Bowel Obstruction
As I walk this road of health and healing, I have discovered there is so much more to why or how our bodies experience dis-ease.
Diagnoses could be the beginning of understanding your body. When you have a name to the dis-ease it alerts you to what your body has been experiencing. This is the time to embrace the healing. To finding what your body really needs to heal.
When you stop and ask “why” you are preparing to receive the answer.
When you ask “what” you are prepared to take action.
When you ask “how” you are prepared to accept the tools of healing once again.
Intuitively my body speaks to me and lets me know that I have eaten something it doesn’t like. Do I always understand what that food may be – no. I am still learning.
What I do know is that sugar causes inflammation and processed food is not good for anyone. I have read many food labels, looking mainly for sugar and most times ignoring the preservatives. That’s because it has become common place to have preservatives in our foods.
Nutrition:
I have had many bowel flareups in my lifetime and wasn’t entirely sure what caused them. I would cheat on my eating, doesn’t everyone? I would have sugar sometimes, processed foods and preservatives. It seems that an accumulative effect occurred. Too much of a bad thing(s) caused dis-ease.
I had flareup that was so brutal physically, I ended up in ER with such severe pain that I passed out in the hospital waiting room. Doctors always want a name, a diagnosis or the reason why things happen to our bodies. I was diagnosed with colitis. I was convinced by a life coach that it was emotional, I realize now it’s not all emotional.
To bring this to a level where two weeks later I was still having issues digesting food. Can our food intake really cause this much damage? It seems to be. Sometimes things just happen in our bodies and there may not be an answer or a diagnosis. Why could that be?
In addition to emotions, our bodies react to, food intake, trauma, life experiences, words, thoughts and accidents. Is there more? Probably!
The question I have; Why can others eat unhealthy foods and yet they don’t have a bowel condition. So, why me? Is it because I have a desire to completely heal my life? Possibility. I do strive for healthiness. I am aware of my thoughts and words. I have learned to love myself and let go of so many things that no longer serve me. I have chosen a path of change and healing my life.
As it happens, the diagnoses of colitis was incorrect. What was discovered is that I have a stricture, a narrowing of the large intestine. I had experienced an obstruction.
So, why narrowing of the large intestine? In 1998, I experienced my first obstruction and spent twelve hours in the ER, advocating for myself and trying to convince the healthcare professionals that what I was experiencing was a lot more then constipation. They insisted on an enema and shortly thereafter I had a bowel perforation. My near-death story is on my About page on my website https://www.headtoheart.ca/about
Fourteen months later I had my colostomy reversed and my large intestine stapled back together. Over time, the scar tissue from the infection, caused by the bowel perforation and the reconstruction of my bowels caused the narrowing.
I was advised to eat a low fibre diet, for the rest of my life. Are you surprised? I was. I learned that fibre creates bulk in the bowels, which makes passing food and waste impossible through a stricture or narrowing of the intestine.
Since this second obstruction, I have had five more that took me to ER and several more where I stayed home and waited until they resolved themselves.
Knowing this, what are my next steps to healing?
1st – I spoke to a dietitian
I was surprised by how little they knew about low fibre diets. We are all hearing that fibre is the cure for most everything. From removing free radicals to preventing cancer.
2nd – I began eating foods that had soluble fibre, or no fibre at all.
This was when I became angry at food. I love food, all varieties. I now was forced to limited what I could eat. I’d given up so much, not food too…
3rd – Taking time to listen to the emotions my body is holding onto.
The emotions I am experiencing is frustration, limitations or restrictions – not enough or deserving. Not allowed to strive for what I truly desire. Be careful – cautious – someone or something might hurt you, or I might hurt someone else. Scarcity – what’s around the next corner!?
I’m still a work in progress, each and every minute of every hour of every day for the rest of my life. I’m okay with that. I love the learning.
