6/365 - HaPpY SpRiNg!

Usually spring in Vermont is more like winter but with a lot of mud. This year it feels like spring when I was a child in NJ. I like to have Hyacinths, pink ones around the house this time of year because the fragrance transports me back to Lake Rd. and my daily visits with my Nana for tea. This time of year reminds me of Nana the most. I remember one spring when my children where younger, we didn't have the money for anything but food. I would take a few Hyacinth plants put them in the grocery cart and do my shopping. Every few minutes I would just bend down and smell them. I then put them back on the shelf, bought our groceries and left with sweet memories of my Nana.

5/365 Sacred circle belly

photo by Kelly Pacheco © 2012

4/365 Crystal belly

Blissful weekend with beautiful Goddesses. My heart is filled with love and my belly filled with yummy food.

3/365 Corned beef hangover belly

Had such a nice evening eating St. Nana's day dinner with the family. I think I have a corned beef hangover. I am sure the Guinness had nothing to do with it.

Chillin' on the couch.

2/365 Beer Belly

I don't honor St. Patrick in the way my Irish Catholic ancestors or my family does. I honor and remember Nana on this day. My Nana, Loretta Bridget. Her mother Mary came from County Mayo in Ireland and I had the wonderful opportunity when I was 19 to visit Ireland with her, my mother and my brother Jim. I still wear the Erin sweater we bought together.

I always love having all the smells in the house that remind me of her. I make the traditional corned beef and cabbage and I make her Irish soda bread. After years of trying, I now make my own dairy-free Irish soda bread that tastes as close as I can get to Nana's. We drink Guinness stout and have Seamus Kennedy playing in the background. This year we are celebrating a few days early.

So, here's to Nana!

How about 365 days of my Belly Blog?

My belly is back! My challenge is to take a picture of my belly every day for the next year. Why? Because I liked how it made me feel when I was blogging about my belly. Even though I was brave enough to follow through the 30 days, I still have some hang-ups about my belly and I still suffer from ulcerative colitis.

1/365
So here is my belly after a visit to the Gastroenterologist, "A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the gastrointestial tract, including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas, liver, gallbadder and biliary system."

 I go in on April 2nd for a colonoscopy. "A colonoscopy is a procedure used to see inside the colon and rectum. It can detect inflamed tissue, ulcers, and abnormal growths. The procedure is used to look for early signs of colorectal cancer and can help doctors diagnose unexplained changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, bleeding from the anus, and weight loss." Of course this description left a few minor details out. Basically, you spend a day and night drinking nothing but clear liquids, taking serious doses of laxatives, and shitting all night until you are shitting clear liquid. Being at home with a lot of magazines or a good book necessary. The next day, you have air pumped into your intestines so they can stick a camera on a tube up your butt and through your entire large colon. Since I have had a colonoscopy so many times, I have had this procedure fully awake, and completely knocked out. I even watched the procedure as it was happening on television once.

Most people don't have this procedure until they are 50 when the doctors start checking for colorectal cancer. I have had them since I was 19 when I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. "Ulcerative colitis is a chronic, or long-lasting, disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the inner lining of the large intestine, which includes the colon and the rectum."

I consider myself very fortunate because I have been able to keep the symptoms at bay for most of my adult life through diet, exercise and a stress-free lifestyle. Unfortunately, with the hormonal changes of menopause, I have been having symptoms on and off for the last 2 years. Whenever I am in remission, I think I have been "cured" and when symptoms occur, I get really depressed and frustrated. I am staying positive and feeling better and better everyday.

I always welcome other people's belly photos and stories that I will post on the other blog, 30/30 Belly Blog Continued.

Belly Love!


http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/colitis/

Sick Belly in Florida

I started to feel sick yesterday morning just hours before my scheduled flight to Florida. My only prayer was that I wouldn't get sick on the airplane. I tried to attribute the pain to excitement but wasn't 100% sure about that. My body cooperated and I woke up this morning with severe cramps, puking and other nasty bodily functions. Amy is taking great care of me. I have a Lavender heating pad on my belly and a bowl of rice with cinnamon. I am sure I will get better faster because of her healing touch.