for me. After adopting the strictest form of his diet I had improvement within days and I now rarely suffer pain unless I eat a trigger food.

This book that literally changed my life and probably saved it, is The Self-Help Way to Treat Colitis and Other I.B.S. Conditions by DeLamar Gibbons. If you suffer any intestinal condition such as IBS, Colitis, or Crohn’s I urge you to get this book and implement the dietary changes within. It’s available at Amazon for less than $10.

One intriguing story in the book had me agape and changed my once trusting view of medical doctors. When Dr. Gibbons approached a friend, who was a gastroenterologist, with his findings this doctor refused to share this life changing information with his patients, saying, “These people are my bread and butter, they come to me every month.”
This reinforces the point that you can’t trust everything that comes from the medical field or scientific circles. Always question the motives behind the source.

One of my trigger foods is High Fructose Corn Syrup. I cannot digest it properly and to this day if I eat anything with HFCS I suffer pain and diarrhea. This is why I rarely eat commercial salad dressings except Newman’s Own. Newman’s is the only one not using HFCS (that I can find in my Super WalMart.) The ones without HFCS usually have sugar, which I limit. I do not eat bottled sauces, condiments, or any commercially produced products, as most have HFCS. Never mind all the empty carbohydrates, trans-fats, and additives in most of these processed Franken-Foods.

I’ve been relying on olive, flax, borage, hazelnut, grape seed, and walnut oils on salads, vegetables, meats, even to top low carbohydrate home made breads (take a look at the label of most breads and baked goods-HFSC is listed.)

Nuts are another big trigger food for me, as well as beans. I miss both and used to eat them in abundance. But they tear me up. I can not tolerate whole corn, nut butters, or seeds, the insoluble fibers cause severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. I don’t drink cow’s milk due to lactose being a trigger. I use soy milk sparingly in protein shakes. I can eat cheese as most of the lactose is removed.

While on Dr. Gibbons strictest diet I ate only meat, fish, fowl, oil, butter, cheese, white French bread, potatoes, pasta, rice – I didn’t say it was low carbohydrate, never the less it completely relieved my symptoms. I couldn’t have given a sh#^t what the macro-nutrient ratios were, nor whether I gained a few pounds. I was no longer in constant pain and chained to a toilet.

I’ve been able to add many foods back into my diet including most fruits and vegetables despite their fiber content. I cut out the desultory carbohydrates when I felt well enough to lose some weight and go back to full, regular workouts.

My digestive track will never be normal. I still have to watch what I eat very closely and forego many foods. I can’t eat unknown entities from restaurants unless I’m sure they don’t have triggers cooked in like little mystery daggers waiting to slash my guts to bits. I’ve been gifted with a new life, a second chance. On the off chance someone reading this has an intestinal disorder or knows someone who does, maybe this information will be of help.

My apologies to Charles Dickens.