Dear Fellow Health Enthusiast,

Health is our birthright. But becoming and staying healthy takes work. Always remember: health is the result of consistent healthful habits. The more we practice, the healthier we become and the more joy we experience. Our gut, all our organs and each and every cell are always striving to improve themselves, completely heal and work perfectly in unified wholeness. When we cooperate with Nature, i.e. with body wisdom, and live healthfully, fulfilling all our biological mandates, healing and rejuvenation happen.

Let’s make healthful living our #1 endeavor in 2010, every day in each and every way. Here’s to your glorious health!

Dr. Dave Klein
Colitis & Crohn’s Health Recovery Center

* * *

The Prime Requisites of Health

1. Love of Self
2. Healthy Self-esteem
3. Passionate Love of All Life
4. Awareness
5. Intention
6. Inner Focus/Listening
7. True Knowledge
8. Pure Water
9. Pure Air
10. Sunshine
11. Warm Climate
12. Abidance by the Senses / Intuition
13. Graceful, Grateful, Respectful, Generous Attitude
14. Organic, Properly-combined Vegan Diet
15. Fitness and Posture
16. Security and Peace of Mind
17. Rejuvenative Rest and Sleep
18. Heart-centered Self Nurturing
19. Sharing of Love
20. Relaxation
21. Humor
22. Creative Expression
23. Emotional Flow and Release
24. Rhythmic Movement
25. Musical Indulgence
26. Simple Lifestyle
27. Communing With Nature
28. Gardening
29. Service — Living Your Life’s Purpose
30. Engagement in Self-improvement Challenges

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Christmas is nearly here, so I hope you all are preparing appropriately. I will return next week Monday with new posts. Usually around the holidays I suggest not watching any videos and instead spending time with your family. But, some people are sick regardless of what holiday it is. So if you have to watch a video these next couple days, watch it with somebody else, be it a spouse or friend or family member. Use it as a conversation starter about what you are experiencing with IBD. Those conversations aren’t always the most fun to have, but perhaps these videos can serve as icebreakers.

Merry Christmas!
~Dennis

The video everybody’s been waiting for: the one year update! In this video I cover how my J-pouch basically functions after one year, such as frequency, pain, diet, control, and more. If you have any further questions that I didn’t cover in this video, please ask me! You know I’m very open and tell people pretty much anything.

Keep in mind, this is how my J-pouch is functioning after one year. Some people might reach these goals sooner than I did, some might take longer, and unfortunately some people may never have a J-pouch that functions as well as I seem to think mine does. This video, however, will give you one benchmark by which to compare yourself.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Question: What else do you want to know? And how was your J-pouch working after one year? Reply to this post and continue the discussion!

This used to be a question I could always answer, with complete details. Wherever I was at, from a sports arena to a department store to any particular intersection in the general area of where I lived, I could tell you where the nearest restroom was, and the next nearest, and the one after that. I could tell you each restroom’s attributes – did it usually have toilet paper? Was it clean? Was it private? Did it have a sink with running water or did it have a Purell dispenser?

But clearly I’ve lost my touch. Yesterday, I was at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond with my mother-in-law, and she asked me the question, and I couldn’t answer it. Where was the bathroom? How could I not know?! I’ve experienced this several times in the last six months, and as I get ever closer to my two-year anniversary of surgery, I guess it makes sense. Don’t get me wrong – bathrooms are definitely still important to me, but I rarely seek them out with such frequency or urgency. I recently realized that, three months into taking piano lessons at a music school, I had never used the restroom there. it really struck me – I’m usually there for an hour at a time, and in my previous life I would have used the restroom immediately upon arrival, as soon as I finished my lesson, and occasionally I would have had to use it midway through my lesson. But in my new life, it took three months of going there before I ever figured out where the restroom was.

It’s liberating. I guess, to be crude, I sort of have my little portable restroom attached to my body. It’s hardly romantic. But it’s a life. It’s a life I can live, with joy.

