Day Fifty-seven

Didn't have time to eat before work this morning, came home at noon and quickly made a paleo pancake (one egg and a half a banana). I made some uncured bacon as well, but it smelled funny so I didn't eat it.

Spent the day out running errands. I had an ultrasound of my thyroid and I am nodule free!! Yay!!

Came home starving, trying to figure out what to make -- was leaning toward turkey burger again. But instead I seasoned the ground turkey with garlic, sea salt, and Italian seasoning and spread it in the iron skillet like a crust. I topped it with uncured bacon, artichoke hearts, black olives, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, a bit more Italian seasoning and drizzled just a touch of olive oil over it. Then I baked it at 375f for about 20 minutes or so, til the meat was done. It was divine. Even Mike was raving about how good it was. Definitely a keeper.

Day Fifty-six

For breakfast this morning, I added a couple of leaves of Thai basil to my blueberry smoothie. It was the bomb!! I highly recommend it.

Then for lunch, I had a big ole piece of salmon baked with dandelion greens, Thai basil, and I laid a slice of lemon on top just for flavor. I also had some Hawaiian purple yam. All yummy and well tolerated. 

Finally for dinner tonight, I had NY strip, kale, and lotus root.

Preheat the oven to 325f. Peel and slice the lotus root. Toss it with olive oil. and spread in a single layer on a well oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, check and remove any that are crunchy. Put the rest back in the oven -- check every five minutes until they're all done. While they're cooking, season the steaks with sea salt, garlic powder and coconut aminos, brown and put in the oven with the lotus until desired doneness. I used frozen kale, so I just heated it with sea salt, garlic, and a splash of coconut aminos. 

Day Fifty-five

Today I had some stewed prunes for breakfast --( I think I ate a couple too many), and for lunch I had just a baked sweet potato.

Then I had to work late, so I had to eat dinner on the fly. I was contemplating another plain burger patty wrapped in lettuce from In-n-Out, when I realized there was a Whole Foods across the street. So I went there instead. I got a lettuce wrap filled with chicken breast, artichoke hearts, cucumber slices, and olive tapenade paired with a spa water with sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and mint. It was all really really good.

Day Fifty-four

Blueberry smoothie for breakfast, left over "pizza" for lunch. It was really good even as leftovers, and I think the flavors were a bit more pizza like today. I wanted more though.

Did two hours of massage this evening. I'm exhausted, but other than that, I did fine with it. I think tomorrow will be the true test though.

For dinner this evening, I experimented with some of the things we picked up at the Koreana Market yesterday. I put some napa cabbage, rutabaga, baby carrots, Thai basil, cilantro, granulated garlic, sea salt, and coconut aminos in the pressure cooker with some chicken broth I had in the freezer. While that was cooking, I sauteed some pork shabu shabu, and put it in a bowl with some fresh basil and cilantro, and when the veggies were finished cooking, I put them over the pork and fresh herbs. It was awesome, Mike even went back for seconds.

Day Fifty-three

Didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, leftover chicken for lunch.

I haven't had any itching or inflammation. I've had a bit of pain at one of the incision sites. It feels like it's tearing and burning, and it's swollen like a mosquito bite. If it is still doing it tomorrow, I'm gonna call the doctor.

Every day I drive past Dutch Brothers and every day I have to remind myself that "I want to be healthy more than I want coffee". I thought that at some point the craving would stop and it would just be what is -- I don't drink coffee any more. But after 8 weeks, I still have to remind myself why I'm doing this. Every. Single. Day.

I've been fiending for pizza, so tonight I decided to see what I could come up with. I put a head of cauliflower in the food processor and riced it. Then I blended some egg with basil and cilantro and mixed it into the cauliflower. I pressed it into the iron skillet, sprinkled it with granulated garlic and sea salt, and baked it for about a half hour until firm and starting to brown (this part is essential to the texture, don't rush it). Then I drizzled it with olive oil, and topped it with chicken, dandelion greens, black olives, artichoke hearts, Thai basil, and fresh cilantro. I drizzled olive oil over the top of that again and sprinkled it with more garlic and salt and some Italian seasoning. Put it back in the oven (425f) for about 10 more minutes. It wasn't exactly pizza, but it was delicious!

