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RJRDaydreamer.com

My name is John and I have IBS

I have pondered about writing this blog post for some time, but the time has never seemed right, until today. I hope that perhaps it will help someone understand or deal with IBS

"Irritable Bowel Syndrome is the name given to a longstanding illness consisting of frequent abdominal discomfort and bowel symptoms that cannot be explained by any other disease."
[source IBS network.org]

There are many triggers for IBS episodes and although some are common to all people, others are very specific to individuals. I believe that after receiving a diagnosis, the most important thing you can do, is identify your triggers.

Although I have considered myself as having a sensitive stomach for most of my life, I was not diagnosed with IBS until about 5 years ago. Finding and avoiding triggers has been a part of my life for each day of those 5 years.

Symptoms

IBS suffers can experience a range of symptoms. The condition can be broken into subsets of IBS-C or IBS-D, the suffix letter being constipation or diarrhea. Very lucky people like me have IBS C&D.
Along with sudden onset bowel movements, most sufferers have abdominal pain of a similar intensity to a stitch, generally in the left side just behind the belt line. This stitch like pain can last all day.

What's happening inside

The last section of the intestines. the colon, is a muscle tube that pulsates in a wave like fashion. Initially it is easy to think that eating a trigger food, such as raw onion, results in an urgent visit to the toilet, because the food is going "straight through the system" In reality the onion entering the stomach triggers a spasm affect lower in the colon, which can make it move previous meals rapidly, diarrhea, or cause the colon to freeze, again painful but resulting in constipation. The sigmoid colon is where most pain occurs.

Diagnosis 

The process of diagnosis is actually more ruling out other potential problems. For me the final indicator was a colonoscopy. The nurse who did my prep, reassuringly told me that most people don't need a sedative for the procedure as it doesn't hurt, then tagged on "unless you have IBS and then you may feel significant discomfort". I remembered those words during the procedure, as I was bent double in pain, begging for a bowl as I felt sick and with a nurse pinning me down to stop me moving. The procedure was cut short with the doctor saying "It's IBS"

Managing

As I wrote earlier the daily life of a sufferer is finding and avoiding, or at least coping with, triggers. Medication available is in the form of antispasmodic tablets. I now resort to taking the tablets only when I have sustained painful episodes.
My eating habits are now very predictable. Those that know me well think I am really boring, always ordering the same meals in restaurants. The reality is, it's safer to stick to what you know than risk the effects whilst out.

Triggers

Different for everyone, but here are some of mine

Onions especially, raw on a salad, or fried onion rings.
Spicy food, hot curries and seasonings.
Too much bread.
Non soluble roughage such as bran and rye.
Excessive amounts of red meat.
Too many vegetables.
Green leaf salads, rocket, kale etc.
Just eating a meal prepared in a different way than I am use to.

 

In addition to food triggers, stress can cause episodes too, including.
Confrontational situations.
Interviews, tests, worrying about other illness's, doctors appointments.
Public speaking or standing in front of people to teach.
The worst and most ironic situation is fear of not being neat a toilet. This last trigger can be debilitating and self fulfilling if you let it!

The IBS network produces cards you can keep in your wallet for emergencies. IBS sufferers also qualify for a RADAR key to access locked toilets.

Good food and habits.

Soluble roughage such as porridge and boiled rice.
Eating porridge every morning changed my life for the better.
Swapping battered fish and chips for pan fried fish fillet and rice also had a great affect.
Stick to foods you know and trust, unless you feel the enjoyment of a meal outweighs the consequences.

Regular exercise such as running helps digestion.

The stress related triggers are harder to manage. These are best done with relaxation and breathing techniques or if all else fails, go to the toilet twice before the event starts !!

If you or someone you know has IBS its not something that is easy to speak about, but that is just because we don't speak about it enough.

More information can be found on the website of the IBS Network

Running Man

In April 2016 my life changed, hopefully forever. How you may ask? 

Well I didn't change a personal relationship or take a new job. I didn't find religion, I already found that a long time ago. The change came in understanding I needed to look after me. Not in an emotional sense, rather my body was beginning to show signs of getting old and I came to realise I didn't like that feeling.

