My Journey Towards Better Health

lisahe

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Eggs! Very easy to eat without added salt.

Do you like fish?

Re: beans. I never eat them just on their own, but use them in recipes which usually involves draining them. I use the mealime app for a lot of recipes and it allows you to put in food preferences and dislikes.
These are great suggestions! Probably because I love fried eggs (especially with a little cheese on top), pretty much any kind of fish, and could eat beans any day of the week. ;)

I'm the same with beans, draining them and adding them to various things, especially pasta and soups. I also love hummus!
 

Willow's Mom

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Ha! I love beans. I just can't remember how to cook with them. :D
Maybe I can help. :)

This is super easy under the circumstances:

Soak 1 cup of soy beans overnight
In the morning, drain, rinse, and blend with 2 cups of water
Add 6 more cups of water
Bring liquid to a boil but watch carefully--it bubbles over quickly!
Turn down heat and simmer for 40 minutes
Cool and strain

Enjoy the nice, creamy, homemade soy drink for now. You can freeze the okara (what you strain out) for now. There's probably more fiber in it than you need, but when you've healed up a bit I'll tell you how to make sort of sausage balls or an inexpensive substitute for falafel out of it.

I am so glad that you survived and that you obviously have a lot of friends and supporters here. Maybe one more won't hurt. :)

I don't know much about paleo or meat based diets, but I've got plenty of bean recipes I'd love to share. You can also make quite decent gravy out of the water you use to cook (not soak) pinto beans. That could also be very low fiber and gentle on your tummy.
 
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DreamerRose

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The water you soaked the beans in will give you gas. Julia Child said to always pour it out.

M maggiedemi - You don't have to make a high protein diet complicated. Just eat some kind of meat with every meal.

If your case worker hasn't called you back with an appointment, call the PCP yourself. You don't have to have your mother with you for a family history. Just tell the PCP what you know.
 

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Tinned beans, drained (and I blanch them, too, which is running cold water over them in a colander) are great on salads! Because I'm mostly vegan, I do this a lot to add protein to my diet. I really like the small white beans or cannellini beans or white kidney beans on salads, but any kind are good. I also love to make black bean tacos with tinned black beans -- I heat them with a little chopped onion and spices you can't have yet, M maggiedemi -- and put them in corn tortillas with all the fixins -- chopped tomato, lettuce or green cabbage, some shredded cheese, avocado if I have it, and (again, you'll have to wait a bit on this) some salsa. I'm a taco FREAK and I could eat these every day. Another favorite is Jamaican rice and peas -- rice and red beans, with (you'll have to wait) chopped chiles, and onions and thyme; I like these with a side of collards, which are also pretty stout so I'd wait on those. Almost all the things I'm posting are for when you're all well, unless otherwise indicated.
 

FflurCadwgawn

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For high protein you could do bone broth. I have to make my own because about 99.9% of broth has nasties and high sodium in it.

Broil a chicken (or rack of ribs, or anything with bones) for a dinner meal one night with your basic veggies that you would usually include with that sort of meal.

Throw the leftover meat and the bones into a crock pot and add:

-Carrots
-Celery is naturally high in sodium, so I might avoid that
-Onions
-Herbal seasonings appropriate for the meat (if it's chicken go with something heady like sage and rosemary, but if it's pork or beef go with something more floral like thyme and parsley)
-1/4 cup Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother--this will help break down the bones
-Cinnamon and other warm spices make a lovely and cozy flavor palette as well with this type of broth.
-Fill the crock pot the rest of the way with water
You can cook this down as long as you want to. The point of a bone broth is that you are getting all that calcium and other good minerals out of the bone and into the broth bit. Same with the veggies--you're getting all the minerals out. The vinegar helps to do this.......just be good to yourself and DON'T use white vinegar. The raw apple cider vinegar provides a tiny bit of seasoning and umami flavor without being overpowering but also helps to get the good nutrients into the broth.

