The picture on the left was taken in Indiana shortly after we were married. It's not the greatest quality due to it being scanned and the picture was grainy to begin with. The picture on the right was taken last summer in Yellowstone. As of today, Matt weighs 165 lbs.
During the time that we lived in Indiana, Matt's weight fluctuated between 135 and 140. My husband is about 5'10" just for some idea of what he might have looked like back then. After we tried the Maker's Diet, which, although I believe in the diet and Jordan Rubin's products, Matt didn't see much improvement. That may have been in part because of the strictness of the diet at the beginning. So, after a month, we decided to go back to our normal habits of eating.
Our typical pantry consisted of ground beef, chicken breasts, white flour, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, whole milk, butter, olive oil, a few almonds here and there, white pasta, white rice, potatoes, and stuff like that. I've never really used boxed or prepackaged foods since we've been married. I was never raised on that stuff either. So, we went back to eating what I would call, "normal."
Matt didn't really have too many problems after that and after living in Indiana for 3 years, we decided to move home to Montana. Well, my home of Montana. Matt is originally from Indiana. After being back in Montana, Matt saw a new local gastro doctor who diagnosed him with Ulcerative Colitis. He had a small flare up, nothing a little prednisone and upping of his current medication, Imuran, couldn't handle. Or maybe not... Honestly, I don't care for the drugs, but there's more to this story.
About a year and half after being back in Montana, Matt came down with the stomach flu. When you have children at home, it's a given that you'll come down with something, whether it be a cold, flu or a stomach virus. Well, Matt got a bad flu and he wasn't able to stay hydrated. This flu ended up throwing him into one of the biggest flare ups that we had faced together. He ended up in the hospital to get rehydrated and to receive a short-notice colonoscopy. Turned out that 20 centimeters of the lowest part of his colon was raw hamburger. Not the best prognosis.
Matt's doctor was extremely concerned and gave us the dreaded surgery option or the option of trying a new medication called Remicade. To us, it was a no-brainer. We decided to try the Remicade infusions. He received one while he was in the hospital and has since had a three hour remicade infusion every 8 weeks.
Has Matt had any other flare ups and is he cured? Not really, but he hasn't had a flare up like the one that landed him in the hospital. He's had several colonoscopies since that time, and a few minor flare ups since then as well. We've learned what works for Matt is catching a flare up right at the beginning and getting regular colonoscopies.
I'd really like to share how we now eat. However, I believe this post is long enough and basically covers in a nutshell, without too many gory details, of which Matt was afraid I was going to reveal, our journey with Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
Thanks for caring, Jenna
During the time that we lived in Indiana, Matt's weight fluctuated between 135 and 140. My husband is about 5'10" just for some idea of what he might have looked like back then. After we tried the Maker's Diet, which, although I believe in the diet and Jordan Rubin's products, Matt didn't see much improvement. That may have been in part because of the strictness of the diet at the beginning. So, after a month, we decided to go back to our normal habits of eating.
Our typical pantry consisted of ground beef, chicken breasts, white flour, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, whole milk, butter, olive oil, a few almonds here and there, white pasta, white rice, potatoes, and stuff like that. I've never really used boxed or prepackaged foods since we've been married. I was never raised on that stuff either. So, we went back to eating what I would call, "normal."
Matt didn't really have too many problems after that and after living in Indiana for 3 years, we decided to move home to Montana. Well, my home of Montana. Matt is originally from Indiana. After being back in Montana, Matt saw a new local gastro doctor who diagnosed him with Ulcerative Colitis. He had a small flare up, nothing a little prednisone and upping of his current medication, Imuran, couldn't handle. Or maybe not... Honestly, I don't care for the drugs, but there's more to this story.
About a year and half after being back in Montana, Matt came down with the stomach flu. When you have children at home, it's a given that you'll come down with something, whether it be a cold, flu or a stomach virus. Well, Matt got a bad flu and he wasn't able to stay hydrated. This flu ended up throwing him into one of the biggest flare ups that we had faced together. He ended up in the hospital to get rehydrated and to receive a short-notice colonoscopy. Turned out that 20 centimeters of the lowest part of his colon was raw hamburger. Not the best prognosis.
Matt's doctor was extremely concerned and gave us the dreaded surgery option or the option of trying a new medication called Remicade. To us, it was a no-brainer. We decided to try the Remicade infusions. He received one while he was in the hospital and has since had a three hour remicade infusion every 8 weeks.
Has Matt had any other flare ups and is he cured? Not really, but he hasn't had a flare up like the one that landed him in the hospital. He's had several colonoscopies since that time, and a few minor flare ups since then as well. We've learned what works for Matt is catching a flare up right at the beginning and getting regular colonoscopies.
I'd really like to share how we now eat. However, I believe this post is long enough and basically covers in a nutshell, without too many gory details, of which Matt was afraid I was going to reveal, our journey with Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
Thanks for caring, Jenna