The results are in

And they're normal. 

Wow. 

There's a first time for everything. I have no ulcers and no crohns, my pouch looks good and the doctors are happy. 

The pain and spasms I've been experiencing are being attributed to a naughty belly and bowel. Not surprising really after all they've been through in the last 6 years. They're protesting loudly and making it known that they're not happy. 

My Grandma, who despite having dementia can be as sharp as a knife, hit the nail on the head today. She told my Mum that the doctors have created new insides for me and that I have to be weaned, like a baby. She's right and that's probably why I can cope with sloppy food like mash and gravy, custard and soup but things like pizza and falafel (evil, evil stomach blocking things!) upset it and cause me a great deal of pain. 

I also have a suspicion that I may have a problem with wheat. I had some tests done at a health food shop a few years ago when I was desperate to find a way to 'cure' my colitis that told me at the time that I was intolerant to wheat. 

But as pasta and pizza were my staple diet I was reluctant to cut it out as it meant that there would be hardly anything left that I could eat. (I'm vegetarian and at the time, like now, had to limit all fibre so was unable to eat fruit or veg so didn't have many other options)

Last weekend my sister brought me a small tiger bread loaf and I munched my way through it over the days that followed and had the most awful tummy pains. But back on mash and gravy I was fine. 

Tonight I had a child's size pizza for dinner and nothing else and I've been in pain and feeling sick ever since. Now the tests say there's no reason for me to feel like that, and I'm pretty sure it's not all in my head (if it is cart me off to the crazy ward now!) so there has to be a reason. Surely??

I think when I get home I will try wheat free pasta and bread etc and see if that makes a difference. A very good friend has been following a wheat free diet for a few years now so I will get some hints and tips from her. 

Maybe though it's not that and I'm just clutching at straws, wanting there to be a reason for the pain. Maybe I do just need to be patient and let everything settle down; let it all heal. Maybe in its own time my body will adjust to its new anatomical design and be ok. It's just that I'm not a patient person and I had really hoped this operation would make me better. I don't want to spend months or even weeks in a funny limbo of being kind of well but still not quite right. I've got too many exciting things planned for this year and funnily enough being unwell or coming back to hospital isn't one of them!

NB x