Day Fifty-two

Melon for breakfast and a baked sweet potato for lunch.

Had my post-op appointment today, it went well. I got to see a picture of my inflamed and diseased gall bladder. I'm sure I made the right choice in getting it out. It was obvious even to my untrained eye that it was very sick. I did talk to him about bile salts and magnesium, and he fully supported me giving them both a try.

Then for dinner, I made chicken breast seasoned with salt and granulated garlic, stuffed with fresh basil and cilantro, wrapped with bacon. Along with it, I chopped up half a rutabaga, and sauteed it with bacon, garlic, salt, and cilantro. I also made a second serving without bacon so I can take it to work for lunch tomorrow. It was really good.

Day Fifty-one

Today was the Hashi meet-up,

 so breakfast was on the road. I started out with an unsweetened iced green tea but it made me itch almost immediately so I tossed that. I had a Naked juice Blue Machine instead -- the itching calmed almost immediately.

Then we got to lunch. Although they had an extensive menu, and a lot of items sounded good, the only thing that seemed safe was a lettuce wrapped burger with sweet potato fries. I'm not sure whether the meat was old, or if there were fillers, or possibly the fries were  coated with something (though they didn't look or taste like it), but my whole right arm itched like crazy after I ate. I also noticed my skin was flaking like crazy on that arm.

Nevertheless, the conversation was wonderful. I'm going to go check into some bile salts and magnesium tomorrow.

Then I got to spend some time with my grandson. :-D

Finally, on the way home, we stopped for dinner. We went to six separate restaurants, looking at the menus, trying to find something I could eat. I finally gave up and went to Una Mas! The closest I could get to safe was a Thai chicken burrito bowl. I knew it had stuff I haven't reintroduced, but it seemed the least risky. It had:

1) corn oil
2) nightshades (peppers and tomato sauce)
3) sweet chili sauce (so probably sugar & possibly soybean oil)
4) pineapples
5) far too much rice

It tasted good and I was really hungry. But on the way home, I could not get comfortable. I felt bloated and inflamed, my joints ached and I had a slight headache and shooting pains. I'm glad it tasted good, I would hate to think I had all those symptoms and didn't even enjoy it. I'm just glad to know I'll be back on track tomorrow and this will pass quickly. My daughter gave me some arnica tablets for inflammation, so I'm going to try them out.

Reassesment - Day Fifty

So it's been fifty days, and I wanted to take a moment to reassess where I'm at. The basic diet in the beginning was this:

• Meats: Any unprocessed, unaged, 100% grassfed, pastured, organic.
• Seafood: Only fish that has been frozen at sea, unless you're at the coast and can buy directly from the boat. Avoid shellfish
• Veggies: Squash (any), Leafy greens (excluding spinach), Root veggies (excluding onions, garlic, and white potatoes), Bok choy, Cucumber. Rhubarb, Sprouts, Watercress. Avoid all nightshades, allium, brassicas, and cruciferous veggies, beans & legumes.
• Fruit: Berries (excluding strawberries), Melon (excluding watermelon), grapes, starfruit, pomegrante, quince.
• Fats: Olives (including olive oil), coconut (including coconut oil and coconut butter). Avoid all nuts (including nut oils and nut butters), seeds (including seed oils), and avocado (including avocado oil).
• Seasonings: Green herbs, Ginger, Tumeric, Sea salt. Lavender. Avoid spices from seeds, nuts, and nightshades.
• Sweeteners: Pure maple syrup, Pure honey, Juice from any approved fruits.

I stuck to the above diet strictly for the first five weeks, leaving out things I didn't do well with (like fish and coconut). Since then, I've made some adjustments, and I've reintroduced a few items that I was pretty sure I was fine with. The items that I have reintroduced, I've eaten sparingly and for the most part, haven't made them a part of my daily diet at this point, but I seem to be tolerating most of them well. So what I'm actually eating at this point is this:

