Ulcerative Colitis, and how to live with(out) it
Keeping Yourself healther with Diet, Lifestyle, and Alternative Medicine
Time passes ...
After a particularly long and painful run-in with the Pouchitis
monster about two years ago, I once again tried the help of the
medical society, with identical results as last time.
Fortunately, it set a sequence of events in motion that made it
worthwhile in the end. It took me eight years to find a solution
for my Pouchitis problem, but I
think I have finally nailed down a procedure that works without
the use of antibiotics. On my last sigmoidostomy, we once again
had a look at things, me and the generic gastrointestinal expert,
and once again there was inflammation. So, the generic
gastrointestinal expert as always gives me a prescription of the
generic anti-inflammatory drug. That is when I really lost my
patience with those guys, and decided that this is a problem that
I needed to solve once and for all. I am sure most doctors would
sneer at my methods of self-diagnosis, or even the fact that I
dare to do such a thing, that I dare to invade their holy ground,
and start to think for myself, about myself, but then, it would
not be there first time. Cynical? Me? Heaven forbid!
See, my main problem with doctors is that most of them refuse to
explore other possibilities, and just stick with what they have
learned in medical school. Modern medicine is really good in
dealing with crisis situations, i.e. heart attacks, accidents,
anything where you are loosing a lot of blood fast, or are going
to die very quickly. But modern medicine fails to deal with
chronic problems, and absolutely fails in terms of prevention. I
am sure there are many doctors that want to do what is best for
their patients, but simply fail for many reasons. The first
problem is the desire to solve any problem with medicine. Most of
the time, a pill will mask the problem, but it won't make it go
away. It will simply allow you to cope with it for a while. But
at what cost? Another problem is that doctors rarely look at what
a specific treatment will do to you in thirty to forty years.
Every time you take an antibiotic, every time you take any kind
of a medicine, it has an effect on your immune system, your
body's natural defences. Over time, this damage starts adding up.
When I spent nearly two months in the hospital during my three
surgeries, I met some of the other patients with colitis and
Crohn's disease, the ones that had been taking all those
medicines for ten years and more. There was very little left of
them, they poor bodies so ravished by the cure, they had no
natural defences left. Terrible. The problem is that doctors look
at things in the here and now: Get you better, get you back on
your feet, out the door, and then charge for it, of course.
Nothing wrong with that from their point of view, that is how the
fee-for-service system works. But this doesn't encourage them to
look at your long term benefits. By the time those long term
issues start showing up, they will be retired. And why not. The
public is looking for the quick fix, the instant feel-good, it
doesn't want to be troubled with something that takes longer, or
is less pleasant. Just one day at a time. Well, sorry, but that
doesn't work for me. I am going to be living in this body of mine
for the next, say, 40 years, and I must take care of it. As
nobody else looks out for it's long term well being, I am
responsible to do this. After all, when the proverbial stuff hits
the fan, who is going to have to suffer? Me. So, take care of
your body, because it's the only one you get, and once it's gone,
you will never get it back.
The story continues here Living with(out) Ulcerative Colitis, Learning about Diet and Lifestyle ...
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Disclaimer: These as well as all the other documents on this website are based on my own personal
experiences, and are not a replacement of a professional opinion by a qualified physician, for all that this
was worth in my case. The purpose of sharing my experiences with you is to help you get through this, and to
learn of other ways of dealing with your condition. I am not a medical doctor, I don't have any sort of formal
training in this or any other medical field. The only thing I can offer you is what it was like for the past 15
years and what it is like now, and in the future. Any advice I give is to be taken into consideration, and you are
welcome to act upon it at your own risk. I am not saying it will help you, or that it will not hurt you, all I am
saying is that this is what I learned, and I am wanting to share it with you. After that, you have my best wishes
for success and happiness. And if you find something that works for you, please, share it with the world, because
we need to know more than what modern medicine is telling us, which is not enough. Be well.
Copyright@2000-2004, Juergen Amft, All rights reserved