Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part III of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"..

Note: This is a response to a response to what I wrote on the J-Pouch group.  My statements are responses to statements by the other person, such as my statement about the anus...  The person towards whom I'm responding is also a J-Poucher and is a registered nurse.  Her comments are very interesting and informative.  I don't share her comments for different reasons. If you are interested in what preceded my response regarding any of my statements, I will be more than happy to share those ideas with you.

I've also read that epithelial cells or the lining of different parts of the digestive tract can become similar to other parts... But, what I was reading was not positive, since lets say the stomach lining became similar to that of the colon before the person developed stomach cancer there... No, I'm not thinking that what you said is bad. Just that, yes, it may be possible that the digestive tract can evolve to take on functions of other parts... I've been curious if the J-Pouch absorbs the B vitamins and Vitamin C, since it's still alive and was part of the Ileum. Most of our B vitamins and Vitamin C are absorbed in the Ileum. I would also like to know just how much of the Ileum is used, since some people believe having the J-Pouch surgery causes distinct Vitamin deficiencies... I also wonder why the anus must be smaller and less flexible after the J-Pouch surgery. Is it intentionally minimized due to the concern that the J-Pouch creates increased diarrhea? I lived without a large intestine and with a rectum from 1983 until 2001 when I had my rectum removed. Living without a colon was a bathroom and diet issue, but only minimal. In fact, I don't remember such issues now living with the J-Pouch, which created such a difficult difference. Who knows? Maybe the rectum also absorbed excess fluids... Although I thought that was the responsibility of the large intestine.


I'm very familiar with scar tissue... A month after having my colectomy in 1983, I was rushed to Sloan Kettering since my scar tissue was strangling my small intestine. The doctors said that had they not opened me up again and removed the scar tissue, I would have died in 6 days. Truthfully, the second surgery was much more extensive than the first one. When you look at my radiology photos of my lower abdomine, the pelvic region, it looks as if there is the top half of a small basketball in my gut... What it is is the scar tissue that filled the area where once was my rectum and possibly large intestine... It's like dark cloud coverage or as if I had swallowed a basketball...


But I'm an FAP/Gardner's person with an 11 year history of pouchitis. And it seems that removing the wheat, vegetable oils and most of the refined carbs, I've removed the issue which, with all of my reading and investigations, points to issues of inflamation.


My contention with medicine, science, doctors, and people who complain about weight issues or issues with discomfort etc is that it seems that no one is truly looking at the problem. And I believe it is intentional, for many different reasons, which I won't go into, since it deals with social-psychology or psychology alone, politics and economics... My concern is that if one does not isolate things, they will never truly know if it was or was not due to... The studies connect heart disease with "sugar", cancer with "sugar"... but the "authorities" are saying FAT. Fat doesn't cause inflamation... Excess sugar in the blood does... Did I mention the connection between Diabetes and Heart Disease and Diabetes with Breast Cancer an Diabetes with Alzheimers Disease? I'm sure I did. What do all of these diseases have in common? Lack of control of insulin or too much glucose in the blood stream. For me, it seems simple, you change the diet towards glucose attached to fiber (removing the refined carbs) and watch and wait. And, maybe you'll also find that you have a better experience with your digestive system... Did you know that before the 20th century most non-European, non middle-class communities were free of chronic disease and obesity? Until the past 40 years chronic disease such as heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Alzheimers were consider "diseases of affluence". The communities without access to refined carbohydrates, such as white rice, wheat flour and table sugar didn't experience those diseases, nor did they experience hypertension, cavities, gastric ulcers, gastritis or colitis... This is why I "harp" on the possibility of changing the diet so that we can eat fresh fruits and fresh and cooked vegetables for their nutrients without worrying about diarrhea, constipation/blockages and Pouchitis.


I live in Mexico coming on 12 years and don't have the economy or time for flying to the U.S. for seeking FAP/Gardners or J-Pouch specialists. Here in Mexico no one truly knows any of these issues. Since I last became horribly ill in 2006, I've been basically forced to investigate how diet causes my experiences or relieves those experiences. I was diagnosed with gastritis that made me look pregnant, two stomach ulcers, duodenitis, a hyper inflamed gall bladder full of gallstones (an issue with Gardners), hiatal hernia, hypertension, high triglycerides and high cholesterol, among issues of acid reflux, diarrhea, constant blockages and pouchitis. The doctors suggested I have my gallbladder removed. But I didn't have the money. Instead, I started researching...


