A Day In My Life....

My days starts off some where between 3 am and 6 am. Somewhere in there, while I am sleeping the inflammation begins, and then the swelling of my gut, and then the pain (my gut literally feels like it is on fire from the inside). The pain is what wakes me up, wakes me up out of a dead sleep. There is no lingering in my bed in the mornings, no groggy eyed, slow wake up, reveling in the sweet spot of my bed.

No, I wake up every morning a bit startled, like someone had scared me, with anxiety, and pain. I cannot lay in my bed, next to my husband and seek comfort. The nausea is that bad that laying horizontally makes me even more ill. The mornings are when my Corhn's disease starts to rage, and is at its worst, all color is lost from my face, I am so nauseous that I gag, sometimes I vomit, my body cannot control its own temperature, I freeze in 90 degrees sometimes, and wear sweatshirts, or I get ridiculously hot when it is 30 degrees out, and I am running around in a tank top and shorts, the feel of cloth on my body can drive me insane, and it can take me hours to get my body under control.

I spend my mornings one of two ways....

I sit in front of my computer, read the news, maybe play some solitaire, medicating myself the whole time, in an attempt to make it all stop, or at least make it feel like it has stopped.

Or, if it is really bad, and no medications are working, I go for a drive. I know this sounds strange, but something about the vibrations, the feel of the car, something about it helps....

The next step of my day, breakfast.


Most of us have something like this for breakfast. Or oatmeal, or cold cereal.

This is to much for me, on any day.

This is what my breakfast consists of, a cup of tea, with a touch of milk.











Now I have to get ready for work. That is a task in and of itself. This is because I work in a bakery, so anywhere from 5 am - 10 am is when I need to show up for work. Depending on what they have me scheduled for that day, and I am almost always there till 7 pm when the bakery closes.. This means that there are days where I have to show up to work with my Crohn's disease still raging.

This is such a battle, I work nauseous, in pain, and the anxiety knocking at the door. I do not work at a job where I can sit and rest. I have to bake breads, cookies, muffins, pastries, fry donuts, and frost all of the stuff that needs frosting. Then I have to bag it, tag it, and put it on display. After that... I have to move boxes full of frozen baking goods/items around, and pull what is needed for the next day, as well as make the fresh dough for the next day. I do all this running around while being physically ill and in incredible amounts of pain.

Sometimes, the pain, the nausea, the swelling stops, and I get a reprieve for a time. It comes and goes in waves, some small, others huge, like waves crashing against a rocky coast. Most days, I feel like I want to die in the morning, by almost the afternoon, I feel semi normal. But then the question becomes how long? How long do I get to feel normal for? A few hours, maybe a day, sometimes 2, that's about as much of a reprieve that I get from my disease. And those 2 day spurts of normalcy are few and far between. My bits of normalcy are just that, bits, most of the time only lasting a few hours.

Once I have baked off the items that I need to, bagged them, tagged them, put them out on display, and panned up (pulled out) all of the dough and goods for the next day's bake, I get to clean and sweep and mop my giant bakery, and then I can go home. All that work usually sets my Corhn's disease off, all the moving, running around, bending over, and lifting get to me, and by the time I get home my body is out of control.

I almost never eat lunch, and only sometimes do I eat dinner. This is mostly out of a fear that my inflammation and pain will flair up, and I would rather spend my work day just battling what is always there, then make it worse, and I do have to fight my body every minute of every hour of every day, just to be able to function. Most evenings I get home from work and medicate myself. It can take an hour or two before I feel better, and at some point in there I make my husband dinner. Sometimes he eats dinner by himself, other times he will eat first because it can be another hour or two before I am able to eat anything.

Usually by 10:30 or 11:00 pm my body is finally calm enough for me to lay down and attempt to sleep. Just for me to wake up and start the cycle over again.

Some yummy recipes

On this blog, along with information, new studies, and new ideas for treatments for people suffering from Crohn's, I also post recipes that I find and have tried and tested a few times, and know that they do not cause my disease to flair up.

