After 9 Days Without Incident...

After 9 days without incident, I finally pooped today!  What a huge relief! I was beginning to skip meals because the pressure in my stomach was too uncomfortable. Thankfully, with the long weekend I felt confident intentionally over dosing on laxatives because I would be at home in case of an "emergency". Desperate times call for desperate measures.

In other news, I've been having knee pain in my left knee. At first I noticed it after a few runs in the past weeks below my kneecap, but during my Saturday run I felt the pain during and after my run. According to WebMD, it's jumper's knee. That's a little weird considering I've been running, not jumping. However, I did use to experience this back in high school when I played basketball.

Sudden Change in Bowel Habits

For the first time since starting Remicade I find myself constipated.  I felt a little backed up on Saturday, but I attributed it to my period. Well, my period is over and I'm still struggling to poop. I don't want to wait this out, so I took some laxatives tonight in hopes it will help get me regular again. In the past, laxatives don't usually work right away, which makes me skeptical of how quickly I'll actually find relief. I've also been trying to eat less to decrease the potential backup. It's hard because my appetite is raging! I'm so hungry that only having one dinner is making my stomach growl. I desperately want to poop so that I can EAT.ALL.THE.FOOD!

I Pooped!!!!!

Today at work, I pooped! I even pooped again when I got home! Does anyone else get excited about taking a shit? As I flushed I pumped my fists into the air to celebrate before washing my hands. It's frustrating how one week I can be pooping my brains out and the next week I could be willing to give my life just to have a bowel movement. My life often revolves around my bowel habits.  It's kind of sad how much I think about it throughout the day. I know it could be worse, but I also know it could be better. I haven't had any stomach pain lately.

Perhaps the coconut oil pills helped the constipation. However, my money is on the Senokot laxative tablets. Shh, don't tell my doctor... I probably wasn't supposed to take those because she says senna, the active ingredient, can turn my colon black. As if my colon isn't ugly enough let me turn it black. That sounds like a title to a book: The Black Colon.

In other news, on September 1st I will be switching off my parents' insurance plan and onto my own plan through work. Once I do that there's no turning back. Thankfully, it's still with United Health Care, so I'm hoping the switch won't be too difficult regarding continued coverage for Cimzia. I'm not really concerned if I have to find different doctors in network because I'm not in love with my current doctors.  At least I'm not stressing about it. I'll deal with the switch when the time comes. I'm also getting vision, life and my 401k will kick in in October. I'm growing up and it feels good! I'm also looking forward to my 90 day review in October where it's likely I'll be getting a pay bump.