Another blog entry up on C3Life.com. I don’t talk too much about my personal life through that site or this one, outside of medical experiences, but I thought it appropriate to update you on what I’ve been doing the last four months of my life, since the choices I’ve made are a direct consequence of living with ulcerative colitis.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Colloidal Silver – The Rediscovery of a Super Antibiotic?
Colloidal silver appears to be a powerful, natural antibiotic and preventative against infections.
How It Works
The presence of colloidal silver near a virus, fungus, bacterium or any other single celled pathogen disables its oxygen metabolism enzyme, its chemical lung, so to say. Within a few minutes, the pathogen suffocates and dies, and is cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, which destroy beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver leaves these tissue-cell enzymes intact, as they are radically different from the enzymes of primitive single-celled life. Thus colloidal silver is absolutely safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter.
Ingesting Colloidal Silver
Taken orally, the silver solution is absorbed from the mouth into the bloodstream, then transported quickly to the body cells. Swishing the solution under the tongue briefly before swallowing may result in faster absorption. In three to four days the silver may accumulate in the tissues sufficiently for benefits to begin. Colloidal silver is eliminated by the kidneys, lymph system and bowel after several weeks.
Chronic or Serious Conditions
1 teaspoon of 5 ppm. colloidal silver equals about 25 micrograms (mcg.) of silver. 1 – 4 teaspoons per day (25 – 100 mcg.) is generally considered to be a “nutritional amount” and is reported to be safe to use for extended periods of time. Amounts higher than this are generally considered “therapeutic amounts” and should only be used periodically.
In cases of illness, natural health practitioners have often recommended taking double or triple the “nutritional amount” for 30 to 45 days, then dropping down to a smaller maintenance dose. Amounts from 1 – 32 ounces per day have reportedly been used in acute conditions.
If your body is extremely ill or toxic, do not be in a hurry to clear up everything at once. If pathogens are killed off too quickly, the body’s five eliminatory channels (liver, kidneys, skin, lungs and bowel) may be temporarily overloaded, causing flu-like conditions, headache, extreme fatigue, dizziness, nausea or aching muscles. Ease off on the colloidal silver to a smaller amount and increase your distilled water intake. Regular bowel movements are a must in order to relieve the discomforts of detoxification. Resolve to reduce sugar and saturated fats from the diet, and exercise more. Given the opportunity, the body’s natural ability to heal may amaze you.
Topical Uses
Some have used colloidal silver in a nasal spray mister – to reach the sinuses and nasal passages. Spray bottles have been used for topical use on kitchen and bathroom surfaces, skin, sore throat, eyes, burns, etc. Colloidal silver is painless on cuts, abrasions, in open wounds, in the nostrils for a stuffy nose, and even in a baby’s eyes because, unlike some antiseptics, it does not destroy tissue cells. It’s excellent as an underarm deodorant, since most underarm odor is caused by bacteria breaking down substances released by the sweat glands!
Some Common Uses of Colloidal Silver
Natural health practitioners have for years recommended taking one tablespoon daily, for four days, to establish a level, then one teaspoon daily for maintenance (proportional to body weight for children). After six weeks, a pause of several weeks has also been recommended by some natural healing arts doctors. Also, colloidal silver can be applied directly to cuts, scrapes, and open sores, or on a bandage for warts. It can be applied on eczema, itches, acne or bug bites. To purify water, add one tablespoon per gallon, shake well and wait six minutes. Mixed this way, it’s tasteless. It is not an allopathic poison.
Veterinary and Garden Use
Colloidal silver has worked just as well on pets of all kinds. Used in proportion to body weight, it should bring the same results. In the garden, field or greenhouse, add enough to the water or soil – and the plants will do the rest.
Colloidal Silver in Advance of Illness?
When the possibility of germ exposure is higher, colloidal silver can be taken orally each day or applied topically when there is a skin problem. It’s like having a second defense system. The silver acts only as a catalyst and is stabilized. It is non-toxic, except to one-cell plants and animals, and is non-addicting. It also apparently kills parasites because they have a one cell egg stage in their reproductive cycle.
Older folks reportedly feel younger because their body energies are used for other uses than constantly fighting disease. Digestion has also been reportedly better. Medical research has shown that silver promotes more rapid healing, with less scar tissue, even in the case of severe burns. Successes have been reported in cases that previously have been given up by established doctors. Colloidal silver is tasteless and won’t sting even a baby’s eyes, and won’t upset your stomach.
More Than 650 Diseases Helped?
Colloidal silver has been reported to kill 650 micro-organisms, many of which are associated with human diseases. This does not automatically mean that taking colloidal silver will “cure” diseases “caused” by these germs. Colloidal silver only kills micro-organisms when they are in contact with it for a sufficient period of time.
The basic guideline that has been recommended for using colloidal silver is that it usually “works” if you can get a high enough concentration to the “affected area”. Some will want to experiment with “higher amounts” (such as 8 or more ounces at a time) to find out what it takes to accomplish this. Do not use colloidal silver if you are allergic to contact with silver metals, or if you notice any digestive upset after use.
The following is a partial list of the more than 650 diseases that colloidal silver has been reputed to be successful against: acne, AIDS (Reference 8), allergies, appendicitis, arthritis, athlete’s foot, bladder inflammation, blood parasites, blood poisoning, boils, burns, cancer (References 2, 4, 7), candida, cholera, colitis, conjunctivitis, cystitis, dermatitis, diabetes (Reference 1), dysentery, eczema, fibrositis, gastritis, gonorrhea, hay fever, herpes, impetigo, indigestion, keratitis, leprosy, leukemia, lupus, lymphangitis, Lyme disease, malaria, meningitis, neurasthenia, parasitic infections: viral, fungal and bacterial pneumonia, pleurisy, prostate, pruritus ani, psoriasis, purulent opthalmia, rhinitis, rheumatism, ringworm, scarlet fever, septic conditions of the eyes, ears, mouth, and throat, seborrhea, septicemia, shingles, skin cancer, staphylococcus and streptococcus infections, stomach flu, syphilis, thyroid, tuberculosis, tonsillitis, toxemia, trachoma, all forms of virus, warts, whooping cough, yeast infection, stomach ulcer, canine parovirus and other veterinary uses, and fungal and viral attacks on plants. Simply spray diluted silver on the leaves and add to the soil.
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Article from detox canada
http://www.detaxcanada.org/c%20silver.htm