To be fair, my beautiful wife was my inspiration, not that she told me to get to and fix things, rather she decided she wanted to be healthier and fitter and chose to take up running. 

Between us, like any couple rapidly approaching 50, we have our fair share of medical challenges. For me I have a chronic condition known as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) sometimes I would have it under control , sometimes I just lived with pain, and on rare occasions it took control of me. 

I could easily use it for an excuse not to exercise. 

Neither of us have really been involved in any sport since we were much younger. My last sustained athletics attempts were High School. We both have physically demanding jobs, Joanne is a physiotherapist and I do construction work, and finding motivation to get fit was a low priority. Our main exercise for the past 3 years had been dog walking, couple of miles on a weekend and round the block on weekdays.

So with a wife motivated and determined to run a full mile, without stopping, I could either support with applause or go run with her. Thankfully my desire to protect her from unsavoury characters and wild bears prompted me to run at her side. 

It was hard! 

But of all the things Joanne could have chosen , running suited me best. 

We are both tall , long legged so surely covering ground should be easy !?!

Early on we determined we had to be sensible and invested in appropriate equipment, even though we felt a little fake, returning home dressed like professional runners, but out of breath after just a mile !!

We bought decent running shoes, we couldn't risk unnecessary injuries. we bought GPS watches that monitor heart rate , we didn't want to run ourselves into hospital! 

And of course we now both own various colourful items of clothing that contain Lycra. 

Having the correct equipment does three things:

It makes you feel the part

It aids your performance

It motivates you to continue so you haven't wasted your money !

In quite a short time the single mile goal became a couple of miles. The once a week workouts became three of four times a week. The apps on our phones began to highlight improvements. We began to change our diet to suit our new life. Not only did my fitness improve but I found my general health did too. Finally taking an interest in diet and researching what I should eat became interesting. 

I began to control my IBS rather than it control me. 

We signed up for Parkrun events. Free 5k (3.1miles) held in local parks on Saturday mornings. Our first park run was a push, but we achieved a finish, only because we had built up our distance on every run prior to it. Yes there were a couple of times in that first event that we walked a short distance, But we completed. 

So where are we now, nearly 4 months on.  

I'm nearly a stone lighter. 

My posture has improved , I stand a little taller. 

I can feel every muscle under my flesh. 

I eat a lot healthier, I haven't visited McDonald's for over 6 weeks. 

From day to day I forget I have IBS. 

My clothes are too big. 

I feel 10 years younger. 

My body no longer craves junk food.

I have more energy and stamina 

I've lost my sweet tooth. I can eat two digestives if I want, but without wanting to finish the packet. 

What I do crave is the chemical rush that comes from exercise and the sense of achievement from improvement.

So how far have we come with the running? 

Since I started recording running sessions via an phone app called mapmyrun, my accumulative distance to-date  is over 120 miles.

We now routinely run distances of 5k or more, around three times a week. 

Joanne has entered us for a 10k (6.2 mile) race in Blackpool at the end of August. At first I thought it was a run too far, an un-achievable goal. But last night we completed out first ever 10k training run. We weren't quick, logging a time of 1 hour 12 mins . But we were alive, and impressed we can now run for 72 mins non stop, 

It's fair to say we won't be going to the Rio Olympics this year. However we just may have improved our health enough to live a little longer and be fit and active enough to enjoy it more. 

Anyone can get fit, running a 30 min mile or a 4 min mile is still running a mile. 

So stop reading and go do some exercise!!!!

. Run . Walk . Cycle . Swim . Tennis . Football .

24 Weeks in Greece

In my last post I talked about our son leaving home, to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, in Greece.. He has now been gone for 24 weeks, reads writes and speaks fluent Greek and does his own Washing !

Its a strange experience when a child goes from being dependent to being independent. We look forward to regular emails and pictures every Monday. The picture above is of him standing on Mars Hill in Athens, famed for being the place Paul the apostle preached. He has also spent several weeks living in Thessaloniki, which again may sound familiar if you know the names of the New Testament books. Below was taken on the waterfront at Thessaloniki.