Every person's body is different and every person's IBD and Crohn's is different. What works for me and you, may not work for the next person to view this blog. So please keep that in mind when trying any of these recipes.

(None of these recipes call for medical marijuana)

Light and Lemony Pasta Al Fresco

Developed by Joy Bauer, RD, for Everyday Health

My vegetarian pasta dish is light and lemony, and provides ample fiber thanks to the whole-wheat pasta. The flavorful sauce also provides a good dose of nutrition; heart-healthy olive oil and white wine blended with garlic, scallions, fresh basil, chopped tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. Yum!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4 scallions, white and green part, chopped
¾ cup dry white wine (or low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth)
Juice of ½ large lemon
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 box whole-wheat pasta (use angel hair, spaghetti, or linguini)
½ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Chopped fresh parsley, optional for garnish
Note: If you’re experiencing a flare-up, use regular white pasta and consider omitting the chopped basil and parsley. The Parmesan cheese should be tolerated in people experiencing lactose sensitivity since Parmesan is very low lactose. 

Preparation
1. In a sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and scallions and cook for 2 minutes or until the garlic is golden.
2. Next, add the wine (or broth) to the pan and simmer for approximately 3 minutes, or until the wine is reduced by half. Add the lemon juice, pepper, salt, and the chopped tomatoes. Stir well and remove the pan from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente (follow directions for al dente on package). Drain the pasta and place back in pot or large serving bowl. Toss pasta with the tomato mixture, fresh basil, and Parmesan cheese. Garnish with optional chopped parsley. Serve immediately, and top with additional Parmesan cheese if desired.
Serves 6.


I love this stuff, and it tastes great, and is decent filling. The other great plus, is that for me it does not make my Crohn's disease flair up. Sorry, forgot to gab a picture the last time I made it.

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This is another recipe by the same person, and the reason why I love this one? My husband can't tell it's turkey!

Turkey Florentine Mini Meatloaves

Developed by Joy Bauer, RD, for Everyday Health

Ingredients
1.25 pounds ground turkey (at least 90% lean)
1 10-oz box frozen, chopped spinach (cooked and drained)
2 egg whites
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Note: If you’re experiencing a flare-up, skip the spinach. Many people experience symptoms of lactose intolerance during a flare-up, however most can eat Parmesan cheese as it has very little lactose in it—less than 1 gram per serving.

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. In a large bowl, mix ground turkey with cooled spinach and egg whites.
3. Meanwhile, preheat medium skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat.
4. Sauté garlic until slightly brown, approx 1 minute. Cool slightly.
5. Add sautéed garlic, onion powder, and Parmesan cheese to turkey mixture and thoroughly mix.
6. Divide turkey mixture evenly between 8 standard muffin tins. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
Serves 4. Serving Size: 2 mini loaves

The first time I made these I made them just like the recipe directed, and they came out okay. The second time I made them I took the spinach out, as I don't like the taste of it in the meat loaf, but to each is own and I did add ketchup to the top after about 10 minutes of baking, and then again about 5 minutes before I pulled them out of the oven to give them a nice glaze, and where I come from ketchup is a staple in meatloaf! I think the meatloaf turned out much better without the spinach and with the ketchup, but try either way and see which you like.

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Oven-Poached Salmon Fillets

2 tablespoons wine, dry white
1/4 teaspoon saltpepper, black ground, to taste2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped (1 medium)lemon, wedges, for garnish

Your diet plan should include lean protein from chicken, fish, and plant sources. In this recipe, the salmon is poached, or simmered in liquid without extra oil, which is a low-fat cooking method.

Ingredients

1 pound fish, salmon fillet, cut into 4 portions, skin removed if desired 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a 9-inch glass pie pan or an 8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Place salmon, skin-side (or skinned-side) down, in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with wine.

3. Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with shallots. Cover with foil and bake until opaque in the center and starting to flake, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on thickness.

4. When the salmon is ready, transfer to dinner plates. Spoon any liquid remaining in the pan over the salmon and serve with lemon wedges.