• Meats: Any unprocessed, unaged, 100% grassfed, pastured, organic.
• Seafood: None. I reacted to it really badly, so it's off the menu at this point.
• Veggies: Squash (any), Leafy greens (excluding spinach), Root veggies (excluding onions and white potatoes) Bok choy, Cucumber -- I eat a LOT of white skinned sweet potatoes, but not yams. I have reintroduced granulated garlic, artichoke, and broccoli. I am doing well with them -- I didn't do well with daikon radish or kohlrabi. I also didn't do well with yam noodles. 
• Fruit: Mostly blueberries (lots and lots of blueberries) Mixed Berries (excluding strawberries), Melon (excluding watermelon), pomegrante. I have used an occasional squeeze of lemon here and there.
• Fats: Olives (including olive oil), Avoid nuts (including nut oils and nut butters) - except brazil nuts -- I have been eating 2 -3 brazil nuts a day as a selenium supplement and seem to be doing fine with them., avoid seeds (including seed oils), and avocado (including avocado oil). While coconut and coconut oil was on the original safe list, I reacted to it so I have taken it off the safe list. 
• Seasonings: Green herbs, Ginger, Granulated Garlic, Sea salt. Lavender. Coconut Aminos. I tried onion powder, but didn't do well with it. 
• Sweeteners: Pure maple syrup,
• Grains: I've reintroduced rice in small amounts (maybe 1/2 cup cooked every other week) -- but only in natural form, no rice flour or rice products (like pasta or bread)

I will continue to update as I introduce more items. A lot of the veggies I will continue to reintroduce as I've been doing -- one every three or four days -- until I get through all the ones that I think I tolerate well. Then I'll do the fruits. Once I get down to the nitty gritty  -- the things that I really want to test carefully, like nightshades, nuts, grains, and spices, I will introduce them a bit more carefully and go more slowly. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to test dairy. I'm definitely not going to reintroduce sugar. Nor will I bring back all the chemicals and preservatives in packaged food. I think that is a slippery slope that I do not want to go down. So as far as I'm concerned, prepackaged processed crap is gone for good. As frustrating and tempting as it is sometimes, it's just not worth what it costs. I want to be healthy more than I want the convenience of eating that suff. 

Day Fifty

So I got up this morning, had half a turkey patty and half a baked sweet potato left over from lunch yesterday. Then I went to work and did two hours of massage. It was my first real day back and the first day I've felt almost normal. So of course, after I finished work, I went to Lowe's and got some stuff for the patio, came home and put it up (which involved rearranging everything out there), cleaned out the litter box, made a late lunch, did the dishes, went shopping for hour and hours, and now I am totally hurting and exhausted and didn't get my homework done.  :-(

So for lunch, I tossed some stew beef in the pressure cooker with some butternut squash, carrots, ginger, cilantro, coconut aminos, granulated garlick, salt, a tiny drizzle of maple syrup, and a bit of water. I also put some rice in the rice cooker with garlic, salt, and cilantro. It was really really good.

We were out an about at dinner time and I knew I wouldn't be home til late, so we stopped at El Pollo Loco. I had a chicken thigh, some steamed broccoli, and a side salad. I mixed the chicken into the salad and drizzled just a bit of avocado salsa over it. My tummy really didn't like the avocado salsa -- I was offending myself for a while. And while I was shopping, when I went in the dressing room, I started itching -- but that always happens. I don't know if it's chemicals on the clothes or just the act of changing clothes that triggers the mast cells to release histamine. It happens sometimes at night when I get ready for bed too. Nevertheless, it didn't last long, though I totally overdid it and now I'm wrestling with myself over what to do tomorrow.

Day Forty-nine

Had my usual smoothie for breakfast, and 1/2 a left over turkey burger with 1/2 a baked sweet potato for lunch.

Felt better today, no pain though, I just felt uncomfortable all day. But I got through the day, and I'm gonna try doing massage tomorrow morning.

For dinner, Mike really wanted to go out to eat. After exploring our options, he ended up at Blaze and  I went to Jack's Urban Eats. Awesome salad -- mixed greens, broccoli, sweet potato, carrots, cucumber, cranberries, and artichoke hearts with balsamic dressing. I took a risk with the dressing, but I seem to be tolerating it well.

Day Forty-eight

Had a blueberry smoothie for breakfast -- after yesterday I just used frozen blueberries and water. Didn't want to risk anything else today. Then around 11:00 I started having pain in my liver area, so I ate lunch early, hoping it would calm it down. I just had leftovers from last night. The pain calmed down but I felt really lousy after I ate -- tired and achey, slightly nauseated. So I went home and curled up in bed.