Another great video from Nadia. This semester, her first year in school, has been very rough with hospitals stays and missed school. So she’s decided to try college again next fall. Only having a partial portion of what you want, as she says, can be very frustrating and difficult to accept but so life goes with IBD.

Send this kid a message if you get a chance! We could all take something from the positive attitude she continues to exhibit in spite of all her setbacks.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Blood tests for colitis and Crohn’s disease are a relatively new and exciting development that have added significantly to the screening, diagnosis and management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Differentiating the two may allow better predictions regarding responses to medical treatments, decisions regarding surgery options and the risks of various complications. Antibodies to various proteins including Baker’s or Brewer’s yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and bacteria like Escherichia. coli (E. coli) are present in the blood of many people with Crohn’s disease but rarely in normal people. Antibodies to a normal cell component, a nuclear protein, is present in most people with ulcerative colitis, a few people with Crohn’s whose colitis behaves more like ulcerative colitis than Crohn’s, and rarely in normal people.

Let me take your diet is not an infrequent request when friends get together and discuss their current health and well being. It is gratifying to know that more and more people are acknowledging the fact that diet is so important in the treatment of their health condition. What they should know, however, in order to be really effective, it must be formulated to meet their particular needs. Otherwise, it is just about the same as asking your friend to loan you their bunch of keys. One of them may fit the lock on your home, but the chances are it will not. It is therefore imperative to establish what kind of a lock you have to open.

There are simple treatments you can do for yourself at home to relieve your chronic colitis. You can give your body lot of clear fluid like water, lemonade, light lemon tea, and light soup. Consume at least eight to 10 glasses of water to prevent dehydration.As your condition progresses, start to take low-fiber foods. Do not take in greasy or fatty foods. Do not eat raw, cold or deep-fried foods. Remember to eat regular meals and avoid overeating or drinking too much at meals. Avoid mental stress and never overstrain yourself.

Contact your doctor immediately if a sudden change in your bowel routine occurs. Also see a doctor when there is blood in your stool, if you experience continuous diarrhea for 3 days, or if you feel severe abdominal or rectal pain. You should also see a physician as soon as you can when you are unable to urinate. If someone who shared food with you is starting to display your symptoms, bring that person to a doctor, too.

It can be a problem for those newly diagnosed with colitis that they do not appreciate the effects of tiredness that this disease creates and this should not be dismissed lightly. There is a requirement for it to be included in the sufferer’s anticipation of what the daily experiences will be like during the period of a colitis attack. It is wrong to think that, as there will be diarrhoea and abdominal pain, it can be likened to a stomach bug. That the sufferer will feel a little tired and a little rest will assist in recovery.