I can almost always eat fish, and salmon is a favorite. The only thing in this recipe I change is the white wine. I don't use it as a majority of the time alcohol, of any kind, causes my Crohn's to flair up. In stead I replace it with apple juice, that I water down, making it 2 tablespoons apple juice and 1 tablespoon water. 

This is not one of my photos, but poached salmon looks just about the same anywhere you are.

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This recipe is a favorite with my husband, and it's fast and simple. So if you don't have time to make a big meal... hear ya go. For me gluten is not an issue/trigger for my Crohn's, but for many people this is, but I have made this with a gluten free pasta, and it comes out pretty well too. I included a picture of it as well, so that you can try and find it at your local food store. I am only able to find this pasta in the organic/natural markets. 

Ziti with Elk Sausage Red Sauce

Boil amount of pasta desired till aldente, or till you desire

1 jar of Classico pasta sauce, this is the brand I prefer but you can use any brand you like and any flavor you like

1 pound of spicy elk sausage, obviously not everyone likes or can get elk, so any type of sausage will do. When I don't have elk I use the natural, organic sausage found at the natural market, both have no artificial preservatives, which can cause me to have flair ups. 

Fry up the sausage in a large skillet, when fully cooked add the jar of pasta sauce and heat till simmering. Place desired amount of pasta into dish, and desired amount of sauce over the pasta. You can of course sprinkle cheese on it, I only sometimes use cheese, at it also causes my Crohn's to flair up. 

A Cook Book!

For those of you wondering why all of these posts are appearing in one day, it is because my original blog, on another page cashed and burned... I had some issues.

So I have been spending today transferring information over.

About 6 months back, so about half way through my first year with really using medical marijuana, and  less pharmaceuticals I found this GREAT recipe book, and it happens to be FREE! Just click on the link provided at the bottom, fill out there little questioner thing, and in a few weeks you get this...

A lot of the recipes are really good, my favorite is chicken pot pie, and my husband loves the hunter's stew, which I made from an Elk he had caught during the winter, instead of the Venison. It was SOOO good. I recommend this, to help with your diet, and to still be able to eat what you want.


https://www.crohnsonline.com/register/default.aspx

Random research, on marijuana - original post 02/16/2012

So usually, when I sit here, having a bad day, I do research about my condition. 

I guess, it helps make me feel better. 

The title of my blog contains the words medical marijuana, and I have only said that I use it to treat my Crohn's, I know from digging a bit, over a year ago, that it was just starting to be looked at as a treatment for IBD sufferes. 

Of course there is more information now.....

procon.org is a great place to do research, as they offer a fairly unbiased view, and is a source that college professors will let you site on a paper. Here they offer the views and opinions of doctors and research, as with any form of science, results are always disputed, questioned, and re-tested. On the site there is a whole list of pro's and con's, coming from medicine journals, and doctors to foundations and others. 

Aside from this site and a very few others, most of the information out there is hear say, on web sites from dispensaries, not from doctors, or research labs/universities. It took a lot of digging and I finally found some information, that again like procon.org, you are able to site on a college paper. 

"Chemicals found in cannabis could prove an effective treatment for the inflammatory bowel diseases Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, say scientists." - ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009) 

The article goes into further detail, and the research that was done. They found that two compounds found in the cannabis plant -- the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol -- interact with the body's system that controls gut function. 

Dr Karen Wright said: "The lining of the intestines provides a barrier against the contents of the gut but in people with Crohn's Disease this barrier leaks and bacteria can escape into the intestinal tissue leading to an inappropriate immune response. If we could find a way to restore barrier integrity in patients we may be able to curb the inflammatory immune response that causes these chronic conditions."

Dr Wright's research found that cells in the GI tract that interact with the cannabinoid compounds play an important role in normal GI function and as well as the immune systems response to inflammation.

You can read the article further here.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220175502.htm

In the end this is one of the only articles to be found, on a reputable site, about any research that has been done pertaining to medical marijuana and IBD.