Tonight Mike made dinner. He made a ginormous turkey burger with sea salt, granulated garlic, and cilantro. With that I had a mixed green salad with fresh herbs. I blended some fresh cilantro and olive oil to make a dressing. My tummy is feeling better but my shoulders are hurting really bad -- like in the joints, especially on the right side. Hope it's not a virus starting. I do not need that right now. Bleh.

Day Forty-seven

Grape juice & blueberry smoothie for breakfast, lettuce wrapped chicken strips with baked sweet potato fries for lunch. At lunch I had to go scrounging for seasonings and turned up some old herbs -- basil, oregano and thyme. But then this afternoon I started itching a lot. It went on for a while. Then I got ready to leave work and I realized that I had never gone and rinsed my mouth after lunch. I noticed that I had herbs stuck in my teeth, So I went and rinsed, and the itching calmed almost immediately. I think the herbs must have been really old.

So this evening, my boyfriend wanted tacos. So while he fixed his tacos, I tried to create tacos that are compliant with my diet. I browned some grass fed ground beef with zucchini, fresh basil, garlic powder, and grey sea salt. I put it on plantain wraps (this time I added garlic, salt and basil to the wraps, and made them on the griddle. They came out great!)  Then I topped them with fresh cilantro. It didn't taste anything at all like tacos, but they were really good.

Day Forty-six

First day back at work, and I'm exhausted! I came home around six and promptly fell asleep. So dinner is really late tonight.

I had my blueberry smoothie for breakfast. Then for lunch I mixed the left over chicken from yesterday with the rest of the homemade basil mayo and chopped up a carrot to make chicken salad. I used the last plantain wrap and some red lettuce leaves and had a chicken salad wrap. It was beggine for some chopped apple or grapes, some pecans and some dried cranberries. THAT would have been perfect!

Then dinner today was a rib-eye, butternut squash, and baby bok choy. I seasoned the steak with sea salt and garlic powder, seared it and finished in the oven. I bought the butternut squash already cubed (I love butternut squash, but it is truly a pain to cut it up!) I tossed it in olive oil, sprinkled it with the sea salt and garlic powder and added some italian seasoning. Then I roasted it until tender. For the bok choy, I just chopped it in a pan with sea salt, garlic powder, and a sprinkle of coconut aminos, and just enough water to steam it. Everything was really tasty, though I cooked the meat a bit more done than I like.

I just realized as I was writing this that garlic powder has replaced pepper. I was thinking, wow I used garlic in everything -- I use sea salt and garlic powder like most people use salt and pepper. I'm running low, and instead of garlic powder, I'm going to get granulated garlic this time and see how I do. I like the texture much better and it's much less messy.

Day Forty-five

I'm back. Getting ready to go back to work tomorrow, it's time to get back in the groove. I saw an article by Dr Hyman today talking about Glutathione, and decided to give it a try. So I went out and picked up a bottle. We'll see how it goes.

Brunch today was another one of those awesome chicken club sandwiches on the plantain wrap that I had for dinner last night. I cooked up a little extra chicken and used the rest of the basil-mayo that I made to turn it into chicken salad for lunch tomorrow.

Then for dinner tonight. I layered the bottom of the pressure cooker with baby carrots and tossed in a little chopped fresh ginger and drizzled maple syrup. Then I stuffed a pork roast with basil, cilantro, chopped carrot, garlic powder, and salt and set that on top of the carrots. While that was cooking, I chopped up some rapini and sauteed it with salt, garlic, and coconut aminos. I have discovered a new  favorite green. I've never had rapini before, it was really good.

Day Forty-four

Yesterday was a long day and left me exhausted. I slept until 11:00. I had a bit of itching this morning (or this afternoon). But as soon as I started eating, it calmed right down. It may have been the bananas yesterday. I had the paleo pancakes for breakfast yesterday, and then on the way to Berkeley, I picked up a Naked juice Blue Machine, which has blueberries and bananas in it. I had drank some of the juice when I was in the hospital and tolerated it well, so I tested it out yesterday. But I will take them out for the duration and test them again later. 

