B.R.A.T.

Pat and I are getting into the swing of being homeowners. We are getting used to using our weekends for household tasks instead of meandering aimlessly around New England or seeking out new restaurants. Though we did fit some relaxation time in, we also managed to finish up a few tasks around the house. I am really amazed at how much we’ve done in the short time we’ve been here. Thanks to lots and lots of help from my parents, Pat and I were able to paint the 3rd bedroom in a color that I think I like – at least it’s growing on me. (I wanted terra cotta - first attempt came out too Halloweeny, this time it’s a rusty reddish color.) It’s nice to have the majority of the painting done. All that’s left is for me to convince Pat that it will be best if we hire someone to paint the remaining rooms (there are only 2) and both have 18 foot ceilings.

Then we hung the bedroom curtains – yay! No more paper shades. The temporary shades were great and did the trick, but it is nice to pull the curtains closed at night and not hear any paper rustling if the windows are open. Plus it’s the first real window treatments we’ve bought in our 8 years together which means we finally agreed on something. It’s actually a significant accomplishment for us – just ask the clerk in the curtain store, the members of our cancer support group, our close friends and anyone else who has had to listen to me complain about my husband’s interest and eye for window treatments. And then there was the shelving we installed in the cedar closet. After emptying all the plastic tubs full of clothing, I discovered that I am clothes horse. I mean, it’s really ridiculous the amount of clothing I own. However in my own defense – my weight has done a lot of see sawing over the past 6 years. It does seem extreme that I have stuff in sizes 0 through 12, and don’t want to get rid of any of it. And now that I’ve got the closet to store it in, I don’t think I will. But this is a good segway…

B.R.A.T. diet. Yup, I’m supposed to back on a modified version of this. (Bread, Rice, Applesauce and Toast) Pat and I met with the gastroenterologist recommended by Dr. Nauta. Specifically this guy runs a weight clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. We spent about 1.5 hours with him and his dietician. Going over my history and trying to formulate a plan. Let’s just say that I walked out a tad bit disappointed because there is no miracle pill or diet that is going to stop my diarrhea. It’s going to mean a lot of work, on my part of course, watching what I eat and making changes to our lifestyle. They were both in agreement that diet alone is not going to help me gain weight quickly like I need to do. So it’s back to the idea of IV nourishment. The docs seem to be in agreement that I am currently malnourished, so perhaps if I did the IV stuff for a while, my body would start working a bit more properly and my intestines might have the nutrients and energy to start working properly.

I’m not certain if I want to do the IV stuff – risk of infection is high, I will have to do a 3-4 day hospital stay to start it (which I already told the new doc that I am doing at Mt. Auburn or I’m not doing it at all…), then it will mean 12 hours a day, 7 days a week on the IV for at least 2-3 months. Granted this can be done at night, but it will basically mean that I get home from work, hook up to the IV and stay that way all night. Given prior experience with nighttime IVs, I am pretty sure neither Pat nor I would be getting good nights sleep. But I am making a lot of assumptions based on prior experience. We decided that I would go and talk to Dr. Nauta about this again – and see if there is any wiggle room on the timing. Like maybe I can do it every other night instead of every night.

Neither Pat nor I were surprised about the suggested dietary changes. Sugar is not my friend; neither is fat, fresh fruit, dairy, caffeine, chocolate, etc. So I waved good bye to my coke habit (no, not that kind!!), sneaked a few final chocolate bars, and am trying very hard to keep to the suggestions – and fortunately it’s squash season so there are a bunch of foods out there I do enjoy, I just need to learn to eat my acorn squash with a touch of maple syrup as opposed to butter and brown sugar….And Au Bon Pain has its seasonal pumpkin soup so that’s 2 lunches a week taken care of! I’m not good with willpower (I have none) and perhaps a bit too often I feel I “deserve” a treat like a Wendy’s cheeseburger, but I am going to make a serious attempt at this. I am just too tired of running to the bathroom every 15 minutes.

I have already started a food diary and a bathroom log. Guess which is longer??? And I’ll be checking in with the dietician on a weekly basis (I think Pat is going to disconnect the Caller ID so I can’t avoid that weekly call…)For the first week, I was told to make a few minor adjustments (like removing the soda and chips) and see if this has any effect. It’ll all be done in baby steps because we don’t want to remove every tasty thing from my diet if it’s not absolutely necessary.

Oh and irony of ironies…Pat just finished his next column for Fine Books & Collections Magazine. It was on collecting cookbooks. So he’s had lots of great recipes and ideas lately. We just need to find the ones that don’t involve lard, sugar and flavor and I’m all set.

It’s day 4 of no caffeine – I’m still not through the withdrawal stage yet. Hopefully next week I’ll be a little less cranky.

Posted by jean at October 20, 2006 04:33 PM