If you are having a bad stomach day with nausea I like to have bone broth with a tiny bit of rice and powdered ginger. I've also seen where you make unsweetened green tea from either a bag or loose leaf and use that as a broth base with rice and ginger for an upset stomach.
 

kashmir64

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The advice I give is based on my situation. Although it was called Diverticulitis, it was an abscess the size of a macadamia nut, which then became a fistula. If your doctor gives you a different food recovery, then by all means listen to her.
A low fiber diet. Enough to keep things moving, but not enough to re-rupture your intestines and bowels.
Stay away from gassy foods, such as raw veggies, fruit, and beans.
No seeds or nuts.
Stay away from fried and greasy foods. This includes things with melted cheese and butter.
No citrus. This means orange juice or lemonaid. Don't eat anything with squeezed lemon on it either.

This is only temporary, until your gut heals. However, since you were not on a liquid diet for weeks, your healing foods may be different. Get with your PCP to find out what you can and cannot eat so you can heal.
 
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maggiedemi

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I am so glad that you survived and that you obviously have a lot of friends and supporters here. Maybe one more won't hurt. :)
Of course I could use another friend. :hugs:

If your case worker hasn't called you back with an appointment, call the PCP yourself.
My new Doctor must be really popular. She can't see me until October 10th. :(
She is sending me the family history packet in the mail to fill out at home. So she's definitely my doctor, just can't fit me in yet. If I get sick, I will have to go to my mom's doctor and Medicaid will go back and pay it.

Tinned beans, drained (and I blanch them, too, which is running cold water over them in a colander) are great on salads!
This sounds easy.

A low fiber diet. Enough to keep things moving, but not enough to re-rupture your intestines and bowels.
This is what I'm terrified of.
 

tarasgirl06

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Of course I could use another friend. :hugs:



My new Doctor must be really popular. She can't see me until October 10th. :(
She is sending me the family history packet in the mail to fill out at home. So she's definitely my doctor, just can't fit me in yet. If I get sick, I will have to go to my mom's doctor and Medicaid will go back and pay it.



This sounds easy.



This is what I'm terrified of.
Try your best to stick to only the very bland, low fiber, easily digestible foods for now.
And kashmir64 kashmir64 has an excellent suggestion -- a walk-in doctor! In my case, one of mine had a Physician Assistant and I only saw the doctor's back one time before a door closed on a consulting room as I walked by. I saw the PA exclusively.
 

kashmir64

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In my case, one of mine had a Physician Assistant and I only saw the doctor's back one time before a door closed on a consulting room as I walked by. I saw the PA exclusively.
I try not to see my doctor...he's an idiot.
However, the walk in (a NP) is awesome. She's thorough, she listens and she knows her stuff. Since she only works Thurs. - Sat. I will wait to see her if I'm in need of a doctor.
 
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maggiedemi

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Didn't the hospital give you anything when they discharged you?
Mine at least gave me diet requirements until I could see my PCP.
No, they wanted me to get my own doctor.

Also, find out if your new PCP has a walk-in doctor. Maybe you can see that one until the 10th.
I'm so confused and tired of medical stuff. :( I hope it doesn't always take a month to see her.

I try not to see my doctor...he's an idiot.
LOL! :lol::lol::lol:
 
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maggiedemi

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My dad is so funny. He saw an ad on TV for the new Impossible Whopper at Burger King. After his Dr. appointment to check on his arm/wrist wound, he bought one. It cost him $9 for the burger and fries. He hated it! He had no idea it was vegetarian! :lol:
 

tarasgirl06

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My dad is so funny. He saw an ad on TV for the new Impossible Whopper at Burger King. After his Dr. appointment to check on his arm/wrist wound, he bought one. It cost him $9 for the burger and fries. He hated it! He had no idea it was vegetarian! :lol:
Nine bucks? Wow. I never eat out so IDK what stuff costs except from ads on tv which I usually mute and ignore. They are very popular but I'm not a hamburger fan so I'm not missing anything. Are you going to try one when you are cleared to?
 

artiemom

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My new Doctor must be really popular. She can't see me until October 10th. :(
She is sending me the family history packet in the mail to fill out at home. So she's definitely my doctor, just can't fit me in yet.
That is really not that bad a length of time to wait.

I had to wait 2 months for a specialist appointment, until I called in, telling them my issues, asking if I could be seen sooner.

It worked. I got an appointment for 2 weeks later.

Some doctors save appointments for urgent things. I would think you are an 'urgent' matter; since you just had surgery for a severely perforated colon.