The degree of tiredness that is created during a colitis attack can be quite overwhelming in some cases. There will be a need to go to the toilet and at the height of a severe attack this could mean every hour. When totalled, the visits to the toilet over a twenty four hour period can be well over a dozen, and that will include during the night, resulting in an interrupted sleep pattern. Whilst it can be hard to imagine, the effort required just going to the toilet during the period of a colitis attack is tiring. The effort required can be great and coupled with the resulted pain that occurs every time the bowel is opened, it is not difficult to realise that this period of time can be very debilitating.

Colitis is no respect of time, whatever is going on in your life, you can’t just take a tablet or two to delay the symptoms. If you are going to get a colitis attack, it is going to happen no matter how you may wish to delay it or think “I will be okay to keep going for another week before it hits me” to the point where you will have to slow down and stop what you are doing. Furthermore, it is essential to understand that you can’t assume that it will “just go away” if you ignore it. You must understand that ulceration of the colon is very serious and once occurred, it certainly will not “just disappear”. If someone took this stance, they would be storing up a lot of trouble and discomfort for themselves.

Standing up with both hands holding onto the medication stand, it really is one foot slowly in front of the other. Don’t try and walk before you can run. In fact don’t try and walk to the end of the corridor if it appears too far. Walk perhaps for a couple of minutes one way then back again for the first few attempts.

The act of getting up and sitting and trying little walks is all part of your rehabilitation and pain management. Every hospital now has a dedicated nurse who will be qualified in pain management. It is important that you are given the chance to speak to them in order to discuss what pain you are experiencing. They will have experience of many patients who have undergone this type of surgery and will be able to advise you of an appropriate course of action

Read about Diarrhea Cure and also read about Dysentery Treatment and Diarrhea Treatment

If you’ve been following my vlog for awhile you may already know what I believe about this. There are many on the Internet that claim a certain supplement, treatment, or medicine can COMPLETELY cure your ulcerative colitis without surgery. I’ve thought before about exposing such nonsense but I think even acknowledging such dubious claims gives them too much credit.

This video covers the real deal: the difference between cures and remission, and how surgery, while substantially reducing symptoms, is an imperfect cure at best.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Question: Where am I going wrong? Is there really a cure that I am not seeing? Please respond to this post and share your thoughts!

As I approach my two-year mark since surgery, I find that I am so used to my ostomy that, at times, I forget about it. Yesterday, I experienced such a moment. It was a beautiful Saturday after a long cold spell, and plans to accomplish particular weekend objectives – e.g., cleaning the house, working on my writing sample for grad school applications – were quickly fading as more enjoyable prospects presented themselves. After a leisurely morning at my favorite coffee shop, my husband and I took a long walk in the open parkland near our house. Both of us have experienced a busy autumn, and neither of us have been moving our bodies enough, or getting outside enough. We delighted in the clouds, and the sun on our faces, and the pleasant smell of the dried grasses bending in the gentle breeze. We laughed like children as we encountered slick mud patches and sullied our jeans. We returned home with the elated feeling of stagnant blood having circulated once again. And we were starving.

So, phase two of the glorious Saturday. We decided it was time to get our Christmas tree, and why not make it a special, celebratory time, and pick up lot of goodies and treats to enjoy through the evening? We were off to Whole Foods. We bought wine, avocados, smoked salmon, flatbread crackers, a couple of different cheeses, fresh smoked mozzarella ravioli, and a few other things. At the last minute, my husband threw in some Silk nog, his favorite. And, at the last minute, I threw in some peach cranberry juice. I hadn’t purchased this kind of juice in a long time – I generally don’t drink a lot of fruit juice – but I remembered how particularly fantastic the peach cranberry was and thought, Why not? A special evening…

We found a fantastic tree, and once home, I began to arrange the various treats, while he set up the tree. I poured myself a glass of wine, but I realized I was awfully thirsty, so I also poured myself a large glass of that peach cranberry juice. Man! I forgot how tasty that juice is. I gulped down the whole glass, and refilled it. About an hour later, my husband poured me another half glass. Just as I finished it, I remembered why I hadn’t bought any kind of cranberry juice in a long time. I felt my pouch. Full of liquid! Oh yeah, vitamin C. Doh! After surgery, I had realized that consuming large amounts of concentrated vitamin C – as in cranberry juice – had such a dramatic effect on my output, that it wasn’t worth it. But all day I had been enjoying myself so much, and my ostomy was the last thing on my mind. It didn’t even occur to me once until I had not only bought the juice, but had consumed two and a half glasses of it!

