Moo too!

A month ago I posted an entry to this blog about the dairy allergy I’d acquired after the bone marrow transplant. In late August I figured out that the problem with my guts was due to dairy and thus began my vegan diet.

My sister-in-law, Debbie, has done extensive research on the issues of dairy sensitivities. There are three components of dairy that cause trouble. Potentially I was allergic to the milk proteins, casein and whey. Another possibility is that I’m not able to digest lactose. My doctor expected that the dairy problem would be temporary and I recently thought it was now time to see if dairy would still make me suffer gastrointestinal indignities. The milk protein casein is in all forms of dairy. Lactose and whey can be reduced or eliminated from some dairy products.

In a pessimistic mood, I figured that I would probably still be allergic to dairy so I started my self-testing with casein; if I reacted to casein then no dairy would be ok yet. I picked a time when I could be at home (i.e. near a bathroom) for at least 2 days to start my experiments. I’d learned from my original trial with dairy-free diet that it takes at least 2 days for the dairy to clear my system and my guts to settle down. I found a good source of casein that had no lactose or whey: soy cheese. Odd huh? The casein is used in some soy cheeses to bind the soy ingredients. Surprise, surprise I didn’t react to the casein. That’s a good start.

Now in an optimistic mood, I tried various forms of whole milk: yogurt, milk and cheese. I know that casein is not the problem, is lactose or whey going to torpedo me? Wasn’t I amazed that once again I didn’t react to the foods? So ends my forced march through the rigors of vegan eating.

Pizza, cheese on pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches, and actual yogurt (anyone want the leftover soy yogurts?) have all found their way across my tongue. Yum. I’m still a bit nervous about recklessly relaxing into a diet rich in dairy, but I’m much more relaxed being able to eat some good normal favorites.

News

So… what’s new this week?

Good news from Dana Farber this week, today my visit there was my 5^th in a row that didn’t need a transfusion of red blood cells. All of my blood counts were up, at least a bit. That’s good and a little unusual, at least for me.

Good news that I’ve been feeling well and more energetic lately. I got permission to return to riding my bicycle on Tuesday last week so Barbara and I went out for rides on Wednesday and Thursday. We would have gone out for more rides but schedules and weather argued the point and won. I’ve been enjoying indoor exercise as well. My friend, David, loaned me his spiffy indoor rowing machine. Well… you’ve seen what great shape those members of the crew team are in. David helped me set up the machine next to my exercise bike and gave me basic instructions for using it. There is a proper and powerful motion for the rowing stroke; David showed me that too. I tried using the machine a bit and he suggested that I start with about a 5 minute rowing workout at least in the beginning. The rowing motion and forces are smooth and gentle. 5 minutes is so little, so wimpy. The next day I rowed, pulling hard and getting a good workout for my 6 minutes of rowing. I might have rowed longer but I pulled a muscle in my back. How did he know that exactly 5.000 minutes is my limit? 4 days later I was able to slowly start using the rowing machine in a humbler sort of way. I think that maybe I simply don’t have any muscles anymore.

Good news from our sons, Robert and David. We heard from both recently and they report that they are happy where they are. Rob is back in the Peace Corps teaching math in a Guinean village. He’s in a nicer school with a reasonable number of students and living in an upscale house that has indoor toilets (but no running water, go figure.) David is studying in Budapest; he spent last weekend in Prague. He seems to be having way too much fun and benefiting from the experience.

I hope you are enjoying some good news too!