Guess I'll learn to keep my mouth shut...

As soon as I posted yesterday's entry my mom called-sick. I drove and hour to pick her up and take her to the ER. Luckily, we were only there about 3 hrs but she complained the WHOLE time. She was miserable. Upper resp. infection, UTI, gross stomach bug plus the effects of smoking for decades (I quit about 4 yrs ago). She got a shot and a couple of prescriptions. As soon as we got out of the ER she wanted french fries and a strawberry shake. I didn't indulge in any of it. I just sipped my water. She enjoyed them though, and that's what counts. Anyway, I took her home and tucked her in. I'll call later to make sure she's feeling better.

For anyone who might be interested, here's the address for the CR support group I belong to. CRsupportgroup@yahoogroups.com Lots of neat information. The digest I received today had a few posts about the study I've volunteered for. Plus it had some research info regarding CR decreasing the levels of TNFa, which is my specific point of interest--besides the whole longevity thing in general. Crohn's patients have too much Tumor Necrosing Factor, which causes inflammation, which in turn contributes to the autoimmune process that makes us so sick. Some of the more powerful Crohn's drugs act to decrease TNFa. Remicade is one example but the side effects give me the creeps. Not to mention the fact it contains mouse DNA. Wonder if my cats would think differently of me if I took it??? Anyway, I've exhausted most of my Crohn's treatment options--and if I end up in the hospital again with complications, Remicade is my only remaining option. Actually, I could take a couple of other medications, but the side effects of those are worse than the Remicade. The choices are" bad" and "worse" at this point.

For now I'm going to work on my new CR-based health plan. Nurses have to make careplans... Plus, I think it's important to take a holistic approach. My intention is to make several small, deliberate changes over a period of time and not try to change too much at once. Today's challenge is to make my menus for the week. My goal is to create a master list of 15-20 simple, nutrient-packed dishes and keep supplies on hand to toss them together at any time. I don't get bored eating the same things, so I think it will work really well. After I tweak them, I'll post them and get some feedback!