I would probably roast a chicken and with all the fresh veggies right now, fix her favorites, simply grilled or steamed, with minimum spices...roasted new potatoes, green beans, corn, etc. Same with fruit for desserts...everything available now is prime here in the PNW (are you still in PDX?) I mean the melons and peaches and even still some berries are just scrumptious right now. I'm sure you have your own way, but my favorite way to roast a chicken is stuff it with all the fresh parsley you cram into the cavity, lightly sprinkle with salt/pepper (I like to use a bit of seasoning salt, but you could skip those) and roast at 375 for about 1 to1.25 hrs. depending on size.

The parsley makes it unbelievably moist and fresh tasting.

I hope she has a full and speedy recovery.

Poor daughter-san, I hope she feels better quickly and heals completely.

I would probably make soup and homemade bread, that's what I grew up with and what I made the girls when they were not feeling well. One of the favorites was chicken noodle, but beef stew went over well too. Honey wheat bread or the butternut dinner rolls, I always felt better if I could add a vegetable or some whole wheat to the bread.

I also use to feed them the BRAT diet, which is bananas, rice, applesauce and/or toast and fortunately, they both liked scrambled eggs or just a dish of plain white rice with sugar and yogurt, kind of like rice pudding, but not really, LOL.

I know they used to tell people with ulcers to drink milk, now the doc says it's one of the worst things. I remember they gave Amanda bismuth and antibiotics, said it was caused by a bacteria, heliobacter, I might be wrong on the spelling.

Good luck.

Annie

Heliobacter Pylori. Really interesting how its association with ulcers was discovered. Two Australians received Noble prizes for that. Changed how ulcers are treated. This was in the mid 1990s, not that long ago.

Many wishes for a speedy recovery!!

I'd be more careful with the produce than your list suggests. No to tomatoes, :) Also beware of the 100% whole wheat bread. It can cause an acid reaction. A part whole wheat would be better. I know the ulcers aren't caused by acids, but I bet they'd hurt until everything's healed up.

I'd watch the whole nuts too, since they can be scratchy to delicate tissues. That might not be an issue for the (pool of hydrochloric acid) stomach the way it can be for gut. Nut butter would be a better way to start, I think.

If your daughter-san is like most young ladies, and isn't lusting after sausage and peppers, I think I'd make a nice stir fry (or, if that's too much oil, a stock sauté) with chicken and vegetables (broccoli, carrot, bok choy, baby corn, etc.), either with brown rice or noodles, and a little sweet sauce, or a sprinkle of dried herbs. Okay, I think my "or" is really pasta primavera. :)

Grilled chicken with Southern style peanut sauce and cornpone, and fresh peas if there are any.

Do you think she's up to salad Niçoise?

John,
I am sorry to hear Daughter is going through this. She must have experienced quite a bit of pain. Coincidentally, I have not been around much because of endoscopy last week that showed a great deal of inflammation, but no ulcer, H. pylori, celiac, etc., thankfully. I want to echo a few things plllog mentioned earlier--tomatoes are really difficult to avoid, for us anyway, but they are one food that shows up consistently on the Foods To Be Avoided List and nuts are a bad idea. I kind of suspect nuts contributed greatly to my issues. You can try introducing nut butters, but I'd wait a bit, even for those. Steamed vegetables are great. Small quantities of food at a time, with a wait to see how it feels before upping the quantity. Here's hoping she recovers quickly.

I think sometimes we forget how satisfying simple foods can be. I know we get busy and do a fast throw together with some pork chops (loin chops - lean, not breaded) or a chicken breast simply grilled or pan seared and cooked just because it's easy and wind up thinking how good that was, I would normally use some pepper or a spice blend containing pepper, but you could avoid that -- perhaps just a little salt and a light sprinkling of sweet paprika for a little color or a tough of herbs.

I suspect that simply cooked rice and pasta would be comforting -- they are always my son's comfort foods.

Make a vegetable soup with pureed vegetables and chicken stock. Use some potato (I keep potato flakes on hand for some of my bread making - just the little packet for making instant mashed potatoes with no flavoring added) to thicken the soup rather than cream and butter.

Most vegetables can be very flavorful if simply prepared -- a baked potato or sweet potato, can be very filling. Baked squash too. If you normally use butter, switch to margarine for her and use it sparingly. Olive oil might provide that flavor and be tolerated in small amounts. You won't be able to avoid all fat completely, but you do want to avoid high amounts of it. Just a little will help with flavor IF she needs it and tolerates it.

I think chicken soup would be hard to cook without onion or garlic -- I'd put that to the end of the week if it's of interest.

My son, who just had his wisdom teeth out, would say jello and frozen fruit bars. It got him through the first couple of days, and then he got into the noodles and then to other food. I think they feed an emotional need to have comfort as well as being easy to eat.