I took two Immodium, but was still having to empty my pouch every 30-45 minutes. Before I went to bed, I took a third Immodium. I got through it, and honestly, it wasn’t a very big deal. I was at home, after all. The bathroom was quite convenient. But it’s rather shocking to realize that I have become so used to my ostomy, that I could forget something as basic as the fact that I need to avoid lots of fruit juice. I mean, I could have enjoyed a half glass of it without incident. But two and a half glasses? Sometimes I feel so normal, that it takes an “incident” to remind me that I do, in fact, have some boundaries worth respecting.

This is a sad story about a veteran who is basically immobilized because of his Crohn’s disease. The number of medications he takes his incredible, and he still has problems with Crohn’s. This video just goes to show how bad these diseases can get at times.

For those of you who are able to maintain a life in spite of IBD, consider yourself very fortunate.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Excellent news!! I just Googled “colitis” and “crohn’s” and for the first time ever for those searches my http://www.colitis-crohns.com site is ranked — ranked #3! The truth is coming to light!

An update: Today my site is ranked #1 under both “colitis diet” and “crohn’s diet” searches. Goodness!

: ) Dr. Dave

Get Your Guts in Gear, the annual bike riding fundraiser for Crohn’s and colitis research, recently posted the dates for the 2010 rides around the country. The dates are as follows:

New York, NY: 11-13 June 2010
Seattle, WA: 6-8 August 2010
Wisconsin: 1-3 October 2010

If you would like to be a part of this amazing fundraiser, now is the time to start thinking about next year’s dates and to start training. The bike ride is 210 miles, averaging 70 miles a day, so you better be prepared!

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

After translating the video describing my first surgery, why not my second surgery as well? This is the third video translated into Catalan, a language from Spain.

Again, if there’s anybody who wants to assist in this Translation Project please let me know. It doesn’t matter what language you know as long as you know it competently!

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

I am a cyborg. But that is really nothing new, nor is it predicated on my having a pouch hanging from my abdomen that collects my waste and provides a mechanism for me to dispose of it. I agree with those who argue that we are all cyborgs to some extent, and I tend to buy into Andy Clark’s argument that we are “natural-born cyborgs,” that we are wired to “exploit deep neural plasticity in order to become one with our best and most reliable tools. Minds like ours were made for mergers,” (Clark, Natural-Born Cyborgs). Besides wearing clothes and eye glasses and relying on a pen and paper to work out a long multiplication problem, I will even admit to feeling pained at being without my iPhone. I do feel like the web is an extension of my knowledge, that I know things that may not be in my brain currently yet are imminently accessible to me (if you are married, you might have the experience that you “know” things that are actually stored in your partner’s brain), and that social networks like Facebook create for me an “ambient awareness” of my friends’ lives.

But it wasn’t until I had ileostomy surgery that I really thought about what it means to be a cyborg. To question cyborgism is to question what it means to be human. On one level, having an ostomy challenges assumptions of humanness no more than having a prosthetic limb, or having a pacemaker. To the extent that we conceive of ourselves as being somewhere inside the head, one could imagine that a sense of selfhood and humanness could survive even in the case of prosthetic arms and legs and artificial organs, so long as the brain was intact. When considering a future of biotechnological implants, I think many of us feel most alarmed at the notion of implanting anything into our brains as opposed to other parts of our bodies – an implant into our brains might threaten our selfhood and change who we are.

Years ago, people with Crohn’s disease were treated with lobotomies. There was an idea that the disease was all in the brain, and that by removing some parts, the patient would be cured. It sounds horrendous, yet more recently our guts have been termed “the second brain,” a term coined by Dr. Michael D. Gershon, because it operates with considerable independence from our “primary” brain. The gut has its own nervous system, called the enteric nervous system. “The role of the enteric nervous system is to manage every aspect of digestion, from the esophagus to the stomach, small intestine and colon. The second brain, or little brain, accomplishes all that with the same tools as the big brain, a sophisticated nearly self-contained network of neural circuitry, neurotransmitters and proteins. The independence is a function of the enteric nervous system’s complexity,” (“The Other Brain Also Deals With Many Woes”, New York Times, 8/23/2005). In having an ileostomy, did I actually have a sort of lobotomy?

