A Brief History: the Events that Brought Us to SCD

It all started in November of 2011.

Well, actually, it probably started long, long before that. Trouble was brewing, undetected, for years before it finally became A Big Problem.

We thought it was a stomach bug, maybe a bad reaction to food. James was sick. Very sick. Convincing James to go see the doctor was very much like convincing a fish not to swim. But, after an entire day, he went. He was admitted to the hospital. The next day, he had what we would come to call an "attack" or "episode," thought to be caused by his gall bladder. Gall bladder-less, he seemed to improve, and was discharged.

His symptoms came back, slowly at first. In December, a week before Christmas, he had another bad attack. Back to the hospital. Admitted again. Test after test after test, to verify that nothing related to the gall bladder surgery, and therefore life threatening, was wrong. James was not allowed to eat for days, because there *might* be emergency surgery. His symptoms improved. All tests were normal. Discharged again, with several prescriptions.

Early in January 2012, another bad attack. Back to the hospital for more tests. More normal test results. Discharged again, with even more prescriptions. James was also referred to Digestive Health Specialists, who had been treating him at the hospital. By this point, he had lost over 40 pounds, and he was a skinny guy to begin with.

It might be important to note that only the "bad" attacks sent James to the hospital. Throughout this adventure, there were also not-as-bad attacks almost daily. With the not-as-bad attacks, James was able to manage with prescriptions for all the symptoms of an attack (nausea, cramping, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.)

In March, yet another hospital-worthy attack. More tests, more normal results. More following up with the primary care physician, who was managing the prescriptions, and Digestive Health Specialists, who were managing the tests and results. More drugs were prescribed, some as a last resort, keep-you-out-of-the-ER plan. I think James ended up with seven or eight different prescriptions to keep track of, and if he takes the wrong ones too close together (which is sometimes necessary) his depth perception is so off that he can't even accurately pour a glass of water. Other constant side effects included lack of short-term memory and insomnia. Some of the medications could cause the same symptoms they were treating.

Finally, the specialists and physician agreed: there was no more testing that could be done without exposing James to too much radiation, potentially creating more problems. Basically, James was told that unless something gets worse, keep taking all of these pills all of the time and deal with it.

We changed our diet throughout this process. We are currently eating organic whenever possible, fresh or frozen (no canned) fruits and vegetables, and organic, grass-fed, pastured meats. We've cut out dairy and eggs. (Shelby and I have eggs sometimes, but not James.) We've been making our own almond milk. We've cut out most processed foods. We've been on what I call a "real food" diet. And while these changes have helped James, they have not done as much as we would like. He still has attacks on a regular basis, and we haven't been able to figure out exactly which foods are causing them. He is still drastically underweight. Every time he gains a few pounds, he seems to lose them again just as quickly.

Recently, I read Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet. Only a few chapters in, I almost cried, because if just one person (nurse, doctor, medical assistant, anyone) had recommended this book to me, it would have made this whole process so much easier. This book explains what has been going on with James' intestines much more clearly than any of the doctors ever have. And it gives a solution. Not an easy solution, but a solution nonetheless. The reviews on Amazon said it all for me. Well over 300 reviews, and only 15 were less than three stars.

So, tomorrow I will be making a big, big batch of chicken soup and a big batch of gelatin, because as of Monday, June 4, we will be starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.