I'd try to follow her interest as much as possible. Think of a week as a few days plus a little extension. For a few days, it doesn't matter what you eat as much as that you eat.

Hope she's home soon. That alone will help, as will you care for her. Hope the recovery is smooth and swift.

I am not an expert in this area. So do your own checking.

I think cabage, garlic (especially black garlic), hot peppers ----- are all healing for some conditions of ulcers.

dcarch

This sounds similar to the "low acid" "healthy gut flora" diet I've been trying to follow for the last couple of years. I don't go overboard with it, and I draw the line at tomatoes, but I can no longer drink wine or tea which breaks my heart. I also must avoid like the plague--diet soda pop! The hardest thing for me is to drink lots of water--I hate water, it tastes metallic to me! But that is pretty good advice, lots of fluids. Besides what others have mentioned, here is one of my favorite salads which is very gut friendly if you substitute apples for the raisins (stomach friendly apples are gala, fuji, pink lady and granny smith, although I don't find any of the others problematic). Applesauce is great, if it is homeade and low sugar.

Salad
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (or 1 1/2 cups cooked)
8 ounces Black Kale, also known as Cavolo Nero, or Lacinato, Dinosaur, or Tuscan Kale
1/2 cup slivered almonds, very well toasted and cooled (If you can't do nuts, do seeds like pumpkin or sunflower. Pumpkin is great for immune system)
1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped a bit (I routinely use shredded apples here)
2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced (use chives if you're really concerned about onions, but 2-3 scalloins doesn't seem excessive)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
2 ounces ricotta salata, crumbled or finely grated (I can never find this so I sub feta or goat cheese. Goat feta would be great. Don't use ricotta salata though, that's not good for avoiding lactose. You could even maybe use a hard Parmesean)
Few gratings of fresh lemon zest

Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon coarse Dijon mustard
Just shy of 1 teaspoon honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Rinse quinoa well in a small colander. This is essential to remove bitterness. Place quinoa and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer with a couple pinches of salt. Simmer at a very low temperature for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Drain any un-absorbed liquid from cooked quinoa. Spread quinoa on a plate to cool quickly.

Wash your kale and dry it well. Then, with a knife, remove the rib from each stalk, leaving long strips of kale leaves. Stack the leaves in small batches, roll them tightly the long way, and cut the roll crosswise into thin ribbons. Add the kale ribbons to a large salad bowl. Add remaining salad ingredients to kale and toss to mix.

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small dish, and pour the dressing over the salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then dig in.

I don't know ulcer specific diets, I don't have any experience there. But, what has the hospital dietician been sending to her room for her to eat that is medically acceptable....And what could you do at home that is similar but fresher and better tasting while using those hospital trays as a rough model....

And I had meant to say, I wish her a very speedy and complete recovery. That's a hard age to have a health problem and I'm so sorry to hear she isn't well just now. Best wishes to you also, my guess is this is a difficult time, I imagine you are doing more than your share of worrying.

You know, John, you are a great dad.

I would avoid the hot peppers and tomatoes and the expresso. All are harsh on the stomach and intestines.

Thanks for all the suggestions and wishes.

So far she's had one solid food meal in the hospital, it was turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, jello, green beans. Sounds like the healthy version of a Swanson's TV dinner . . .

I am hoping she gets discharged today. SWMBO has been spending the days there and I have been spending the nights. Sleeping in the visitor's chair (even though it is a very comfy recliner) and then going to work is getting wearying.

Can't wait to see the bill for this. (And the deductible.)

LOL at the TV dinner comparison. Comfort food. Hope she's home and you all recover swiftly.

How old is daughter-san? My younger sister spent a month in the hospital when I was in high school -- she was middle school. That was when I first started cooking meals for my dad and brother while my mom was at the hospital and then I spent some nights there when I didn't have school the next morning. It's tough on everyone when a family member is in the hospital. Get some rest and share healing hugs.

This post was edited by lascatx on Wed, Aug 27, 14 at 11:35

removed comment since it no longer applies :-)

This post was edited by olychick on Wed, Aug 27, 14 at 13:55

A fresh fruit smoothie and the frozen fruit popsicles I bet will go over well. You can even sneak a handful of greens into the smoothie. That would make a delicious breakfast or snack. Good luck, sound horrid for her!

Does she like oatmeal? I find oatmeal very soothing to my stomach. But I don't have ulcers. But when I have a flare up of my IBS and don't feel like eating anything, oatmeal helps a lot. Oatmeal and applesauce, made with gut friendly apples. I love warm applesauce, very comforting. Can even mix applesauce and oatmeal or granola.

She likes oatmeal, and that may be breakfast. SWMBO is on a smoothie kick and will surely make her one, but dairy may be a no-no for awhile.