What fascinates me is how one or both of my brains – I still have a substantial portion of my enteric nervous system, i.e., esophagus, small intestine – did exhibit neural plasticity in incorporating my new technological device into my biological process. Following surgery, my output thickened, and within months my total awareness became sensitized to when to empty my pouch, even waking me up in the night when my pouch is full. I feel my stoma expand and contract, and at some level, I feel my pouch. It is a part of me, and my brain(s) had no trouble incorporating it.

Yet, as I have written in a previous post, for months following surgery, I had strange dreams in which I was a half-human, half-reptilian creature with a stoma like a large scaly hose, and a long dragon-like tail. The dreams were all very much in line with Kafka’s Metamorphosis, full of anxiety, self-loathing, and existential crisis. Even as my consciousness was expanding to incorporate my ostomy into my sense of self, my subconscious was was shouting not-me not-me not-me.

I wonder if this is the tension and struggle that accompanies each new merging between the biological and nonbiological. My ostomy is not the first technology to render me a cyborg, and it won’t be the last. As I become more cyborg, does the process of merging become less problematic? Andy Clark argues that to be human is to be cyborg, that humanity is inherently cyborg. Perhaps cyborg and human are insufficient terms for thinking about the ways we will imagine identity as our bodies continue to incorporate technologies that defy categorizations like man-made and natural, or biological and nonbiological.

But for now, if I think about degrees of humanness, there is no doubt for me that I feel more human with my cyborg ostomy technology than I did as the sickly, starving wraith I was before surgery.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who eat lots of red meat, cook with certain types of oil, and use some kinds of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-heavy margarines may be increasing their risk of a painful inflammatory bowel disease, a study in more than 200,000 Europeans shows.

These foods are high in linoleic acid and the study have found that people who were the heaviest consumers of this omega-6 PUFA were more than twice as likely to develop ulcerative colitis as those who consumed the least.

Dr. Andrew Hart of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, and his colleagues also found that eating more eicosapentaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and fish oils, was associated with a lower risk of the disease.

While people need a certain amount of linoleic acid to survive, Hart noted in an interview with Reuters Health, excess amounts are taken up into the lining of the colon, and if they’re released, they can promote inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acid, he added, does the opposite. “It basically dampens down inflammation,” he explained.

To investigate the role of fatty acids and ulcerative colitis, a life-long disease characterized by inflammation of the lining of the large intestine, Hart and his colleagues looked at data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) trial, which includes over half a million people from 10 European countries.

Their analysis included 203,193 men and women 30 to 74 years old. During follow-up, which ranged from about 2 to 11 years, 126 people developed ulcerative colitis.

People in the top quartile of linoleic acid intake (they were consuming around 13 to 38 grams a day) were 2.5 times more likely to have developed the disease than people who consumed the least, about 2 to 8 grams daily.

There’s currently no proven dietary treatment for ulcerative colitis, Hart noted, but the current findings raise the possibility that eating a diet low in linoleic acid could be helpful.

While a Western-style, red-meat-heavy diet is high in this fatty acid and low in omega-3s, Hart noted, a more Mediterranean style eating pattern — with plenty of fruits and vegetables, fish, and nut oils — would be low in linoleic acid and high in omega-3.

He estimated that if omega-3s do help prevent ulcerative colitis, eating a couple of servings of fish a week would probably be protective.

SOURCE: Gut, December 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5B15S720091202?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100

New England Journal of Medicine 2009 (Vol 361 No 21) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Fade Skinny: This article looks at a genetic study looking at inflammatory bowel diseases that are without apparent cause, in this case two types of chronic intestinal disorders: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

What I need more of - immediately!

Fuck. I don’t know what else to say. My hemoglobin dropped another 10 fucking points over the weekend. I am eating iron-rich foods. I am taking iron supplements. I am resting. What the fuck else is there to do?

I called the hematologist’s office and only got a message back from her secretary basically saying that she would not consider looking at a transfusion until I see her on 16th of December!!! So, I called back, and in my professional voice (meanwhile, the tears are right at the surface) advised them that this is not ok with me. What the hell am I supposed to do. I need to have a life. I went to work today and lasted until the end of my eggnog latte. Then I started to fall asleep in front of the computer. So I called the doctor’s office to get my results and then it all made sense why I felt so fucking crappy. A drop of ten point in 2 days is ridiculous to me. I called my family doc who has gone home with the flu. I asked her receptionist if she would call and put some pressure on the hematologist. The receptionist said  I would probably have to come and see here – which means sitting in her office for 2 hours for basically the same result. She has all the blood work I have dutifully gotten 3 times a week for the past 2 weeks. So I called back to get the answer and found out that she has gone home sick with the flu and can barely talk.