Two years ago, I visited with a GastroEnterologist who had met my surgeon in Chicago and claimed he understood the J-Pouch and FAP/Gardners. I was complaining of discomforts on different sides of my abdomin and visited him for an Upper Endoscopy. But, he claimed that I didn't need one (with Gardners, the standard practice is every 2 years, since we can develop cancer of the Duodenum and Stomach Cancer, along with Pancreatic Cancer, Adrenal Cancer, Cancer of the Bile Duct and Gallbladder Cancer). Although I complained of discomforts and that I had gallstones and stomach ulcers, he had no interest in giving me an UpperEndoscopy or ordering an Ultrasound... Instead, he gave me a prescription for B12 injections because he claimed that with a J-Pouch I don't absorb the B vitamins... At the same time I was experiencing increasing muscle fatigue/pain while running. We were in the end of November/beginning of December. Inspired by what he mentioned about the Ileum and Vitamins B, I started investigating what is absorbed where in the digestive tract and how that may affect us... What vitamin deficiencies could cause muscle fatigue... And I stumbled across Vitamin D deficiency, Potassium deficiency etc... I immediately went to the nearest clinic and ordered various blood tests and an ultrasound. Would you believe that the ultrasound disclosed that I had removed my gallstones without surgery and by a dietary home remedy? My potassium came back normal. But, my Vitamin D was low... The vitamin D deficiency made it virtually impossible for me to run for another 1.3 years.


During the two years between the visit with that GastroEnterologist and the one who just did the Upper Endoscopy and order the x-rays of my digestive tract, I developed other concerns that appeared as Hypothyroidism (thyroid cancer is prevalent within Gardners; my younger sister developed it at the age of 26), the inability to lose weight with regular exercise although I controlled my fat, dairy and meat intake (I've never had a sweet tooth or been a soda drinker), what seems like peripheral neuropathy from my right shoulder to my right fingers (like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I blamed on my baking endeavor for 4 years between 2003-2007), failing eyesight (although undiagnosable) and memory problems. I went back to the drawing board, returned to my readings on hypothyroidism and was surprised to see all of the above listed below the disease... and immediately visited with an Endocrinologist and had my thyroids tested... It was clear that he didn't believe my problem was hypothyroidism. He was focussing much on my weight (which can have so much to do with hypothyroidism) and my blood pressure (which can have so much to do with a vitamin D deficiency) and suggested a very low calorie diet. Fortunately, at the same time I came across the idea that calories have nothing to do with obesity, but the amount of refined carbs, blood-insulin levels and inflamation (that obesity causes inflamation also and causes decreased energy and not the other way around) and designed my very own diet. The thyroid tests came back normal and I had dropped around 10 pounds by the time we met again a month later... The endocrinologist asked me how I took to his diet and I responded, "I put it aside and designed my own" and explained what it intailed... And this is where my original piece begins...


But Rachel and others who have gotten this far... when I designed my new eating style (I don't like the word "diet" since diet is seen as temporary or a fad meant strictly for decreasing weight), I was NOT thinking about the J-Pouch or Gardners etc... I had come to believe that the diarrhea/blockage/Pouchitis/sleep disturbances issues were just a fact of my life with the J-Pouch; a trade-off or a sacrifice of comfort (and certain aspects of dignity) for preventing cancer and almost immediate mortality in exchange for living another 13 years; I've outlived my father 11 years now. I had no idea that I would remove most of the other issues concerning us the J-Pouchers regarding diet of health conducting foods much higher in dietary fiber... And that's why I decided to share with everyone... because I believe that it's not enough having the information and the related experience for myself. But, what I am certain of listening to so many J-Pouchers' concerns, "problems" and histories with the so-called expert medical community specializing in J-Pouches and Gastro-Intestinal diseases and reading the incredibly sparce and limited scientific literature on J-Pouches and Gardners Syndrome etc. is that what I've stumbled across most J-Pouchers are unaware of...


