Food treats

I went from being a major foodie, to someone living with IBS & struggling to tolerate the most basic bland foods after having my gallbladder removed.

It was about 3 months after my gallbladder surgery, when I was starting to realize I had IBS, I began lamenting all the amazing foods I would never have again. After another 2 months, my GP said I had IBS & sent me to a dietician. A foodies worst nightmare...well one of.

Eating became a challenge
Now I was lucky if plain rice & plain chicken would be ok to eat. There was still days when just having liquids would upset my stomach.

2yrs in and the constant battle of IBS accompanied with constant nausea, and I do mean never ending nausea, made eating such a challenge. It also was depressing, which made it all the more difficult to want to eat. I remember one particular rough patch, I was thinking "Jeeze, do I have to have a pure liquid diet? Do I have to be fed through a tube?" I turned to my online support groups and started reading.

No longer dreading meals

I came across someone who suffers with Crohn's disease and all to well understands the challenge of eating and the struggle of wanting to eat when you know it's just going to cause you agony. She said that when she got really depressed, she realized that there are sometimes when you should treat yourself to something really yummy. If it's going to be agony anyway, why not have a treat now and then.

When I started doing that, I found I started to no longer dread meals. I was able to bring joy back to eating, even if it was once a month. I was no longer struggling to find the will to eat. I know that yes there is a good chance it will cause pain but there is also a good chance that just having a glass of bullion can cause the same level of pain.

Now I am at a point where I treat myself a bit more than once a month but I am still careful how I go about doing it. I'm also at a point where I can tolerate a heck of a lot more foods than I used to be able to.