We have been compiling his weekly emails into a blog.. which can be found HERE

Saying goodbye is the hardest thing...

Yesterday we said goodbye to our 18 year old son, for 2 years...

Having just completed A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry he has a place at Manchester University studying for a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

However he has chosen to defer his place for 2 years, the reason? 

He has opted to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He applied for his missionary service around Christmas time not knowing where in the world he would be sent. The application process involves interviews, medicals and more interviews. In April he received his assignment to serve in Greece and Cyprus. He instantly felt it was the "right place for him" and in between studying for A levels has been getting to grips with basic Greek and reading things like

The Iliad and Odyssey.

So yesterday we dropped him at the Missionary Training Centre where he will be spending 9 weeks to learn Greek and missionary skills, then flying to Athens. Once in Athens he will be paired with a more experienced missionary and live among the Greek people.

As members of the Church ourselves we always knew Jacob would probably decide to serve a mission, I did myself 25 years ago. But nothing prepares you for the day you wave goodbye. We know he will be safe, we know we will exchange emails every week, but we will miss him being around. 

I will miss my "best mate" but at the same time I am so proud of the man he has become.

If you would like a peek into the life of a "Mormon" missionary, that is a little less weirdly edited than Chanel 4s "Meet the Mormons" documentary. Please pop over and take a look at the blog we will be keeping of his preparation and adventures.. 

Elder Teal

I married the girl of my dreams TWICE

My Princess

This weekend we celebrate our wedding anniversary.. We have enjoyed 22 years of married life and I think part of the reason for our success is that we got married TWICE.. Yes you read that correctly we had two wedding ceremonies.

On the 23rd of May 1992, Joanne and I married in a civil ceremony at our local chapel in Oldham. It was a regular wedding, we had a best man, bridesmaids a walk up the isle and a reception in the church hall. It was a wonderful day, with all our family and friends around us

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a problem with a regular church wedding, even our own. Every wedding service I have been too included the phrase "For the period of this mortal life" or "Til death do us part" Think about that for a minute. 

We were and are, madly and passionately in love, we didn't want a built in cancellation to our commitment. We believe in a life after death, but as the song by Queen asks "Who wants to live forever, if love must die"

Fortunately death, however far away it may seem, does not have to be an end. There is a place you can go to be sealed for "Time and all Eternity"  Love does not have to die, we can be families forever.
That place is a Temple.

In our case, in 1992 the only temple in the UK was in London and it was closed for an extended period to be refurbished. We didn't want to wait for its opening, so as part of our wedding plans we had organised to have our honeymoon in Franfurt Germany, where the next nearest Temple could be found.
(There is now a second UK temple in Preston)

After our civil Wedding on the Saturday we went home to the house we had bought in Ashton-under-Lyne. Then on the Saturday we drove to London, stayed over night and took a flight to Germany.

On the 26th of May 1992 we entered the Frankfurt Temple and in a room not dissimilar to the one below we knelt facing each other at the alter and were married a second time, by someone holding the authority to seal us together for Eternity.

It was a complete contrast to our civil wedding, we traveled to Germany without our family,
there were no bridesmaids or receptions, just us, a couple of witnesses and our beliefs.

Outside the Frankfurt Temple

This short video with comments from living apostles explains more and shows the sealing rooms better than a photograph can.. Please take a couple of minutes to enjoy it.

Of course being sealed doesn't mean you face no problems, you still have to work at a relationship, you still have trials. However I think having a LONG term ETERNAL plan makes your realise what matters most and gives you a different perspective and perhaps a greater desire to make it work.

Do I love Joanne as much as I did, no.. I love her much more.

Garden Railway

It was a Saturday, the sun was out, the dogs had been walked, the errands run... 

So why not run some trains in the garden

March the 1st 2014... Has Spring Sprung ?

Eighteenth Birthday

No not my 18th Birthday!! (I just think I'm 18)

 Today our boy became a man and turned 18.

