I am going to Greece in 17 days. I began the countdown at 84 days, so I’m not going to say the old clichéd “but who’s counting” phrase. I am counting, and have been for quite some time. Needless to say, I have been extremely anxious and excited for this trip. Except lately something has been occurring that has lessened my excitement. This month I started to notice a lot of bloating, then some discomfort, and finally, on Saturday I noticed blood in my stool. Ladies and gentlemen, I am in flare-up territory. I can almost hear the collective sigh of colitis sufferers reading this. No one wants to be having a flare during a trip. Especially not a trip you have been planning for months, a trip that involves a lot of flights and ferry rides and fabulous Greek food. Trust me, this is the one trip that I do not want to be running to the washroom every 10 minutes.
It’s not that my friends would not be understanding. My travel partners are two of the most fabulous woman on the entire planet. They would probably dig a toilet for me in the middle of Athens if needed (they would also most likely take a picture, but hey, what are friends for). It’s not that I have never travelled with a flare before, because I have, and often. I even have my ten rules of travelling with an IBD (which will be published in our must have book coming out on World IBD day... MARKETING ALERT!!!). It’s just that for once in my life I want to have a carefree experience of going on vacation without worrying about my health, or be on the constant look out for washrooms. I want to be able to have a couple of drinks (something that I rarely do so as not to upset my colitis). I want to be able to eat anything that tickles my fancy, without calculating my grace period of time before I need a washroom. I want to go on full day excursions without the stress of “what if”. I want to be relaxed, carefree, and zen.
So, in order to ensure that I can have my dream vacation, I am making a deal with my colon. I am going to treat my body like a temple for the next 17 days. I will take my daily probiotic supplement 3 times a day, just as the bottle says. I will not eat any grease, or fatty foods. I will try my darndest to not eat too much refined sugar. I will use my enemas nightly, no matter how tired I am, or how uncomfortable I find them. I promise to do right by my colon for the next 17 days, in hopes that it will give me my dream vacation. Because really colon, I deserve this one.
Wish me luck,
Lesley
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