Just keep on keeping on...

Well friends, after another round of extensive and wildly humiliating GI testing, I have both good news and...well...challenging news (it seems depressing to call it bad persay).

The good news? Physiologically, my tests come back normal.

Yes, normal! A word I haven't heard in a loooooong time.

Normal means that, albeit slowly, my body is healing. Technically speaking, no part of my GI system is actually paralyzed anymore and the damage from the virus is very slowly reversing itself.

The challenging news? My nervous system doesn't seem to care that physiologically, my body has resumed working.

Right. Extra special, as per usual.

Your GI system is actually fascinatingly complex. When we think of the GI system, we generally think of eating and, well, ridding ourselves of that food from the other end. Turns out, the GI system actually has its very own nervous system, that works on its own, without much assistance from the brain. 90% of your body's serotonin lies in your gut...hence you feel so satisfied and happy after a bite of your dessert of choice.

My body has gone through a lot and the combination of a debilitating virus, a bobo thyroid, malnutrition, tube feelings and a disgustingly long line of trial pharmaceuticals has left my body with one heck of a case of visceral hypersensitivity. As I've mentioned before, visceral hypersensitivity is kind of like PTSD of the nervous system. Basically when your body has gone through so much trauma, it shuts the doors in an attempt to protect itself from any further damage. This is just one of the many ways that our body is so amazing and on its own, decides to protect what had already been so compromised.

The tricky part, is convincing your body that it's safe to open the doors again, and that, my friends, is where I am stuck.

I'm stuck, because, it doesn't actually matter what I eat, my body doesn't want it. It doesn't want new medicine or new clothes or cleaning products. It doesn't want anything but to be left alone.

Minor problem that you actually need nutrients to survive. Details.

So while it's wonderfully heart warming and exciting that my system is healing, it's also a bit of a tease.

Bottom line is that I have to be patient. Like it or not, my body is going to heal on its own terms, and all I can do is continue to do everything in my power to be as healthy as possible. I'll continue to exercise daily and get enough rest. I'll continue to juice every fruit and vegetable I can get my hands on and track down to the most minute detail, every calorie that I ingest. I made the Olympic team for healthy living, but I don't have much to show for my hard work quite yet.

And above all, I'll continue to cross every finger and toe, that the eviction of my thyroid is the true reset button that my body has been waiting for. Seems a little bizarre to be semi-enthusiastic about recovering from losing a vital organ, but hey, I'm just spicing it up a bit.

Until then friends, just keep on keeping on...I'm not going to win the gold but I may just make the podium yet.