Land mark birthdays in the life of your children make you pause for thought, hence the video. Jacob is not our eldest, our daughter Rachel will be 21 this year. It doesn't seem like five minutes have passed since some of the pictures were taken.

Children truly are the greatest of Gods gifts ! 

Houdapitt Cottages Bude

On the first weekend in December Joanne and I took a short 3 night break in the outskirts of Bude, North Cornwall. We stayed in a beautiful farm cottage that was part of a small group of cottages converted from farm buildings. Only a mile from Sandymouth Bay and very dog friendly, they are an ideal retreat.

More info HERE

We love the beach and were not disappointed by our first "winter" visit to North Cornwall. We had to wrap up warm but in return we had various beaches to ourselves. Much like being the first person to leave footprints in fresh snow, it was fun to look back and see only our prints on the sand.

Max and Jessie had an amazing time, although Max was not to keen on getting wet

Jessie however is a real water babe !

When not on the beach we took a trip to Tintagel Castle and enjoyed a warming bowl of home made soup in the English Heritage cafe (dog friendly) We also visited the fishing village of Port Issac which is probably more famous now as the film set for TV's "Doc Martin" than it is for fish.

As the daylight hours were short we spent the evening relaxing watching TV and enjoying Max and Jessie's new pastime of eating out at local dog friendly Pubs.

Above the dogs relaxing after dinner in front of the London Inn's log fire

Below hoping for a chip, under the table at the Kings Arms

 

To say both these pubs were dog friendly is an understatement. They are more than welcoming and served excellent home cooked food, at good prices for big meals. 

Both pubs also handed out generous amounts of dog biscuits, Gravy bones being a favourite of Jessie

All in all we had an excellent 4 days to relax, play and recharge, cant wait to go again !

If you haven't seen enough picture already here are the rest in a video

This post originally appeared on our other blog 

Jessie the Cockapoo and Max too

Economic Growth

When there are no more resources 

for an economy to grow,

Do the RICH get more 

by taking from the POOR?

Dog Food

We have other blogs, one of which is all about our dogs, Jessie the Cockapoo and Max too.

A couple of recent entries on the "Dog Blog" have been about dog food, whats in it and why we are unwittingly feeding our hounds that they cant digest... The vast majority of modern dog food is high in grains and low in meat. Which makes for food a dog is not designed to digest. Back in the day, when I was younger, dogs ate table scraps  which were probably meat and two veg ! But for commercial reasons manufacturers have convinced us that our dogs should eat grains, why, probably because they are cheap to produce and have a pretty good mark up.

We have done a fair bit of research and we now feed our dogs EDEN Holistic dog food

Launched in September 2012 it is the first pet food with an 80% Meat content. 

The remaining 20% is made up from Fruit, Herbs, Vitamins and Minerals. 

Basically it is all the foods a dogs ancestors would have had access to and therefore what a dogs digestive system is designed to cope with.

Note Eden Food contains NO grain or Gluten which is cheap and often used to bulk out commercial food, but has no food value to a dog.

The following is from the Eden Home Page

Based on the Ancestral diet of your pet with a diversity of meat, fish and eggs

Biologically Aligned with 80-20-0 profile

Nutritionally Aligned complete food with a high content of quality animal protein

Formulated without Grain or Gluten

Freshly prepared meats are prepared to an equivalent human food grade standard

Salmon and Herring packed with Omega 3

Low Carbohydrate content with fruit and vegetables

Prebiotics to support digestion

Health supporting Herbs, Vitamins and Minerals

Additional Joint Supplements

Made in Britain and very proud of it!

Our decision to use this food was based on considerable research into dog foods and nutrition and we have found both of our hounds are thriving on it

We would strongly recommend that you visit  www.whichdogfood.co.uk

which is an independently run site aimed at advising owners about the content of the food they use. 

Check out what you are giving your dog !

Interestingly Eden is the only Kibble to gain a 5 star rating.

