02 Nov Here Kitty, Kitty

Holy mother of god, blockages hurt.

Like, a lot.

Yesterday, I experienced my first one in the almost 10 years of having an ostomy.

Well,  I’ve had some similar-to-a-blockage issues before, but nothing like I experienced yesterday.

Geez louise – do I never want to experience that again.

For those who have never experienced a blockage, it includes sharp pain to the abdomen, dizziness, and nausea, among other unpleasant things. Basically, they are awful.

The worst part about this particular blockage, however, was that I really did not see it coming. It came out of left field from eating a food that I’ve eaten plenty of times before with no issue. When I say “plenty of times before”, I also mean I’ve eaten this food in all-you-can-eat quantities before. Yesterday’s event was a complete surprise.

Luckily, I avoided the emergency room (barely) but I’m still feeling the after effects today. My tummy still hurts 🙁

Now why in the world did I get a blockage after eating food I’ve eaten tons of times before? I thought about it all day yesterday (since I had nothing else to do but roll around in bed in pain) and I think I came to a conclusion: stress.

Stress has been known to flare up Crohn’s disease – a disease which I am unlucky enough to have. Since I came back from my trip to Italy and Israel I’ve been nothing but a ball of stress. I’ve been working morning till night, barely leaving my house, and only seeing the light of day on rare occasions – really rare occasions since, as of late, there has been almost no sun in Toronto.

The cure for this stress, you might say, would be to take a break and relax. To just sit back in my PJs, enjoy some television and not focus on work, right?

Unfortunately, the stress that’s getting to me isn’t work. I’ve worked my way through high school, university, and grad school with tons of responsibilities and extra curriculars and not once has that ever affected my stomach. I’m hardwired to take on more than the average person and I thrive off of it. I only wish my stomach issues were based on overworking, because then I’d have an excuse to be lazy.

Instead, thanks to my lucky stars, my stress manifests itself from annoying interactions with other people. Interactions like arguing over insignificant things, or people playing mind games with me, or people that just wont stop bugging me and make me want to punch them in the face. It’s not like I care about the actual interactions, but sometimes these people just can’t be avoided and the whole thing can be utterly exhausting. This exhaustion, unfortunately, tends to reek havoc on my GI tract.

I’ve had this issue for a number of years and, so far, there’s nothing I’ve been able to do to change it.

Well, that’s because I haven’t taken the step to change it; the step I’ve always known would do the trick.

I need to become a cat lady:

I’ve been contemplating this move for a while now. I’ve dealt with so much crap from people that I’m totally ok just living in my mother’s basement, cutting myself off from human beings (except my mom cause I love her and she’s awesome), and surrounding myself with cats. Cats are great replacements for human beings because they usually just roam around don’t bother you. Sometimes they may scratch you or nip at you, but their cute fuzzy cuddles totally make up for it.

I’ve also come to this decision because I’ve heard that pets are great for reducing stress.

If I follow through with my plan, I will be making a few life changes. For one, I will only leave the house to buy groceries, cat food, and ostomy supplies. (Though, I could probably get those delivered. Actually, all of it delivered…) I will also only wear leggings paired with large sweaters with cats on them to prove my love for the feline race. I will also need to make some decor changes in my living space. Anyone have any spare one of these lying around?

I’m just really sick of getting sick because of other people. I can’t control other people, so it’s basically like I can’t control my own health. So, theoretically, if I stay away from people, I can stay away from pain. Right? Right.

It makes sense.

And I mean, come on, how can you not love this:

…Alright, alright, you caught me; I’m kidding.

I am not going to become a cat lady.

I really just wrote this post to regale you with cat memes (because they are awesome).

But I really really wrote this post to ask for your help on de-stressing. I am looking for tips to stay calm, cool, and collected so that I don’t get sick over silly little things.

So, friends, lay your tips on me. What do you do to ensure you don’t have blockages or Crohn’s flare ups when things get tough? Do you exercise? Are there movies I should watch? Is there anything I need to get prescribed to me? Whatchya got?

Oh, and if you don’t have any tips to share, that’s ok too. I’m taking donations so that I can buy this, just in case: