Gnomes and Other Ponderings

Two years after World of Warcraft Online was released to the world, my sister and I joined in. Fresh from a disappointing refurbishment of the game Star Wars: Galaxies—which I swear didn’t need an overhaul at all, just little improvements—we set off to create characters in Azeroth. Gnomes? Who doesn’t love gnomes?! WoW gnomes are cuter than garden gnomes, by the way. Irean, my gnome frost mage, wasn’t my first toon—and definitely not the last—but she’s been my favourite all these years. I've been caught up in a new toon craze for awhile—especially any class that now has a gnome version—but I always find myself turning back to my mage. She started as frost and will stay frost so long as she exists. World of Warcraft was a big part of my life for eleven years. For now, I’m done with WoW, but I may eventually come back; but first an explanation of why this came about.

To say I was physically lazy all those years until now is probably an understatement. From my first job at a courier company doing data entry of weigh bills, to being a seasonal canine caregiver—which meant I would walk dogs to outdoor pens so they could get fresh air, cleaning up after them, and sometimes getting to actually walk them—to data entry of oilfield safety logs for an oilfield safety training company, I would laze around on the couch when not working, or be found mostly playing WoW on my computer... or helping with supper preparation. And then disaster struck.

One night, I couldn’t empty my bladder, so it was a trip to emergency to get it drained—approximately four liters worth! :O—and testing to try and figure it out. Blood tests, urinalysis, x-rays, CT scan of the abdomen—nothing. Fortunately, there are tests that a naturopathic doctor in the States that was treating my Mom—had treated me in the past—could do that emergency doesn’t know. Another urinalysis plus a saliva test revealed a digestive system in distress, allergies to foods, though I don’t know which for sure and still don’t conclusively, and neurotransmitter imbalances, which required detox among other things. I’m not by any stretch of the imagination all better, but at least my digestion is improving. So, for now, at least, it’s goodbye WoW to focus on healing myself...

I just hope that I can get back to where I’m better than how I was before this stressful event happened. I don’t enjoy having to take antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, or burps to the point of feeling like I need to purge with a big giant burp bent over the toilet, or maybe even vomiting into a toilet on occasion, or a swelling belly due to urine retention—no pregnancy here, people, just a sick girl who thought she was healthy. Things I’ve learned: prebiotics, probiotics, and a certain amount of fiber are needed daily to keep the digestive system running smoothly. Oh, and exercise—can’t forget that. Daily walk, anyone? Years of declining fiber in my diet, no exercise, declining prebiotics, and probiotics due to all the sugar that commercial products have—it all added up to this. And now I’m trying to get back on track, avoiding sugar, eating enough prebiotics in the form of garlic daily to feed my probiotic gut bacteria... It’s improving, but I don’t know how much, and it still bothers me that I may never be able to eat meat protein and certain other foods again.