Alive. Really, I am.

Firstly, hope everyone has been having a great 2010 so far.

Secondly, not dead. :D

Time for an update though. New years was spent at home. Tired, and had some sort of bug/virus thing which just wasn't nice. Think I was asleep by about 10 and woke up about 12:05 to fire crackers going off nearby. Five minutes late guys! Vaguely got over that virus and then felt like I had another coming on, though it's settled down.

Absolutely exhausted of late though, fairly certain it's the chronic fatigue flaring again. Seriously, settle most things down and one flares again. Not quite enough hands to keep pushing them down.

Also slightly worried about the Crohn's. My gut's been sore possibly since about Christmas, though I'm really not sure whether it's the old hag again, the remnants of the virus, or just because I've not really been following the fructose free diet. Also was told last time I saw the GI (brilliant timing with it being just three days before Christmas) that he's going to be testing me for diabetes (again), coeliacs, hepatitis a, b and c, lupus and various other chronic illnesses. This was after he told me "Your liver is looking better.", to which I squeaked "There was something wrong with my liver?". He'd been telling me my bloods were fine, even when I was asking about them, and then he turns round and tells me there's something slightly off with the liver, that it could just be fatty liver from all the weight I put on (that he didn't warn me about), but he'll test me for everything else just in case. Wonderful way to say Merry Christmas, no? Here, merry Christmas, and have some stress.

I'm also considering a second opinion on my joints. It just doesn't seem fair to me that whenever I go there I say, "Blah thing is making my joints hurt worse" (ie, keeping me awake at night, making it difficult to walk or drive, etc) and being met with, "That's nice, do blah and that'll make it better". Blah is the same thing in both sentences, whether that be heat or exercise or whatever the heck it is.

Meanwhile, now that the bitching is out of the way, on to the better stuff.

Jumping back on the job hunt bandwagon, but am also considering whether to stay put with my family or pack up and move, possibly to another state. Partly for the independence, partly just for the heck of it.

Found another Sue Shepherd cookbook today, so will hopefully be attacking recipes out of there soon. It's just so much better when I can pick up a cookbook and know that I've only got to worry about one gut issue (in this case the Crohn's), rather than both.

29 Dec last year, bought a new car. Picked it up on New Years Eve. Shiny showroom-new red Getz. And it's brilliant! Handles the freeways and dirt roads perfectly. Old car was getting just a little old and rattly, and while possibly would have kept going for ages, it needed work and I was looking at getting the new car anyway, so I decided to make the best of some sales. Very happy with it though, and wouldn't trade it for the world right now.

Sue Shepherd is a legend!!!

91 kilos! Yet another battle won, however minor it is. I don't enjoy the dizziness and the nausea from the lack of food, but it's worth it for this sort of weight loss. At this point I may still reach my goal by Christmas, which would just be amazing.

In other news, Dr Sue Shepherd is a legend. She's an Australian dietician who happens to have Coeliacs, and who happens to have written a few cook books as well as a guide to what to buy at the shops that's edible. Her books cater for Coeliacs, Fructose Malabsorption (smancy name for what I've supposedly got), IBS and various other bits and pieces. Seriously, books are fantastic, recipes great (see future posts for more! :D ) and just generally I feel so much better knowing that despite the two or three shelves of cookbooks I own now being practically useless for me, I have some now that I can use.

Anyone who is interested/can get there, there's a Gluten Free expo (also going over other things like the fructose stuff from what I can gather) on in Sydney in November on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th, Sue Shepherd is also going to be there. I'm also under the impression that Tobie Puttock (chef who is awesome) will be there too, and both are giving presentations/demonstrations. Link for more info: http://www.glutenfreefoodshow.com.au/index.html

Crohn's wise, things have greatly improved since going on the low fructose diet. I hate not being able to have onion, and not being allowed to have fruit juice, but it is nice only having an episode or two every four or so days instead of many episodes every day. It might make things easier to work out when I'm flaring too, as opposed to pooping liquid all the time.

Thoroughly enjoying having time off from work. It's just nice waking up in the morning and knowing I don't have the stress of the daily drag in front of me, adding to my worries, and it really is nice to be able to go to sleep not worrying about what's left to do, and what needs doing when and blah blah blah..... *sigh* Just nice.

Anyway. I think I'm blogged out for now. More later though, with shiny pictures too!