For breakfast today, I chopped up a piece of left over baked sweet potato and sauteed it with basil and garlic. Then I heated up a left over chicken patty that I had made and frozen the other day. It had basil, cilantro, galic, and blueberries in it. Really good breakfast. 

I felt really good all day except I was tired. Then this afternoon, I went out to the grocery, and by the time I got home, I was hurting a lot. I think I did too much too fast. So I'm taking one more day off tomorrow before going back to work on Tuesday. 

For dinner today, I made a chicken club sandwich:  plantain wraps (plantain, olive oil, salt, and water), homemade basil & olive oil mayo, red leaf lettuce, chicken thigh, and bacon. It was yummy!! Definitely a keeper. I think next time I make the wraps, I might try including some fresh herbs in the batter. I'm also going to try making them on the griddle like pancakes instead of in the oven. 

Day Forty-three

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning I actually got out of bed and took a shower. I did itch afterward, and it was really intense, but blessedly brief. I've been pretty much totally itch free this week, and had hoped that removing my gall bladder would fix the problem. And it's possible it could still happen. Maybe my liver is just still overwhelmed trying to filter the toxins and the drugs from the surgery and, as it clears, the problem will abate. Who knows?

This morning I made paleo pancakes -- eggs and banana with a touch of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, topped with pure maple syrup. I also had a couple strips of bacon with it.

Then we took off and went to Berkeley for the day. I promised Mike that, in exchange for me dragging him to see my daughter perform in The Vagina Monologues on Valentine's Day, we would go to Zachary's for dinner. My daughter met us at the restaurant and, while it was very difficult to sit and watch them eating the best Chicago pizza to be found on the west coast, I knew I didn't want to feel like crap later at the show. So I just had a salad -- mixed greens, grapes, cranberries, and cucumbers, dressed with olive oil and topped with grilled chicken. It was really good, and the bonus is that, because I behaved and didn't give into the temptation of the pizza, I felt good later at the show . . .

Day Forty-two

So for breakfast this morning, I chopped up the left over turkey from last night and mixed it into the mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed it as a patty. I paired that with some fresh raspberries.

Then for lunch, I took some ground chicken, mixed it a whole bunch of chopped cilantro, a few leaves of fresh basil, a bit of salt and garlic powder, and some blueberries and made a meatloaf. I really liked the addition of the blueberries. It added a perfect flavor.

Finally for dinner, I let the db fix it. We had steak, 1/2 baked sweet potato, and sauteed bok choy. I almost forgot to take a picture.

One good thing I can say for sure, so far, I have been absolutely itch free this week. I had a few moments the day after the surgery when it seemed like it was going to flare up, but then it went away and I haven't even had a hint of it. Dare I hope? Tomorrow I must shower before I go out in public, we will see what happens then. . .

Day Forty-one

On the mend, but it's going slowly. It's not quite as bad as when I had my appendix out, but it's a close second. 

Today I had blueberries for breakfast. Then for lunch, I heated up some chicken soup I had in the freezer.

Tonight I made some mashed maple sweet potato, sauteed zucchini with Italian seasoning, and turkey breast stuffed with cilantro, basil, and shredded carrot. It was good, but I could only eat half of it. So I'll chop it up in the morning and make some hash. 

Day Forty

Went home today. The ride home was rough and left me hurting pretty badly. Thank goodness for hydrocodone. It's the only time I've taken any pain meds, but it helped a lot. I' m planning to go to Berkeley on Saturday to see my daughter perform so I'm happy to know that's an option if I need it.

Today I had some baby food carrots, scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. The sausage really wasn't the best choice but I didn't have a lot of options. That hospital is the WORST for food! The first tray they brought me had absolutely NOTHING on it that I could eat.  I didn't give them my entire diet list, but I did tell them gluten, soy, and dairy free. The biggies. I would have told them sugar free as well but figured then they would give me stuff with artificial sweeteners which is even worse. So what did they bring me? Cream of wheat, french toast, yogurt, milk, coffee, and sweet tea. Really? So when the orderly saw I didn't eat anything, he brought me another tray with the scrambled eggs and sausage.