About comparing our small bowels with those of normal people's... I can't compare my body with the 3 other family members of my generation who inherited FAP/Gardners... Everyone's gene or allele expressed itself differently. I've never had cancer. My younger sister developed thyroid cancer although her FAP presented with much fewer polyps than mine and hers went away after the colectomy. Now she developed rectal cancer at the age of 43 (I had mine removed at the age of 32) and has a J-Pouch since March... She's also a refined carb addict/sweet tooth... and has a tolerance to alcohol I never had. One cousin has repeated surgeries for removing desmoid tumors. No one else has them. I have osteomas. No one else has them... My other cousin died of Brain Cancer at the age of 16...


I've read extensively about Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Alergies, issues with FODMAPs and Irritable Bowel Syndrome... "Discovered" the connection between wheat and Lymphoma... My landwomen's (two sisters) older brother suddenly developed lymphoma, destroying his jaw and one of his legs within two months. He's on chemotherapy for two years now. I asked one of the women if anyone of their family members had celiac-like issues. "NO"... Then I asked if her older brother ate much bread (I knew that the whole family drank much Coca Cola products). She responded, "AND HOW! If a normal person eats 1 baghette, he eats 3! If there isn't any in the house, he sends someone out to the store..." I asked her if his doctors checked his small intestine. She said yes and that there was nothing wrong with it... Two months later I mentioned this statement to her older sister who was much closer to their brother. I said, "I'm surprised that his doctors discovered his small intestine totally normal, considering what I've read..." and she exclaimed, "Are you kidding! The reason why they haven't removed him from chemo is because they discovered tumors in his small intestine... they keep coming back." And I asked, "and his doctors haven't mentioned anything about sugar and wheat products?" NOPE. They didn't know about it... although they are oncologists specializing in Lymphoma. Check any medical center/medical school website in the U.S. for Lymphoma and you will find a restriction against sugars and wheat products...


But what does this have to do with US and Them? And who is normal and who isn't... How do you know who is normal? And how do you know that most people aren't affected in different ways by the same thing?


But for one reason or another certain information that may aid many people (in different ways for different reasons) is not circulating seriously in the "American" medical and scientific communities... meaning that it doesn't filter down to us as patients...

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part I of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"..

After suffering at least 12 years with J-Pouch related issues/discomforts, it seems that I've encountered a solution.

Before I go into this very interesting topic, I must inform you that I just spent 18 hours without eating or ingesting fluids and endured 8 hours in the radiologist's office having x-rays of my small intestine and J-Pouch (routine procedure). So, I'm a bit drained; meaning that the following description of what I've done over the past 9 months will be semi-brief. Last week I had my first upper-endoscopy in 8.5 years and the gastroenterologist ordered the x-rays since he found polyps in my duodenum.

That said...

Before March 2014, I suffered greatly from Pouchitis and bathroom-related sleep disturbances (name it, I suffered it; to spare you the details). I awakened in the night on the average of 3 times; leading to Adrenal Fatigue that mimics hypothyroidism due to cortisol dumping. I weighed at least 33 pounds more and couldn't drop the weight with exercise and with controlling calorie intake/fat consumption. I couldn't eat fruit, vegetables (raw and cooked), seeds or nuts without having issues with diarrhea/blockage (at the same time). I blamed it all on the fibre... and bought a Vitamix Blender believing that would solve the problem. Truthfully, it didn't. What I believe was the problem was chronic inflamation. Today I can eat anything natural I want without suffering the consequences, since the fibre wasn't the culprit.

In March I removed most refined carbs (simple carbs) and removed all wheat products (I don't believe that dramatic wheat-related health issues are limited to those with Celiac Disease nor are they limited to gluten in wheat). I do consume added sugar (maximally 24 grams/6 teaspoons per day) in my coffee or occasional lime/Flaxseed water... I eat occasional corn tortillas and occasional sweet potatoes or plantains (I discovered a wonderful flourless pancake recipe that utilizes blended plantains instead of flour). I do not limit my fruit intake, especially if it is high in fibre, especially if it is high in vitamin C. Aside from the occasional corn tortilla, I'm not eating corn on the cob or corn kernels. I'm also not eating potatoes. One more thing; I've greatly decreased my usage/consumption of commercial vegetable oils, including Canola, since they are very high in pro-inflamatory Omega 6 fatty acids; we obtain enough Omega 6 in our diet of animal fat and vegetables. The vegetable oils throw us way over the top and create an extreme Omega 6/Omega 3 imbalance. I don't drink sodas or fruit juices, since fruit juices often have more added sugar than do sodas. (Just a note: commercial cerials and flavored yogurts generally have more sugar than do sodas or cakes; just in case you thought you were giving your children healthier food in the name of Dannon or Kelloggs...) I'm not drinking alcoholic beverages, since alcohol affects the liver just as does fructose (Another note: Parents, if you thought only alcoholics suffered from fatty liver disease that converts to cirosis, today you will be seeing an epidemic in fructose related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children, adolescents and young adults. Have you noticed pot-bellied children?... 6-year-old boys and girls with beer-bellies for instance...)

