Diverticulitis, my move towards a new lifestyle and general life and blog update

Joanna Fowler September 28, 2017 Blog, Lifestyle, Wellness

mother and daughterWhere do I start this one? I feel like I haven’t checked in with all of you here on the blog, in terms of me, personally in quite a while. Let’s talk health, lifestyle and the blog.

I guess it goes back to last spring.

Last spring, after a quieter winter, life got busy. I lot of exciting projects came my way, I had a lot of travel, both for work and vacations, and the kids schedules were getting busier.

During that excitement I noticed my energy levels lagging, heart palpitations kept coming and I was often light-headed. I kept putting it off and finally I went to see my doctor when it dawned on me that I hadn’t had a physical in over FOUR YEARS!

Whoops!

My blood work came back showing that my iron levels were in the toilet. So I started to take iron supplements and my energy levels came back.

This past summer was a blur of travel and work deadlines. I’ve been working on some really exciting projects,

filming

and our family even went to Mexico.

Mexico

sisters

The peak was definitely my trip with Mike to New York, without kids, for our ten year anniversary. We basically ate and walked our way through New York. I had been a few times before, but it was Mike’s first time to New York and he loved it just as much as I thought he would.

By the end of August I started having abdominal pains that were different than any IBS symptom I had experienced in the past. But, typical me… I ignored them.

But by the second day, as Mike watched me try to put Beau to bed doubled over in agony, he insisted I go to the emergency room. I compromised and agreed to booking a doctor’s appointment for the following day.

The next morning, about five minutes after Mike walked out the door to work, as I began to make our kids’ breakfast, I gripped the counter as our kitchen spun, and I managed to make it to our couch, shooting an S.O.S. text to Mike…

“I’m not well.” It said.

The next thing I knew, our door flew open and there was Mike, ready to take over with the kids. I was so glad to see him.

Later that morning we left to my doctor’s appointment. As she checked my belly, my doctor decided to give my abdomen a little shake and I screamed in pain. That gave me a one way ticket to the Emergency room.

Hours, many tests and a ruled out appendicitis later I almost left the hospital feeling like it was a waste of time, but a general surgeon visited me and convinced me to stay for a CT scan. Thank goodness he did.

in the hospital

It turned out that I had diverticulitis.

Diverticulosis happens when pouches (diverticula) form in the wall of the colon. If these pouches get inflamed or infected, it is called diverticulitis. Diverticulitis can be very painful.Webmd

I was told that I was very lucky that I had gone in when I had and an abscess, or a perforation hadn’t occurred and was sent home with two antibiotics.

Since then I have had follow up appointments and a colonoscopy is booked for late fall. But truthfully, I haven’t felt the same since.

I have been exhausted, and nervous that I am going to eat the wrong thing  and set it off again. I will always have these colon outpouchings, and it is my job to eat an extremely healthy, high fibre diet.

This for me has been a big wake-up call. I have been making some huge lifestyle changes including being less busy, moving towards a more minimalist life, having laser focus on work, but not trying to do everything, making more time to cook, and moving towards a more plant-based diet.

I have also been exploring my health on a deeper level. I have been peeling the onion as to why I am having so many digestive issues and struggling with my energy and I am even changing my skeptical opinion about essential oils, naturalpathic medicine (I grew up in a medical home, so that’s a hard one for me), and moving towards a happier, healthier, fuller life.

I have so much more to say, including how my recent health has shaken my confidence. How I am reteaching myself to get up in the morning to workout. How I am learning to have a better relationship with cooking and my kitchen. How I got a live blood cell analysis, and what was found.

For a while there I was pouring my heart out on my YouTube videos, (which I will continue to do), but not here on the blog. I started to get it in my head that the older my kids got, the more polished my posts had to be and the more beautiful my photos had to get. And that simply isn’t true.

Comparison truly was my thief of joy.

In fact, yesterday, while Mike and sat in a silent waiting room, I was scrolling through Facebook searching for a blog post to dive into to pass the time. I couldn’t find any. I turned to Mike and said, I wish I brought my headphones. Everything these days is video. I miss reading a raw, authentic blog post.

I guess there is a place still for personal blog posts.

So, with that all being said, I am going to be showing up here, on my blog more. Journaling my journey through motherhood, womanhood, marriage, wellbeing, health and lifestyle. I will by pouring my heart out to you unfiltered. Letting you in.

I am looking at this a bit as a new chapter for my blog. I hope you join me!

Oh, and in case you want to catch up on some of the big events that I mentioned, here are the vlogs that documented those moments…




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2 thoughts on “Diverticulitis, my move towards a new lifestyle and general life and blog update”

  1. Love this
    .I’m looking to do the same thing make huge changes in my lifestyle and not let this disease take over my life..

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