I have been a compliant patient. I do everything they ask of me even if I have done it before and it has been a problem. I will try it again just to keep them all happy. Now I would like some results. They can give me a couple of units of blood and I will feel better. I don’t understand why this is such an issue.

I have now struggled with colitis for 5 years. I am done. I want them to take the thing out. I don’t care about a bag. I want an end to chronic pain and anxiety about chronic pain and where the next fucking bathroom is. I am done.

Mitzvah Update:

Today I was not the giver but rather the receiver. My co-worker drove me home. It takes 45 minutes and given that we both live in the same neck of the woods, she had just come from there. L took me to get blood work done as I don’t think I should be driving when my hemoglobin is so low that my eyes won’t focus. For the short time I was at work, I told someone that he looked really nice today and that I could see how hard he was working.

Hello everybody, a new C3Life.com blog is now available for you here. This week’s blog is a reflection on Thanksgiving and all that we have to be thankful for. Leave a comment and let me know what you are thankful for!

Also, you’ll see on the right a new page featuring an archive of all my C3Life blog entries.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

Hey everybody, the translation project is continuing and I have a new video with Catalan subtitles: the video describing my first surgery. More Catalan videos to come. If you know anybody in Spain who might benefit from these videos, please let them know! I know Catalan is not the most popular language in the world but the people who speak it still get ulcerative colitis.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis

At Thanksgiving dinner, my mom poured a little champagne into each of our glasses and began the toasts. Among the many toasts, was one for me, “And we’re so thankful for Emily’s first Thanksgiving as a healthy person.” I had to correct her. Actually, it’s my second Thanksgiving already. Hard to believe! Whereupon she recalled how amazing it was last year to watch me eat my entire plate of food, and then some. And I prepared everyone to watch me accomplish that feat again!

As the holidays come around, I am in danger of many soppy moments as I encounter recurring realizations of how fantastic it feels to gather with family to celebrate these special times while simultaneously feeling well and being able to participate. No more fevers, nausea, or the inevitable negotiations with pity, well-meant but never-the-less insensitive remarks, and overly rich food. As I devoured my mom’s very creamy whipped potatoes, freshly chopped cranberry and citrus salad, sweet potatoes with marshmallow and candied pecans among all the other dishes, not to mention consuming red wine and following it all up with pie and espresso, my stomach happily complied, and I felt fine. Well, as fine as the next person.

On my way home from Thanksgiving dinner, I had to drive to an out-of-the-way 24-hour pharmacy to pick up a prescription (not Crohn’s-related; fortunately I am medicine-free when it comes to that), and only when I got home did I realize that I had called in the wrong prescription. Doh! But as bummed out as I was, I went back out and got the correct prescription. It reminded me of the old days, when I just didn’t have the energy to do such a thing. In the old days, my husband would have brought me home from Thanksgiving dinner, then gone to get the prescription, and if it was the wrong one, he would have driven back out to get the right one. Now, I can take care of it myself. Sweet man that he is, he still accompanied me, but I drove.

I’m grateful for so many things, but now as each year passes I will always reflect on how wonderful it is simply to be healthy. I hope I never take it for granted.

Do you understand the detoxification process and the great potential that awaits you if you fully see it through? May I encourage you?

The season of giving is upon us. Giving always feels so good; but, do you feel as good as you used to feel? Have you considered giving to yourself the ultimate gift: complete detoxification? It requires no extra shopping, traveling or spending. It’s simply a matter of self-love.

The time is ripe to learn the workings of detoxification, make a plan and put it into action. The rewards are simply the greatest: complete rejuvenation and a blossoming of your life! You can feel like a kid and as fortunate as any princess or prince in 2010. You’ll feel reborn, love your body, and be able to do more than ever and live the life of your loftiest dreams!

Here’s a great read to get the process flowing: DETOX ARTICLE.

Enjoy, visualize the great potential, and please let me know if I can guide you on your path—I’d love to help!

Yours in vibrant health,

Dr. Dave Klein
dave AT colitis-crohns.com
Colitis & Crohn’s Health Recovery Center
http://www.colitis-crohns.com
http://www.selfhealingempowerment.com