Without exercise, both my wife and I lost around 22 pounds in 3 months. Then we found that we could exercise more easily and withstand longer periods of exercise than in the past. We also found that we endured much longer periods without eating. Diets high in refined carbs cause hunger on the average of every 2 hours. Diets high in protein cause hunger on the average of every 5 hours and diets high in fat cause hunger on the average of every 7 hours.

When we all but removed the refined carbs from our diet we increased greatly our consumption of fat and complex carbs. We always had a diet high in protein. But, without "cutting" the protein with simple carbs (rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, tortillas) we realized that we must cut it with fresh fruits and vegetables, which was a severe worry for me, considering the havoc fibre reeped upon my digestive tract. After 9 months of this incredible experiment, I've realized that what caused the issues was NOT the fibre or the fresh fruit and fresh and cooked vegetables... It was the refined carbs, the wheat products and the commercial (Industrial) vegetable oils.

In 9 months I've lowered greatly my triglycerides, my blood-glucose and my total cholesterol, while raising my HDL cholesterol... while eating much animal protein and animal fat (especially eggs and cheese). Due to work intensity between late September and early November I spent 7 weeks without any exercise and with an increased consumption of animal protein and fat, cheese and eggs and noticed a decrease in cholesterol, glucose and Uric Acid (Uric Acid is supposedly related to high consumption of animal protein and considered a risk in both gout, rheumatoid arthritis and kidney disease). And I didn't gain weight with the 7 week hiatus from exercise.

I cannot over-stress a very important point: calorie counting and lowfat dieting has absolutely nothing to do with health and weightloss. More accurately: I don't worry about my calorie count or fat consumption (animal fats from chicken, beef, cheese, yogurt, cream, butter...) and I have blood tests every 2 months and my wife's and my weight measures and physical appearance as the testiment. Daily exercise increases muscle mass and may prevent weight loss, although the body becomes trimmer and more attractive. However, if you are concerned about being able to tell people that you continue losing weight and you don't... you must maintain faith in how you look and feel and forget about the numbers you believe they seek for truly believing you.

All this said, most importantly is the fact that I sleep through the night and don't suffer blockage/diarrhea or pouchitis.

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part II of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"...