Then for lunch, they brought me some kind of meat patty drenched in gravy (not gluten free gravy, I'm sure), stuffing, a roll, and some zucchini and squash. Unfortunately the veggies were sitting in a puddle of gravy so I could only eat part of them. There was also a side salad, but I couldn't eat the dressing, so I had some zucchini and squash and iceberg lettuce. I also ate a couple bites of the jello again.

On the way home, I had Mike run through El Pollo Loco and get a chicken breast. I peeled the skin off to avoid most of the seasonings and the grease. So I had a chicken breast and some blueberries for dinner. Luckily I have some chicken soup in the freezer to get me through tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Day Thirty-nine

Surgery today, so I wasn't allowed to eat anything all day. Tonight I had a little bit of baby food sweet potatoes and some Naked juice -- something with blueberries in it. I also had a couple bites of jello, though not much because it had sugar or artificial sweetener (couldn't tell which as my taste buds were a bit off).

Surgery took longer than expected because of the inflammation and scarring, but they were able to do it laparoscopically, so that's good. The doctor said the gall bladder was full of stones and had been inflamed for a long time. I also saw in my chart that I have a fatty liver. After doing some research on fatty liver, I'm really understanding now why this diet is helping me so much. It's exactly what I should be doing to clear this up. I also read that itching is a symptom, so maybe by removing the inflamed gall bladder and healing my liver I can also heal my histamine intolerance. Cautiously optimistic that I might finally be on the right road.

Going home tomorrow.

Day Thirty-eight

A very stressful day. I tried to do an entire week's worth of work in one day, since I'm likely to be out the rest of the week (I may go back to one job on Friday depending on how I feel). Of course, while I'm in the midst of trying to do all that work, people were coming in and out wanting stuff done for them.

I realized this morning that I have a lot more stress and fear about the operation than I allowed myself to admit. I'm sure this was contributing to the reactions I was dealing with. I'm going to have to put off reintroductions for at least 2 or 3 weeks afterwards to clear all the drugs out of my system and allow my digestion to reset without my gall bladder. I hope I'm making the right decision. It's pretty irreversible.

I wanted something really delicious for dinner tonight, so I just made a small steak, 1/2 a baked sweet potato, and some kale. I seasoned all three with just sea salt and garlic powder. It was really the perfect meal. Yummylicious!

Day Thirty-seven

Woke up still really cranky today and my shoulder is still hurting a lot. Maybe it's the weather. I had a massage, which helped a lot . . . for a little while. Then I was cranky again.

I made a really good hash for breakfast. White sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, bacon, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, sea salt, and garlic powder. I decided to have an egg with it. I'm not sure about the egg. My digestion was really noisy afterward, but not painful. But about an hour after I ate it, I had a headache over my left eye that lasted for a few hours. It wasn't horrible, just enough to be annoying. Was it the egg or a massage hangover? For some reason I thought that reintroductions would give me more definitive results one way or the other. Well, we'll see . . .

Then for dinner, I did spaghetti sauce with nomato sauce. I had to adapt the sauce, I used butternut squash, beets, garlic powder, onion powder, fresh basil, sea salt, and italian herbs. I cooked a turkey breast with it. It was good, but not stellar. I can see how it could be really good once I have more flexibility (hopefully) with onion, mushroom, real garlic, maybe some meatballs. But it was filling. However, I am having some respiratory issues at the moment -- not sure what it could have been as I thought everything was safe. Maybe it's not connected? I have some put away for lunch tomorrow. If this clears up, I'll test it again. If not, I won't.

Day Thirty-six

I had a bit of itching after my shower this morning, it was intense but brief. However I've been feeling very frustrated and quick tempered the last couple of days  -- damn near homicidal at times. Not sure if it's hormonal or diet or weather or what. I've also had moments (quite of few of them) when I just want to forget about this diet and just eat whatever I want. The cravings seem to be worse - and odd cravings too. The other day I was putting gas in the car and I had the strongest urge to go inside and get some of that cappuccino out of the machine. I thought, "Really? That's what I'm craving? Gas station cappuccino?" I didn't even crave that stuff when I was drinking coffee, why am I craving it now? But I don't think it's a true craving, more a craving of opportunity. When I drive past the yogurt shop, I crave yogurt, When I'm going through the check out, I crave candy bars. When I'm at home and there is none of that stuff around, I'm fine. I think it's the loss of the freedom that I'm really feeling, more than an actual craving.

