Boring never felt so good

If you're joining me here, I'm just going to assume that you've read the Who Said series and know all about the battle we faced this summer. What you probably don't know about, is that apparently the devil had a temporary lapse of amnesia about the butt-whoopin last time and came back for more in September. After months of feeling great, some digestive issues began to resurface in late August. On September 3rd, after 3 days of increasing abdominal pain, we headed to the ER for the first time in my adult life. After several tests, I was sent home with a referral for a gastroenterologist (GI) to explore the possibility of a Crohn's disease diagnosis and an appointment set for two weeks from then. The following week, on September 11th, the pain became incredibly intense again and we headed back to the ER. This time, tests revealed serious inflammation and fistulas, or holes in my colon. They sent me via ambulance to another hospital, 3 hours away, where they were better equipped to handle this type of issue. I spent the next week and a half in the hospital as they ran test after test and monitored the progress being made. I left with a confirmed diagnosis of Crohn's disease, a new followup appointment scheduled for my GI, and a very restricted low-residue diet (which is AWFUL btw). But, I was happy to be headed home with my family and to my own bed. The rest, we would tackle later.

Today, four months after the September hospital stay, dozens of doctor appointments, tests and specialists later, I received the 2nd greatest medical news of recent years, "Your colon is boring". Finally, after four months of questions, restricted diets, nearly zero answers and a whole pile of frustration, our report lines up with the truth we hold dear, healing! My doctor went on to say, "Typically, when we go in to look at the progress of Crohn's, even if the colon has healed, we see scar tissue or other evidence of damage built up. But I'm telling you, your colon is boring. I've doubted it all along, but you don't have Crohn's. I don't know why the infection occurred, what caused all the inflammation, and we may never know, but it's gone." Boring never felt so good baby! I mean, if there's one part of me that I appreciate being labeled as boring, this is it! Oh, and along with that, I get to start easing the restrictions on my diet and adding foods back in as tolerated. I swear, I can hear angels singing! 😂 Chicken and rice has always been one of my favorites, but I may never eat it again after these past few months of nearly nothing but! Seriously though, I will move forward with wisdom, listen to my body and the direction of the Holy Spirit. I won't be an idiot and dive face first into a greasy hamburger and fries, even though I'd love to! As much as I wish I could say I'm disciplined to the whole "food is fuel" mentality, I'm not. But, I do think there's a lot of merit to the concept that our body doesn't operate as God intended when we don't eat as He intended. That's a discipline I will endeavor to adapt to, as well as maintaining a boring colon indefinitely. :)