Daughter-San was discharged today. She is resting on the couch. Here is her first dinner at home.

It was improvised. I had no sushi rice, but used sweet (sticky) rice to make rolls with chopped raw tuna/mayo, carrot and apple matchsticks, cilantro, and a little wild rice. The bulk of the tuna was seared, sliced, and topped with a commercial (hangs head) Japanese-ish sauce. I think all of this was ulcer-friendly. Okay, there were exactly four drops of Sirachi sauce in the entire thing.

The sweet rice didn't hold together, making this a particularly messy meal, but if you don't mind eating your sushi rolls with a fork, it works. (Sweet rice can be firmer, but I used too much water.)

I got the tuna loin from a guy I know in the bike shop. Weird, huh? We were talking about this first recovery dinner. He walked to his house, returned and handed me a frozen loin of local albacore tuna. Remind me to buy him a pint next time I see him. When I got home, the tuna looked so nice, I decided not to cook it too much.

How did she do?

She ate and is resting on the couch watching Netflix. Her little brother has squeezed into the couch with her. It is very cute. I'd take a picture but they'd just give me evil looks.

You have to be careful.

The problem of making such delicious looking food is that it immediately triggers gastric acid to flow, and that is bad for ulcer recovery.

dcarch :-)

As somebody who loves dairy but is trying to avoid it, I will say that there are a lot of alternative "milks" and products out there for smoothies. Theoretically, yogurt should be good for healing especially if you have been on antibiotics, but modern yogurt isn't very well cultured, IMHO. I would try and buy organic chicken and yogurt if I was going to eat it and could afford it. There is also soy yogurt and coconut milk yogurt. I wasn't too crazy about the soy and haven't tried the coconut.

Oh my gosh, that looks amazing. I've never had anything like that in my life, never mind after recovering from illness -I used to get lipton chicken soup and popcorn - somehow those are my comfort foods now! Hope your daughter is doing well, and what a guy from the bike shop!- so random!

The instructions from the hospital included eating probiotic yoghurt, so SWMBO got some. We eat Greek yoghurt routinely, I always thought that was probiotic? (I know very little about probiotic foods, if that isn't obvious.)

She is also on a raft of drugs. Clarithromycin and metronidazole (2 week antibiotic regimen for possible H. Pylori infection), Protonix which is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) drug, to reduce stomach acid, Tramadol and Tylenol as needed, and a couple others that I forget.

We are still trying to figure out why she got an ulcer. The H. Pylori test came back negative, although the doctors say that culture isn't absolutely definitive. During the first couple week of summer camp, they were working 16 hours/day and she was taking daily ibuprofen, I wouldn't think 2 weeks of NSAIDs would cause an ulcer but who knows. Sometime in July they (the kitchen staff) got onto a Coca-cola kick and she was drinking two or three Cokes a day, which is more than she has ever done, that lasted a couple of weeks until they all got sick of cola. Again I don't think that should cause an ulcer. But maybe all those things together, plus maybe the stress of her senior year of high school, combined to do it.

I hope she won't have to take a PPI drug long-term. They are very safe drugs, but still . . .

OK, I did a little research on this and it does seem like ulcers are somewhat related to the health problem I have, which is chronic interstitial cystitis, which is an "inflammation" problem, and IBS, which is a gut problem. Also I am hugely susceptible to bladder infections, which are caused by e-coli getting into your bladder. E-coli lives in your gut and doesn't usually cause a problem there unless things get out of whack, somewhat similar to this heliobacter. So you have to try and bring your gut flora into balance. Kind of like personal "ecology."

There are a lot of bacterial mediated things going on in our bodies I think, that we don't fully understand. As I tell my students, 3 billion things live on you and in you, so don't underestimate them. And then modern medicine give you tons of anti-biotics to cure these ailments, but unfortunately this puts your system even more out of whack by killing off all the good bacteria too. And the bad bacteria can become resistant. So you have to basically feed your guts like you would manage a garden soil, to encourage healthy bacteria to grow and discourage inflammation and unhealthy bacteria. So soda pop is most definitely OUT! Soda pop is my one great weakness so I now drink flavored plain soda water with low acid orange juice or pear or apple juice. Buy the baby pear juice, it doesn't have added acid. I like pear pomegranite and orange black cherry. I also drink hot pear juice with cinnamon, another good gut herb. Chamomile tea is also anti-inflammatory.

Also try to avoid refined carbs and sugar. Pretty much the diet of most teens! So cook her healthy vegetable dishes and whole grains! I eat oatmeal, granola, and this all rye wholemeal bread that I get, toasted, it's great. I find it in the "International aisle." Or Wasa crackers. I eat buckwheat pasta and rice pasta too sometimes, but also whole wheat pasta. Of course all kinds of rice dishes.