Anyway, today we were out doing errands and it got late. We were starving, so we ended up going out again. We went to Sizzler and I ordered the steak with grilled chicken. I told them to just do it plain and asked that they clean the grill -- but they said they could just do it in a side pan, which was fine, I just didn't want any cross contamination. I also ordered the steamed veggies on the side with no butter. It included broccoli, but I never really thought I had any problem with broccoli, so I decided to just go ahead and introduce it. Since any issue I may have would be gastrointestinal, I think I'll know pretty quickly if I have any reaction.

You know, even though it was totally plain without even any seasoning, everything tasted really good. I liked it way better than the bbq chicken last night. I'm happy that my taste buds have adjusted to enjoy just the taste of real food without all the toppings and flavorings added.

Day Thirty-five

I woke up with my shoulder and upper back aching and they bothered me all day. I'm not sure if I slept cock-eyed or if it's gall bladder symptoms.

I had my pre-op physical this morning. They told me that I'm very healthy. I said they should try telling that to my gut. If this is what very healthy feels like, I feel sorry for everyone else. Trying to be grateful, I guess it could be worse.

It's been raining all day, which I'm happy about because we need it desperately. But I can't get warm. Especially my fingers. I feel sorry for my massage clients.

Anyway, today was Friday and Mike wanted to go out. So I contacted our favorite bbq place and asked them if they could grill some chicken for me without all the seasoning and bbq sauce. They were happy to accomodate. I added a side salad of mixed greens, carrots, and cucumber, dressed in olive oil.

Here's the thing, I really didn't enjoy it at all. The salad was ok, but the chicken was bland, bland, bland. bleh! I dipped the tip of my finger in the bbq sauce just to taste it, because I thought I missed it. But all I could taste was sugar. It was soooooooo sweet. How did I ever think that was yummy? I asked my boyfriend if they had changed the recipe, but he said it tasted the same as it always did, so it must be my tastebuds that have changed. I've always loved bbq -- on anything. I can remember being so poor that I would eat bread dipped in bbq sauce because that's all I had. And I liked it. But I definitely done with commercial bbq sauce. Maybe I can find a recipe for a paleo bbq sauce that I like. 

Day Thirty-four

Today was a very rough day. I had a horrible reaction last night. The itch was really bad. This morning it has calmed down, but after lunch it came back again. I think that I traced it down to the ground meat that I used for the meatloaf -- it had to be that or the greens because that's all I ate for lunch. I took a half of a meclizine, but while it didn't really help the itch, it did zombify me. It was a very long afternoon.

Tonight was better. I cut up some white sweet potatoes and put them in the bottom of the pressure cooker. Then I sauteed some shredded carrots with fresh basil, cilantro, & dill, stuffed it into a chicken breast and laid it on top of the sweet potato. Ten minutes later, when it was done, I simply mashed the sweet potato with the juices in the pan and added a touch of maple syrup. I should have drained a bit of the juices off, as it was a bit thinner than I like, but other than that, everything was delicious.

Day Thirty-three

Today was a good day. Doing great with the rice. It actually seems to be relieving some of the achiness in my kidneys. I don't want to make it a big part of my diet again, but I'm happy to know that I can have it sometimes.

Tonight I chopped up some daikon, kohlrabi, turnip, and carrots, tossed them in olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and garlic powder and roasted them. Then I took the kohlrabi tops and chopped them up with some collard greens. I browned some uncured bacon and added the greens with some chicken broth and simmered them with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Finally, I mixed some grass fed ground beef with chopped carrots, garlic powder,onion powder, and Italian seasoning and made a meatloaf.

Day Thirty-three

This morning, I had half of a smoothie, and it totally wired me up. I felt like I had an electric current running through my muscles. I actually stood up at one point and started jogging in place then did a few jumping jacks just to see if it would let me sit still for a few minutes and focus. It did help actually.

Then I had my surgery consult this afternoon. I tried -- I really really tried to avoid the surgery -- but I think I started too late. The doctor said that with as many stones as I have, there is a big risk that one of them will try to pass and get stuck, blocking the duct. This could lead to jaundice, liver damage, and pancreas damage. If we do the surgery now, it will be a laproscopic procedure. I would go in on Tuesday, go home on Wednesday, and be back at work on Thursday or Friday. He said we could wait, that there is a chance that it will never flare up again, but if it does happen, at that point it would be an emergency surgery and it could not be done laproscopically. If we do it as an emergency surgery, they would need to open me up. So I decided to go ahead with it. The surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday.

