Nearly human again

I think I'm finally on the way to feeling like a normal person again. I've had a horrible week. For those of you who are sensitive or dislike hearing about illness skip this para - it's probably TMI but don't know how to tell what's been happening otherwise. When I last posted last Monday I was feeling like everything was improving and it continued to do so Tuesday although I was still far from right. I went back to work on Wednesday and managed to get through the day without too much drama but then Wednesday night had a relapse - back to uncontrollable diarrhea and violent stomach cramps again. So went to doctor on Thursday - he was a bit of a dropkick (couldn't get in to my usual guy) and just told me to keep taking Immodium and come back if there was any sign of blood!!! He finally decided I should get a specimen checked then asked if I wanted him to examine my tummy!!!! He then told me that he could hear my bowel working - wow - I could have told him that was the one part of my anatomy which seemed to be working overtime!! Anyway the rest of Thursday was increasingly miserable adding the shivers, further cramps and a headache to the story. Friday more of the same then Friday night had a bout of gastric reflux (something I haven't had for over 5 years) - think my poor tummy had just about given up the ghost by this stage. Funny story here - I was wondering what I could take to relieve the pain and had my laptop there so googled it. One suggestion was a banana which I also knew from other searches wouldn't fire up the diarrhea so at midnight I'm sitting up hugging my tummy and nibbling a banana!! I think it did help. Anyway I ended up spending most of Friday night upright in the chair in the lounge room. Saturday morning I had a hairdressing appointment which I really wanted to keep. By this time the loo trips had definitely decreased in frequency but I was still having violent spasms of abdominal pain. My friend S called me at the hairdresser and I filled her in on the story. She's a nurse and was the one who insisted I go to the doctor's on Thursday. Anyway shortly after that she turned up in the hairdresser having had a consultation with the chemist, with a packet of Buscopan and told me to get started on them straight away and leave the Immodium for now unless the need becomes vital. Well what a difference that's made to the way I feel. Insides still not functioning exactly the way they should but heaps better, and if I delay taking the Buscopan I get the cramps back but hopefully that will settle down really soon now. I'm heading off to work now and we'll see how I go. Back anon. Back again. So reviewing this week and considering what went in and what came out I feel like I should have lost about 5kgs and I've definitely lost inches. However the scales actually say 800g so that's me back to pre holiday plus another 100g down . Food wise I haven't eaten very much at all, managed to keep the water up but probably still not enough, and steps, gym, running and tracking haven't been a consideration. Must say that I wore my pedometer on holiday and Bloss and I managed to rack up 90,000 steps over 8 days so that was pretty good. I didn't make it to the gym in HK so need to work out where I'm going to pick up the C25K programme again. My plan for the week ahead is to start walking tomorrow morning again - assuming I continue to improve. I'll just walk this week and if I'm properly well then I'll get back into fitness next Monday. I've already got my pedometer on today so will start trying to get the steps going. There's still lots of things I have to avoid eating so will just try and muddle through this week - got to stay away from too much fresh fruit and vegies and all dairy - so there goes most of my snacks. So really not a lot to tell you about this week as I've spent the greatest part of it either in bed or in the loo! And my poor dog is feeling very deprived as she's had no exercise. 11 weeks till we go on our next trip and I have 7.3kgs to lose - that's an average of 650g per week - a bit higher than I usually can manage, but I'm going to have a shot at it. Wish me luck! I've been reading all your blogs this week but haven't managed to get up enough energy to comment on very many. I promise to try and do better in the week ahead. Have a great one everybody. Just a little add on about all my HK buys and what sort of price things were since a few of you have been wondering. The 4 pairs of shoes in the picture cost the equivalent of less than A$50 for all four. My jeans were A$15, Bloss's dress shirts about A$10 each, his tailor made jacket about A$200, my jacket A$30, kids undies - 12 pairs for A$7.50, sunglasses about A $6/7 pair, my tops all between A$10 and 20, laptop bag A$12, handbags between A$8 and $15 Our oil painting (I'll post a picture once its stretched and on the wall) $A45. Also picked up some gorgeous necklaces for about A$3 each - you can see one of them in the photo where I'm looking relaxed in the Harbour Club (ie had a few!)