Back in 2016 I wrote one post about my battle with SIBO – Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth – and nothing since.  Little did I know then that I’d be diagnosed with a bone tumor and life would change in dramatic ways.

At the time of my post I was seeing a nutritionist who had me on a strict diet regimen, and it appeared that it was working.  However, my weight continued to drop.  I reached 130 pounds.  One of our clients, a doc at a local hospital, expressed extreme concern over my condition, and even asked if I’d had an HIV test.  My clothes hung on me loosely, my face was sunken, my pallor made people uncomfortable.  I looked desperately ill.

My attempts to lead a semi-normal life proved to be dangerous.  I had no reserves, my constitution was nil.  I’d fall out exerting the slightest of efforts – literally nearly collapsing.  I wound up in the hospital after an attempt at a casual mountain bike ride, bonking out and wrecking a mere mile and a half into a trail I used to ride without giving it a second thought.

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For years now, perhaps even more than a decade, I’ve had problems with my stomach.  Bubbles, cramps, swelling, pain, unpleasant bathroom issues ranging far beyond mere urgency.  At best it was distracting.  At worst, actually debilitating.  It cast a shadow on everyday life, and ruined what should have been good times.  Eating out made it worse.  Eating not-great food made it terrible.  Thus some of my worst bouts occurred while traveling, ultimately making vacations unpleasant.  Traveling across Europe should be fun, not uncomfortable and stressful.

Along the way I had a myriad of diagnosis.  IBS. Nervous stomach.  I had a variety of procedures to no avail, from ultrasounds to, eventually – when I finally became frightened enough to start wondering if I had cancer or Crohn’s – a colonoscopy (which cost an arm and a leg since my insurance is terrible and I had it done prior to the recommended age of 50).  Nothing.  “You must have some sort of food allergy,” said the gastroenterologist.

Sure.  But it must be an allergy to food in general then, because it doesn’t matter what I eat.

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