Back in September of 2002, I started drawing my colon. I first drew it on the day after my second-ever colonoscopy, the day I was finally told how bad off I really was in unequivocal, Western-medical terms (“aggressive onset,” white-cell count, colostomy, etc.). I continued drawing it once per day, every day, for months afterward, [...]
Crohn’s disease
If you’ve been following along on Twitter and Facebook, you already know that last week represented a physical nadir for me. Not the Nadir, but the worst flare I’ve had in almost three years, since I went off the diet. (That would be the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, also known as the Diet That Saved My [...]
This is Day 8 of a 21-day effort to see the good in what might, at first, look like an irredeemable drag. Its name comes from a classic bit of dialogue uttered by actor Kevin Bacon in a classic film of my generation, Animal House. In my family, we were not blessed with good teeth [...]
Back in September of 1987, I met my friend, Karen Engler, for dinner in Lincoln Park. I asked her what was new and she entertained me with amusing anecdotes of her crazy job du jour. She then asked me what was new; I said, “I quit smoking.” “Really!?! When??!” I checked my watch. “6:30,” I [...]
It’s no secret that I’ve fallen off the SCD wagon, big-time. It started with espresso, the gateway illegal, over two years ago. Espresso, and a spoonful of some shameless hussy of a dessert by Suzanne Goin, who should have a mug shot up in the P.O., as far as I’m concerned. The bad news: once [...]
I’ll be honest: I prefer those periods characterized by boundless energy and the fruitful activity that accompanies it to the doldrums. But I learn more from the latter. Yes, once again, my colon has decided to show me who’s boss. It’s a benevolent dictator, really: provided I tow the party line, I get to keep [...]
Regular readers of communicatrix-dot-com know that roughly four years ago, I spent one delightful summer sliding into a severe onset of Crohn’s disease: colossal weight loss, fever, diarrhea. (I know, I know, sexy!!!) It’s a long story, but the short of it is I was sick, brother: 11 days in the hospital followed by four [...]
I know that patience is one of my Big Lessons, and I’ve accepted my Crohn’s disease as one of my major teachers. What’s been strange about this year, my fourth since onset, is how shockingly intolerant I’ve been of my sketchy health all of a sudden, after four years of putting up with its vagaries [...]
I do not know what it is like to be fat; we run to the thin side in my family, probably in part due to the subpar assimilation of our diseased digestive tracts (Crohn’s is known as a wasting disease, although there are overweight Crohnies out there). So except for the stares and whispers when [...]
I have been getting better, but this intestinal healing is some sloooow going and you don’t want to push it. It’s kind of like going back to Baby Tummy. First, when you’re in a flare, you literally get a big, air-filled, protruding baby belly. Super-sexy. Second, in the same way that it might be inadvisable [...]