The funny thing is that my biggest worry is what I'm going to eat while I'm in the hospital. I've been in that particular hospital twice in the last six years and I know what their food is like. The last time I was there, even though my soy and gluten allergies were marked clearly on my chart, they served me soy and gluten at every meal. Even though -- at the time I was there -- I was designated as diabetic, they would come in at 9:30 pm to bring a soda and some crackers. When I told them I was diabetic and couldn't have that because my sugar would spike, they assured me that if it spiked they would give me insulin. No worries, right? <insert incredulous look here> So knowing that, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to maintain my elimination diet and get through these two days. To that end, I went ahead and introduced rice this evening, and I plan to introduce eggs this weekend.

I figure with rice and eggs in my diet it will give me a little more flexibility. At least I'll be able to have breakfast. And I told my boyfriend to bring me chicken and rice when he comes to visit me, I'll be able to have some dinner as well . I guess if what I'm going to eat is my biggest worry, I'm doing ok.

Tonight for dinner, I roasted a small chicken, steamed some rice, and some rainbow chard. I stuck with tried and true seasonings, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. I did slice up a lemon and stuffed the chicken with it just to get the scent in the meat, but didn't eat any of the lemon itself and I didn't squeeze the juice or anything -- just the aroma to flavor the meat. It was delicious. And while I feel just a tiny touch bloated, so far I'm tolerating the rice well. Here's hoping.

Day Thirty-two

I feel much better today. A little bit of an antihistamine hangover, but no more feeling frustrated, helpless, and hopeless like last night. I was soooo sleepy all day. But that was the only symptom. Not much itching after my shower this morning. I had a half a smoothie for breakfast, because I was afraid that if it was a salicylate reaction, a berry smoothie would trigger it to happen again. But, nope, it was fine. Then for lunch I had a chicken breast baked with some sweet potato slices. I was fine after that as well.

I had to work late tonight, so I came home between jobs and had an early dinner of chicken stir-fry with baby bok choy and carrots, seasoned with sea salt, garlic, and a sprinkle of coconut aminos. It was so good, I wished I had made a bigger portion. Oh well, I put some away for lunch tomorrow and I feel really good (though still sleepy). It's all good.

Day Thirty-one

Superbowl Sunday required nachos. So I made sweet potato chips (I fried some, and baked some -- I like the baked ones better). I browned some ground beef seasoned with powdered onion, powdered garlic, sea salt, and just a touch of cumin to give it a little bit of Mexican flavor. I added some green olives (packed in water and salt only), and I put the veggies from yesterday in the food processor to make a 'cheese' like sauce (I should have skipped this step). It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. I had nachos with the game. No beer though :-(. This was around 3:30 or 4:00.

I was feeling fine all day - having a good day. I mostly sat here working on some homework and watching the game. Then this evening, at about 8:00, I had to go out to get cat food. When I got up to get dressed, I felt really lightheaded for a moment. I just figured I got up too quickly. But by the time I got to the store, my arms were itching like crazy -- I mean really bad. By the time I left the store, I had a headache as well. I took a half of an antihistamine, but I'm still itching. I don't know exactly what is causing it. Possibly the cumin in the meat? Possibly the cayenne in the teriyaki last night? Salicylates? Possibly the shirt I was wearing -- I had been using a laundry detergent that I discovered had soy in it. I changed detergents, but I haven't worn this shirt in a while and it was probably washed in the old detergent.

Whatever it was, I'm miserable right now and extremely frustrated. As I was walking around the store, trying to find something, anything that sounded good, and I just wanted to chuck it all. I won't, after a month it would be stupid to just throw it all away at this point. But I don't know at the moment what adjustments to make, or if any are necessary. I don't know what to have for breakfast tomorrow, because, if it's salicylates, my berries and melon will make me miserable all over again (assuming it's calmed down by then). I guess I'll just sleep on it, and hope it calms down by morning so I can think more clearly.