Brain Flotsam V2.007

Biopsy came back negative. I do not have celiac disease.  It's probably IBS. I've been offered pharmaceutical miracles, but am holding off for now to explore alternatives.  The doc is ok with this, as my symptoms are not horribly debilitating or bringing about significant loss of quality of life.

While I've supported many political causes and the Democratic Party in general this election cycle, I have only given money to two Congressional campaigns outside my own state. I'm sure everybody reading this knows me well enough to guess that the first has been Dennis Kucinich in Ohio.

The other is Al Franken in Minnesota. He's getting a lot of flack these days, so here, have an interesting article about him. And his books are really good, too.

How the press and his critics misunderstand Al Franken. - By Jonathan Chait - Slate Magazine

It feels weird to have a gap in waking memory. I don't think I've ever had quite so many devices attached to my person, not even when I had my appendectomy, and then I distinctly remember turning to look at the monitor in the little procedure room and then - nothing. I don't even remember the doctor coming in - I remember he made a joke about his hair (or lack thereof) before he left to put on his gown.  It's probably for the best that I don't remember anything, but it's odd nonetheless because I don't think I was ever actually unconscious.
Big fat gap and I don't even really recall leaving the room again - nothing much at all until Mom appeared at the foot of the bed and the nurse took out my IV. It's really bizarre. Now I understand why those memory-affecting drugs like rohypnol are so scary.
Everything looked normal, they took two biopsies, and gave me photos! Eeee! I have pictures of my insides!  (I am always after doctors to give me copies of my tests - CAT scans, laproscopic images, x-rays, ultrasounds, whatever - and they very rarely can or do give them to me.) The report had three photos and a summary of the initial visual assessment.  That and my sore throat are all the evidence I have that I actually got the procedure done at all.
I'll be getting the report back in 7-10 days. Hopefully this will clear some things up and give me a new direction for my dietary explorations.
 
Medical science is cool.

People, traditional injera bread is gluten-free. It's made from teff! I <3 teff! Three cheers for teff!

And unlike the NYC restaurants where you have to call ahead, apparently my local joint serves 100% teff injera every day. Hooray!

(When next I am in NYC, though, I can call ahead to Ghenet and request gluten-free injera for the following night.)