The bottom line is more research needs to be done, and not just for IBD sufferer's, but for cancer patients, head and neck injuries, etc. There are certainly medical properties to this plant, that we are purposely ignoring because our government has determined it a greater threat then cocaine, meaning it has no medical value, and very dangerous.

Marijuana needs to moved off as a schedule 1 drug. It is absolutely absurd to to classify marijuana as just as dangerous a drug as heroin. Even heroin/opium is used to make pharmaceuticals, that's what Oxycodone and Oxycontin are derived from.


Image found at
http://imgur.com/gallery/LEsrW

My name is Life with Crohn's

My Name is Naomi Turner-Schroeder. I am 28 and I have been living with Crohn's disease for about 3 years now, and trying to deal with it's flair ups and other complications without health insurance.

Today I decided to start a blog. Maybe it would help, as today, like many days is a bad day. 

In case you don't know, Crohn’s disease is a disease that causes inflammation, or swelling, and irritation of any part of the digestive tract—also called the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The part most commonly affected is the end part of the small intestine, called the ileum. 

In Crohn’s disease, inflammation extends deep into the lining of the affected part of the GI tract. Swelling can cause pain and can make the intestine—also called the bowel—empty frequently, resulting in diarrhea. Chronic—or long-lasting—inflammation may produce scar tissue that builds up inside the intestine to create a stricture. A stricture is a narrowed passageway that can slow the movement of food through the intestine, causing pain or cramps.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the general name for a diseases that causes inflammation and irritation in the intestines. Crohn’s disease can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are similar to other intestinal disorders, such as ulcerative colitis and other IBDs, and irritable bowel syndrome. For example, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease both cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. I have also developed anxiety, so I have another issue to deal with during inflammations now, because I have been sick for so long and been unable to receive conventional treatment. 

Because I do not have insurance, whenever I need to go and see a doctor or have a bad enough flair up that I end up in the Emergency Room, it all comes out of my pocket, or is billed to me, because I have no way of paying the thousands of dollars I have racked up, just to be seen by a doctor. In turn this has caused my debt to spiral out of control, and the saddest thing is, that before former president Bush, medical bills that you could not pay did not go against your credit. Now because I am ill, and have no health insurance, and have a chronic illness that requires constant physician supervision I am over 35K in debt, and it's all medical bills. I have never owned a credit card in all of my life. 

After all that is said and done there are still the medications that they give me to try and control my symptoms. Because of so many other medical issues, such as cancer, that run heavily in my family, they will not give me things like Humera to treat my Crohn's disease. This in turn causes them to give me a cocktail of pills, that I must take everyday in order to control my inflammations and other symptoms, so that I can have a semi productive life. I am on 3 different anti-nausea medications, 1 narcotic pain killer, 1 non-narcotic pain killer, 1 medication specifically for intentional cramping, 2 anti-anxiety medications, and 4 different prescription strength antacids such as Prilosec, and Zantac. That is a total of 12 medications, and over a dozen pills a day, because at times I have to take multiple doses. The cost without insurance is over $200 a month.  

In the end these medications only work for so long, or only so well, sometimes not at all. Then I am left struggling to control my body, my symptoms, and have a normal day. This is taxing, and in the end I have found that medical marijuana allows me to control my symptoms and my body. After over a year of constantly popping pills, and having them only work half the time, I went and got my medical marijuana license. Marijuana has been able to treat my Crohn's disease, even on some of the worst flair ups. The marijuana also gives me the ability to not be constricted by the limits of my medications, as well as free's me from having to carry a giant purse with 10-12 pill bottles in it. On top of that, I virtually do not have to take any of my medications to deal with my Crohn's disease symptoms and flair ups. Some of my medications I haven't filled, such as the narcotic pain killers, in almost a year. The cost of my medical marijuana each month, $75.

I have also included some pictures so that you can understand more completely what Crohn's disease suffers go through. One of the pictures shows inflammation caused by IBD, Crohn's disease is a form of IBD just so you do not get confused.