A Typical Meal

Both our dogs eat the same food, Eden is not breed or age specific. It is highly nutritious and you don't need to feed large quantities. The only problem we have found, is that having changed from a high grain content food, the dogs think they need more food than they do. For that reason we add additional raw chicken to add some volume. The Chicken is minced and includes meat and bone to further enhancing the dogs Biologically Appropriate diet.   

The pink bowl is Jessies and contains 70g of Eden 

which is one of two meals she gets each day as a 9.5Kg dog.

The blue bowl is for max the puppy and has a little less. Note he has an anti gulp bowl... 

He likes his food so we need to slow down his eating !

The white bowl is some chicken mince to add in. 

Note both bowls of Eden Kibble also contain boiling water to soften it and release the smell.

Above the meals are ready to go with the chicken mince added

Jessie use to pick and choose at her old food, 

she is now really keen and so we slow her eating down by making her 

eat around a large pebble

As you can see above, the smell is captivating ! 

The picture above is not out of order, its not the before but the after, 

you can see they don't leave anything

Above is the bag of frozen chicken mince we use. Many Eden users add extra chicken in the form of a couple of raw whole chicken wings per week, we are honest and say we are a bit squeamish at that thought.

Out of interest at the same time as switching to Eden we bought a set of scales to weigh the dogs. We wanted to be able to adjust the feeding to keep weights as they should be.

We found that switching from a feed with a high grain content resulted in a dip in Jessie's weight. This was only brief and as she replaced a bit of lost flab with muscle, the weight came back. She is now more toned and lean. Max being younger hadn't had a chance put on any excess, as his graph shows he is growing at a very steady rate.

We did experience a period of detox during change over ( A few days of loose poops) Several articles we have read point out that many commercial feeds contain twice as many preservatives as a BigMac ! So its not surprising really ! Plus if the feed they are having contains grains and fillers they cant digest, at some point they will come out ! 

Conclusion

Eden sounds like a luxury food, it actually works out cheaper than the Royal Canin the dogs were on. 

Cheaper per Kg to buy and as the portions are smaller its lasts longer too.

It is considerably dearer than a food such as Wagg, but when you read that foods contents, you may as well feed them the bag it came in. The hidden saving is in vet bills. More and more people are realising the cost in health that feeding inappropriate foods brings. Allergies in dogs is rising along with skin complaints and all manner of other ailments. Hardly surprising if we continue to feed inappropriate foods.

Our dogs eat a healthier diet than we do, but that's because we can choose what we eat, they don't have that luxury so its our responsibly to make wise choices for them.  

Further info about our change over ..

First post -Why 

Second post - Progress

The Daydreamer is back

Sometimes life takes a lot of careful balancing

Sometimes the results of life's balancing act are amazing

Sometimes the really spectacular things just seem to happen

Its been ten months since I last blogged as RJR Daydreamer... but I'm back....

Posts will not be thick and fast, and we will see how they are received...

Thanks for reading


(These pictures were taken in Bude this summer)

The End

This will be the last post on this blog, like all things it has come to a natural end. Since starting it I have met lots of interesting people, enjoyed sharing my thoughts and tried to create visually pleasing posts.

I have not posted many items of late and now seems as good a time as any to close the curtains on this blog.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to follow and read. I have already deleted 2 blogs I have run, Oldham Seminary and These Plates, along with their associated Facebook pages.

I will continue to update my much smaller blog Jessie the Cockapoo and its Facebook page so if you don't already follow that feel free to join in the furry fun.

Weddings and puppies

If you ever want a stressful day, accept the assignment to be a wedding photographer for a friend !

Over the years I have had 4 such stressful days. 

My sister in law and 3 siblings from friends who are like family.

The stress comes from knowing that if it goes wrong for any reason there is no going back and redoing the day. Simple things become the stuff of pre-wedding nightmares, such as...

Camera fail ( I take two) 

Delete pics by mistake  ( I make duplicates and down load to laptop half way through )

Poor photography ( I take hundreds, law of average says some must be good )

I'm far from being a professional photographer, but I have a steady hand ! Plus if you pay peanuts you can only expect to hire monkeys :) The guy that's free, generally wins the contract.

