What a week it has been! I’ve done everything from running 10 miles to baking one of my new favorite foods. But what I haven’t told you was about the time I went to the ER on Wednesday. After I feeling like I had insatiable hunger all day, my tummy took a turn for the worse–it turned from hunger into intense pain. The tummy pains I was feeling was unlike anything I’d ever had before; I was feeling like someone socked me (repeatedly) in the gut in my upper stomach. Finally, my mom convinced me to go to the ER and have it checked out.
This was my first ER visit (for me) and it was no fun. I spent 6 hours waiting until they finally told me that they couldn’t find anything wrong with me from my labs and the other tests they had done. They guessed, they said, that it was probably just gastritis (aka a stomach flu). While I was happy to hear that nothing serious was wrong with me, I was still frustrated that it took that long to hear nothing could be done to help. I left at 5 AM in the morning, still in pain, and really tired.
I spent Thursday and Friday eating practically nothing (and thus, no food blogging). Anything I did would aggravate my stomach, so I stuck to a mostly liquid diet of soup, water, Powerade, and Sprite. Normally, I don’t have regular soda or high frutose Powerade, but being unable to get my calories the normal way, something had to give.
Happily, I am starting to feel a bit better. Some foods still aggravate my stomach, but I’ve been taking some OTC meds to help my stomach deal with the food and heal. Let’s hope I can kick whatever this is within the next few days!!
Yesterday, I was feeling good enough to go to the Minnesota Renaissance Fair with Josh and my sister, Lindsay. After spending all of Thursday and Friday inside, on the couch, I was happy to get some fresh air.
Josh, Lindsay, and I wandered a bit before eating. I love the Renaissance Fair for all of its random shops and amusing acts. Josh had never been to a Renaissance Fair before, so we did as much wandering as we could.
I love seeing all the people dressed up in the traditional Renaissance attire. I wonder how many of the dressed up people actually work at the Fair and how many just dress up for fun?
When we did stop to eat, I had this gyro. Since I am supposed to be eating bland foods, I scrapped off as much of the peppers and sauce as I could, so that I eat just the lamb and pita bread. Boring? Yep. Can’t wait to eat normal foods and meals again.
I also drank a cupful of Egyptian Mead. Mead is basically fermented honey (it’s alcoholic), and it can be very sweet. This Egyptian Mead is fermented honey brewed with hibicus flowers. It was delicious! The mead was still sweet, but the hibicus cut some of the sweetness and added a slight tartness to it. Anyone know where I can get my hands on some online, at a liquor store or from a winery?
The Renaissance Fair also allows people to bring their dogs in. We saw all kinds of dogs, including these GIANT dogs. Apparently, they are called Irish Wolfhounds, and they are big. Big dogs usually put me on my guard, but these ones seemed sweet.
I bet having one of these dogs in the house is like having another person. I wonder how much they eat?!
Watching the tomato throwers is one thing I do at the fair every year. Basically, the guy getting the tomatoes thrown at him hurls insults at the throwers, and so the throwers hurl tomatoes back. It was cute seeing this little kid try to throw the tomatoes (and get mad when he missed!).
The guy in the cage was my favorite. While we there, he was pontificating by saying things like:
“When a man and a woman love each other very much…they get kids and their life is over. They steal your time, your money, and your sh*t!”
and
(When a two man band consisting of an accordion and a guitar came over)
“Where in hell did this band come from? Of all the bands, I get these guys and a lousy accordion. (Band plays louder to cover up man’s ranting) Can’t you two shut up?!”
As his sign says, he was the “Too Much Information Booth.”
Fairs are fun. Fairs where people dress up, provide street entertainment, and engage with random strangers are even better 
After the excitement of the fair, I came home and took a nap. When I woke up, all I wanted was soup. Soup in a breadbowl to be exact. Josh and I headed to Panera Bread. When we got up to order, the cashier told us that they were out of breadbowls! 
Instead, I ordered a cup of chicken noodle soup and a half of a tomato & mozzarella panini.
Even though the food was decent, I was still sad about my breadbowl. On the bright side, my tummy didn’t have any significant problems with my dinner!
Time to go catch up on all the work I missed while being sick on Thursday and Friday. Here’s hoping that I can get caught up by Monday!
I think they should have giving you a free meal. How can panera be out of bread bowls? Isn’t that their signature?
I think so too! They did give us two free drink cups, which we really didn’t want though.
Just found your blog. So sorry about the ER trip.
I’m also a law student, so I’m excited to read more of your blog.
Just something to consider if you have another unfortunate trip to ER. If you have the same symptoms they may need to test you for pancreatitis (if they didn’t already). I had it earlier this year and your symptoms sound very similar mine.
I’m doing fine now, but could have no food for about a week, and then low-fat, bland food for a while after. But hopefully it doesn’t happen and all is well!
Yes, they did test me for the pancreatitis. Everything came back clear, so they told me to watch how I was feeling and to come back in if anything starts to feel worse, if the pain gets more localized, or if I develop other symptoms. Hoping that it will all go away on its own though!
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hi