Note:  This is a response to various responses on the J-Pouch group refering to the concern about increased fiber and constipation etc.  Truthfully, the responses were very appreciative.  However, there exists a tendency towards disconfidence related towards non-pharmaceutical solutions... although most J-Pouchers, especially those with IBS and Crohns, are extremely dependent upon the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry, although without receiving adequate relief...  I think of those with Ulcerative Colitis and IBD who suffered horribly, extremely dependent upon anything the medical community would suggest, who in the end (usually in their 20s) were left to no other resort but to have their colons and rectums removed and replaced with a J-Pouch.  What if the remedy for THEM (I don't mention Crohns or FAP/Gardners, because the causes of the inflamations etc may be a bit different), was a dramatic change in diet away from what EVERYONE around them was eating... a vote of confidence and strength that they would endure not being socially "correct" and avoiding the commercially popular "pass times" everyone suddenly and increasingly put in their mouths?  Inconvenience...  But, suffering what they suffered all these years is a bit less convenient... having the colon and rectum removed is a hell of an inconvenience...  Your body is socially accepted in your circles, when you are with your friends and family as they expect of you... But, when you are alone, you are hating your body... living with your body.  And those who socially accepted you don't know anything about your body and what it experiences... what it does to you... how it affects your psychology, your work, your sleep, your concentration, your ability to focus upon things a little less personal and, in ways, in the long run a bit more important.  How it affects your sexual relationships... how it makes you "a miserable bitch"...  All the energy consumed by the suffering, the performing with lack of sleep, with vitamin-mineral deficiencies, trying to focus on what you MUST focus upon and the energy consumed trying to get back or keep "on target"... Only you understand this...  Martin Luther King Jr repeated how many times "I have a dream" in his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial terminating the first massive civil rights march on Washington in 1965 if I'm correct and, even if we didn't hear more than 3+ words of that speech, we know the name...  And I find myself beginning a speech to myself repeatedly with the words "I wish..."  And that sentence can be terminated in so many ways, such as "I wish I could have used all of that energy wasted upon responding to the suffering caused by... and dedicating it to something a bit less personal and a bit more productive or constructive..."  I elected against writing "valuable", "important" etc... because responding to discomforts, worries etc is valuable and important.  However, maybe if I understood profoundly how many aspects of our modern diet affect us physically, epigenetically, mentally etc., maybe I could have avoided much wasted time and energy and been able to have become more... constructed more... pursued more... more what?  Interests that generate...  Generate what?  Running to the bathroom every so many minutes in the night... or waiting for the urge to pass in order to continue doing what ever it is I am doing at the moment, is distracting, disconcentrating...  Not eating healthfully because eating healthfully means abdominal discomforts and much sleep lost, time spent in the bathroom... Not being able to travel or be in public spaces or participate in eco-sports or eco-tourism or staying over night in someone else's house without worrying horribly about bathroom related risks... consumes energy and attention that could have been directed towards more "useful" ends...  

But, then again, I wouldn't have stumbled across what I've stumbled across that may help many people.  I don't offer a service.  I'm not creating a movement.  I'm just sharing very useful information.

Ironic... Ironic is the idea that eating healthfully is a risk, causes problems, causes lack of health... Ironic.  Avoiding foods high in nutrients that help concentration, mental energy, sleep, stamina, production of energy, improve mood or create stable moods, tissue health, strengthen the immune system, create circulatory health etc... helps you progress healthfully into the future because it helps prevent mishaps, bad decisions, future diseases etc because they immediately make you miserable... Is ironic.  After a day of happily and enthusiastically eating healthfully, I found myself forced to eat unhealthfully... things that did not cause blockage or caused slight-diarrhea (J-Pouch diarrhea is much more comfortable than J-Pouch constipation...) You know that you will succeed rapidly with what you went to the bathroom to do.  You flush the toilet and you're back within the project upon which you were focussing... and not worrying about not having succeeded in the bathroom, irritated, uncomfortable; at any moment your lower abdomine will tell you you must urgently run to the bathroom and struggle there for a while, usually to not sufficient avail and continue the process... With the exception of night, when it is not convenient awakening every 2 or 3 hours to go to the bathroom, although successfully; those sleep disturbances cause other serious health problems.  And if you manage to sleep through the night with J-Pouch "Diarrhea", you awaken with the bed stained, to put it lightly...   

But, it's really not only about the J-Pouch. It's also about the small intestine...  Eating healthfully MUST NOT be considered the cause of lack of health... 

Constipation... that's why I hardly ever ate fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds... for years, never apples... I also hated the skin.  However...

Removing the wheat products, most industrial vegetable oils (in industrial I mean industrially fabricated, such as Mazola, Canola... non-virgin olive oils... and the such.  Udo Erasmus explains extremely clearly the issue in his book "Fats that Heal; Fats that kill"), and most other refined carbs along with potatoes and most corn products I removed the inflamation that causes the blockage.

When you remove the skin of an apple, you remove most of the nutrients.  So, if you don't want to eat the apple straight, blending it makes a lot of sense... if you don't have problems with those textures...

We are "special" people with extremely unique experiences, and the J-Pouch specialists and the Colitis, IBS, Crohns and FAP/Gardners "experts" don't live with these experiences, and being hard working human beings pressed for time, they don't have the time, energy or money for truly understanding what happens with the patient who had their colon and rectum removed etc.  It is up to each of us to try and think "out of the box" or backwards and forwards, turning what we were told to believe or what we were told is normal or healthy on its head and start looking at things from a different perspective.  Sometimes easy responses or easy fixes (represented greatly by the Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Occidental Medicine) create much less recovery or much slower understanding of the situation.

