Getting back on track

Here I am home sick from work again.  I hate this!! I have been vomiting half the night and all morning.  My back has a huge knot of pain between my shoulder blades and I feel like shit.  I have not been taking my own advice and I let the busyness of life get in the way of managing my Plan properly and now I am paying the price.

Yes this sucks but I know that I can and will get back on track.  I had gone shopping at Jebbia's (our local produce store) and stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies for juicing and smoothies.  So back to taking the time to prepare those nutrient packed meals instead of grabbing what's quick (foods that will make me sick).  It's easier to know the right plan of action but it's harder to implement it.  As I said before a good Comprehensive Management Plan takes time and work, but it is so important to put in that time and effort to feel good.  I wish I didn't have Gastroparesis but I do and if I want to live symptom free I have to manage my plan. 

That being said it is also important to remember that getting back on track doesn't happen instantly. You have to be patient and stick to your Plan and it will come around but it takes time.  Don't give up if you don't feel better after sticking to your Plan for just a day or two.  It might actually take a week, or even two, before you are feeling better and symptom free.  Then once you are feeling better, stick to your plan!  I know easy for me to say, right.  It is easier said than done but I can not stress enough how important it is to do the work.  A good Comprehensive Management Plan is a lifestyle change, it is not a short term "diet".  Unfortunately Gastroparesis is a chronic condition that has to be managed.

Also, don't let yourself wallow in self pity because that does not do anything for you.  Instead take the time to take care of yourself.  Take a long hot bath, listen to some relaxing meditation do anything that is relaxing for you.  Tension and stress will exacerbate symptoms so try to relieve the tension and stress as much as possible.  It's easy to get stressed out when the symptoms flare but that will only make the flare up worse.  A viscous cycle I know!  So I am going to take my own advice and fill up my jacuzzi tub and take a long relaxing bath.  Then hopefully I'll feel good enough later today to do my Yoga routine.  In the meantime I am going to make some fresh juice and water it down so that it won't be so upsetting to my stomach.  Then I plan to sip on it throughout the day.  Once I'm confident my stomach won't reject it I might try some pureed beets, but for the most part it is going to be an all liquid diet kind of day.  I of course will make sure I'm getting the proper nutrients in and hopefully my stomach will stop rejecting everything.  If not I may have to make another trip to the ER to get fluids.

Another point I would like to make.  There are different stages of diets that you sometimes have to change to depending on your symptoms.  For example, I am very symptomatic right now so I am going to stick to an all liquid diet.  Then once I start to feel a little better I can go to a semi-liquid diet.  After that I can work up to the semi-solid diet that I can tolerate.  I say semi-solid because most solid foods are intolerable for me at any time regardless of how good I feel.

The alternative to getting back on track is to stay sick or get even more sick.  That is not a choice I am going to make.  I will get back on track and I will feel better.  In the meantime I have to let this flare up run its course and be very strict with my Plan so that I don't exacerbate the symptoms I'm already dealing with.