Did you try to get an earlier appointment? Or was this done by your case worker?
Was your current situation mentioned. That sometimes help with an earlier appointment

Also, can you try to be put on a 'cancellation' List? to get in sooner.
If not, I if were you, I would try to get in sooner. Tell them you just had surgery and are still having pain, and do not have a doctor.

If I get sick, I will have to go to my mom's doctor and Medicaid will go back and pay it.
No, do not do that. Stay away from your mom's doctor. Get your own. You do have your own!

If you get sick, or the pain increases, you run a fever, or anything.. go back to the Emergency Room.

If this does happen, tell them that you are waiting to see DR XX, but do not have an appointment until XXX.. You are without a doctor. The ER will have to see you, and the report of the ER visit, will go to your own new PCP.

Sometimes, going to the ER means you get in to see the new PCP sooner...

It happens all the time. I used to work in a hospital. Also worked my entire life in medicine.

The water you soaked the beans in will give you gas. Julia Child said to always pour it out.
Exactly.. always rinse beans!

F FflurCadwgawn
Thanks.. excellent instructions. I need to make some bone broth, myself, for my own issues.
This is so good for healing the colon.


The advice I give is based on my situation. Although it was called Diverticulitis, it was an abscess the size of a macadamia nut, which then became a fistula. If your doctor gives you a different food recovery, then by all means listen to her.
A low fiber diet. Enough to keep things moving, but not enough to re-rupture your intestines and bowels.
Stay away from gassy foods, such as raw veggies, fruit, and beans.
No seeds or nuts.
Stay away from fried and greasy foods. This includes things with melted cheese and butter.
No citrus. This means orange juice or lemonaid. Don't eat anything with squeezed lemon on it either.

This is only temporary, until your gut heals. However, since you were not on a liquid diet for weeks, your healing foods may be different. Get with your PCP to find out what you can and cannot eat so you can heal.
This is also excellent advice.
I have my own bowel issues; this is pretty much what my own GI doctor said.. in addition to some other items which you do not need to refrain from~~ I do..

It takes at least 6 months for your gut to heal.

I'm so confused and tired of medical stuff.
I know, but you have to do this for a better YOu..

You have come so far, not the time to quit.

Think of it as a beginning of a new journey:
Your taking control of your life and your health. This makes for a stronger, You!!

Just a thought:
Have you tried journalling? This has always helped me. I write down exactly how I feel, what I am going through. Somehow, writing it seems to make things a little bit easier.

I can cry, get angry as I write.. no one has to know about it. It is a good thing to do.. just get a notebook, and start writing! Your feelings, thoughts, situations, plans, goals, etc...
 

lisahe

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My doctor will not prescribe pain pills. So when the pain got bad, a heating pad helped me immensely. You could try that.
OMG, yes to heating pads! I love them. And hot water bottles, too. They not only help pain but they're comforting, relaxing. (And very helpful in cold northern winters! ;)) They also get the blood flowing, which can promote healing.

Walgreen's sells very decent store brand heating pads in two sizes.
 

neely

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Also, can you try to be put on a 'cancellation' List? to get in sooner.

No, do not do that. Stay away from your mom's doctor. Get your own. You do have your own! If you get sick, or the pain increases, you run a fever, or anything.. go back to the Emergency Room.
artiemom artiemom You beat me to the punch! These were both my exact thoughts. :thumbsup:

If I cannot get an appointment with my doctor soon enough I always ask to be put on a cancellation list. Frequently someone will cancel and I can get an earlier appointment. Please call and find out if your PCP's office has this arrangement.

It's probably in your best interest to avoid your mother's doctor especially since you have your own PCP now. You may want to ask if there's another doctor in her practice in case you do have an emergency.

Everyone wants to help, has good intentions and is giving you their best advice so try to sort it out and do what you are the most comfortable with but don't do anything in haste. Think it through so you don't have any regrets later. Hugs and more hugs. :grouphug:
 

JamesCalifornia

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Do you cook the beans in microwave with the water that comes in the can? Then drain? or Rinse? Can you tell me exactly how you prepare them? Thanks.
- :) Canned beans are already cooked. Just drain and serve. Cold on salad, add them after pasta is cooked. Canned peas are also good with pasta !
I would caution against lots of fiber as well--for now I would probably want to think along the lines of how someone with diverticulitis is counselled for dietary needs
~ Yes gradually add fiber to the diet - not all at once.
 
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