If most of the problem with modern 20th/21st century chronic illness is related to inflamation, then maybe we should consider best what causes inflamation and what the inflamation causes.

"Itis".  Do you know what that signifies?  Inflamation.  Pouchitis, Colitis, Duodenitis, Gastritis, Esophagitis...  The inflamation of the brain is... Meningitis; "an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges." 

So, imagine the J-Pouch or the Small Intestine inflamed and then imagine ruffage or large inflexible particles, such as nuts or seeds or broccoli etc passing through narrowed inflamed passageways, especially if those passageways have billions of folds or tentacles (cilia) that jut out towards the center of the passageway (if you don't suffer from Celiac Disease)...  Now, imagine those passageways uninflamed...

Think about it.  Why would we have problems with blockage when healthy people with colons and rectums don't?  Where is the blockage occurring?  In the J-Pouch? or in the Small Intestine?  They have Small Intestines too...  And, the J-Pouch is an increased reservoir replacing the rectum...  our colectomies removed transit time and distance or space for creating risks for blockage or constipation... We don't have that reservoir (colon) for slowing things down and removing excess water.  We shouldn't be the constipated ones... 

or maybe we should turn the issue on its head and ask what it is about our illnesses/syndromes that causes the blockage in the first place... It isn't the natural and healthy produce we place in our mouths...  Absolutely illogical.  Although I imagine most of us have spent years blaming suffering on Lettuce, Spinach, Cabbage, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Swiss Chard, sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, nopales (cactus paddles; which is ironic, since they are the #1 vegetable in the world for decreasing inflamation), Nuts, Seeds, Pineapple, Bananas, Papaya, non-squeezed oranges/Grapefruits, guavas, (I just named most of what caused me horrible bathroom problems for the past 11 years... which includes horribly embarassing night-time "incontinence"; when you actually manage to enter REM sleep after spending how much time in the bathroom straining, wishing you could pull out with a hook what is there telling you you must run to the bathroom every 5-10 minutes and then seemingly laughing in your face..., and either the liquid passing around the blockage and staining the sheets and irritating your skin... or maybe something "relaxed" and you awaken "in the process..." your "significant other" sleeping unperturbed alongside your "mess", your momentary sleep destroyed at 4am...)

This is NOT a joke.  I'm NOT an outsider preaching to you.  

No one truly shares their horrible experience with others (in order for others to know that they are not the only ones living these VERY PERSONAL difficulties.  Afterall that is what these groups are for; support, increased understanding...), not even on the J-Pouch communities... (only surgeries and setbacks; it's difficult to mention constipation--we hear the snickering towards the back of the 4th grade classroom if you know what I mean)...  

We've lived our lives as outsiders with our experiences... although it is not our fault, we suffer horrible taboos... What men talk about J-Pouch-caused sexual dysfunctions?  Incontinence?  What is worse to share with the ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO COULD POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND US and what we are experiencing...? But we don't go there.  We can talk to doctors about this.  Women don't remove their blouses and brazieres in public.  But, if the person who will do the mamograph suddenly appears to be a "strange" man, they can become topless...  I run shirtless in the city park (for Vitamin D) and people look at me strange.  The children yell to their parents, "LOOK there's a man running naked in the park!" although I'm running with shorts...  And I feel bad.  And I feel bad when those shorts slip down a little bit and show a bit of my hip or upper buttocks...  But, in the radiology room I quickly learn to not worry about the fact that the hospital gown is slightly open in back showing off almost everything, especially since they made me lay down on my stomach...  We can tell these things to the doctors, since we believe they understand and because we believe they've heard and seen it all.  But they are humans who have NOT experienced what we experience.  And, until one truly experiences what we experience profoundly and possibly on a constant basis and truly what worries and irritates us, "they don't know NOTHIN'"...  

But, I have stumbled across something... And I am sleeping through the night NO MATTER WHAT TIME I ATE (and I eat a lot and I often eat an hour or maximally 2 hours before I go to sleep)... And, I've stopped defocating in the bed...  And I can eat almost all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cooked or raw etc without suffering as I had...  And I don't take anti-inflamatories or metamucil or milk of magnesia or or or...