The beautiful bride above is Lauren taken before the service yesterday.

More pictures can be found HERE 

In other news our puppy is still growing and getting into mischief.

She looks more like a blonde version of Tatty Teddy of "Forever Friends" fame with every passing day

Lots more about Jessie can be found at her blog, Jessie The Cockapoo

Lest we Forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon

Jake and Joanne reading the inscription at Agny (Pas de Calais, France) Military Cemetery

We went to visit the grave of Joanne's Great Grandfather
Corporal William Carrington
9th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps
Died Friday 2nd June 1916

Jessie the Cockapoo update

She isn't loosing any of her cuteness with age ! We took Jessie with us to the beach yesterday afternoon and she was in her element. Both her spaniel and poodle heritage suggested she might like water...She loved getting wet and soggy racing up and down the water logged sand ripples !

We have also found dog ownership makes you more sociable. After the beach we walked through the adjacent towns high street. Well we tried to, we kept getting stopped by lovely people that wanted to talk to our walking teddy bear. Whenever Mrs RJR and our daughter went in a shop they came out to find me and Jessie with a couple of people talking to us !

There is much more info about Jessie and also a lot of pictures and videos on her own blog Jessie The Cockapoo

Jessie's Blog

Try as I may I couldn't resist !

Jessie's blog is now live HERE

Jessie the Cockapoo on Facebook

Its official. Jessie our puppy has her own Facebook page, I'm Mad !

Jessie the Cockapoo on Facebook

And here is a video summary of her week

Jessie the Cockapoo

I haven't posted for a while for various reasons, model making, holidays family commitments etc. But tonight I have some exciting news to share... The RJR household has a new addition, Jessie the Cockapoo puppy.

We bought her on Friday on our way home from our family Holiday in Scotland. She wasn't an impulse buy, our youngest daughter Ruth has wanted a dog for ages and I have been more okay with the idea than Mrs RJR has. The weeks vaccation was a chance to relax and for us to discuss the matter without the distractions of life. 

Once Mrs RJR had decided, we set too searching the internet for available puppies. This little girl was the right breed, at the right time, for the right price. It was also possible to divert on our return from Scotland to Doncaster to check out the litter... So how any people do you know that decide to buy a dog, then just "window shop" when viewing cute puppies ??? Not us 

The litter had started at nine, two had already found homes leaving five apricot/golden and two black puppies. Mrs RJRs criteria was cute, curly, and full of life and potentially good at fetching balls on walks. All the pups were cute in abundance and to top it of the mum was a working Cocker Spaniel gun dog (good at fetching !) 

For a time my two daughters and wife, each had a little girl puppy each in their arms, despite being the one that was over excited on Thursday night, I was sensible enough to remind them 3 puppies was not an option ! So a choice had to be made

There is so much conflicting opinion about how old a puppy should be before leaving, Some say 6-8 weeks is optimum, with 49 days being a "golden number" some say 10 to 12 weeks. Whatever you end up doing someone will look at you disapprovingly? The litter had been separated from their mum at just under 5 weeks as the nine of them proved too much for her mum to feed. So they had been hand weaned for some time. So when we went to view the only final separation was from her siblings. We brought her away at 7 weeks old, as a fit and healthy little puppy. 

She has settled really well at home and even wants to go out to toilet. Eating, sleeping and playing are her three favourite things. Its already evident she is a really clever little dog !

Having not had her vaccinations she is not allowed out, but she can socialise with the other hounds in our family. 

Here she is this afternoon, playing with me, my trains in the garden and Dads long hair Chihuahua, who has come to see our home as his territory over the past months. By the end of the afternoon Pepe was accepting but cautious !

   

Maggie M Trawler Model build update

I've not been blogging for a while as my spare time has been spent down in the shed, here is my progress. The kit has had its challenges. Part of the problem is as a free spirit, that generally builds models from scratch and with no plans, doing things in someone else's order has been a little strange.

A couple of the instructions and plans have written or drawn a little wrong, but so far its gone together pretty well.