The anti-candida diets are good for ideas, there are a lot of web sites for that. I don't believe in the whole "yeast overgrowth" theory but the diets ideas are high veggie, low sugar/carb so they help. I don't believe in super low carb either, but balancing carbs with protein and also whole grains, not refined flours, they are not good. Like i said, rice, oats and barley are all "sticky fibers" which are pretty soothing for the gut. Squash dishes are great too, maybe make her some squash soups. I make a soup that is based on artichoke dip which has spinach, roasted red peppers (small amount, for color mostly) artichokes, canelinni beans and chicken. Flavored with italian spices and then some soy milk added, topped with parmesean. Very soothing. Of course nothing beats chicken soup. I make it with barley now instead of noodles. Could also do rice.

As for fermented foods like yogurt, I don't know much about it, but I think commercially processed yogurts are pretty much devoid of live bacteria and I'm not even sure how they are even made. If they do have live bacteria I don't think they grew in there, I think they were added. Perhaps fermenting yogurt takes too long, but modern yogurt with all the sugars just isn't very good for the gut. Try to find an organic dairy that makes yogurt the real way with real acidopholous and lacto bacillus, etc., coming from the milk or other cultures, instead of being added. Miso is also good, and tempeh and kombuchu. I don't like kombuchu and I'm not sure about soy. Make sure it is ORGANIC soy. The GMO's are TERRIBLE for the gut. Roundup is anti-bacterial and Bt bacteria kill insects by causing their guts to dissolve so I would not eat GMO corn no matter what the paid talking heads say about safety. These pesticides and herbicides have not been tested as food additives for continuous ingesting over time, only for acute toxicity levels.

Again, I'm no medical authority, I'm just sharing what I've learned over the years fighting chronic inflammation. The main thing you can do is just provide good home made food from natural ingredients, and particularly plant foods, which are so full of good fiber and anti-oxidants. If I could afford it, I would seek out organic and pastured meat. Concentrating livestock together and feeding them grains causes all kinds of problems with the animals digestive systems and stress, so they get fed antibiotics. I can't help but think there is a link to the same thing happening with humans. The research on this has been preliminary but it is unlikely that anyone will pay for the studies to confirm the links. But like I said, you need to think of your body as a garden that needs to be well tended. Take care of it by developing nurturing habits. Easier said than done!

Lpink, thank you so much for taking the time to write all that information. And thank you to everyone else who has shared advice and well wishes.

I'm going to learn up about the topic of gut microbes and digestive tract inflammation. I've been interested in it for some time, and now the topic seems all the more timely.

My aunt sent me an interesting email. She had a course of antibiotics to treat a similar stomach problem. According to her, it eliminated her "precious Chinese rice paddy bugs" and she has had digestive issues since. She's a PhD chemist who spent her career developing drugs. She has said some of the same things as Laurie has mentioned.

Daughter-san's second dinner was potato-leek soup and bread. SWMBO's idea. Daughter is getting better, but is still really weak and her stomach remains painful. She can't stand up straight without pain, for instance. I took her downtown and she walked six blocks, slowly and with difficulty. But she was happy anyway, because we went to the Apple store to get her notebook for college.

Tomorrow I'm making beef stew. SWMBO says beef is too hard on the stomach, but I'm a cruel and thoughtless person! They will be small pieces of beef and long-cooked.

OK maybe this just touched a nerve for me, but I really hate to hear about people suffering from digestive upset of any kind, because it has haunted my family. My dad has ulcerative colitis, and I have IBS and also this interstitial cystitis thing, which is chronic inflammation. Same with migraines also, which I get, they are chronic inflammation too, along with their friend, menstrual cramps, which is uterine inflammation. So I've been round the bend for many years trying to figure out how to stop my body from becoming "inflamed." Same with ulcers of the stomach, you've basically got the stomach tissues becoming inflamed with gastritis. So call it gastritis, colitis, cystitis, it basically means "inflammation" of the "fill in body part." And I've tried every imaginable herb and diet advice. A lot of it is just hooey, IMHO, even coming from doctors. Also, if you get chronically "inflamed" then you are going to be prescribed and take "anti-inflammatory" drugs, which then have their own fun side effects. Along with pain killers and anti-biotics, all of which wreak havoc with your body, IMHO. Of course what are you going to do, not taking them is also bad because of the pain and infections that won't go away.

Here's a few things I have learned. If you don't have a food allergy or sensitivity, then going without it isn't going to help one bit. I've gone off gluten and dairy and acid and nightshade and purines etc. and not much of it has helped. But it did help me identify my triggers, which going without them is very helpful. For example, I really have a difficult time with the whole "low acid" diet recommendations because your stomach is full of acid and I don't think you can throw your whole body's pH off by just eating a tomato. Maybe a bushel of them! The real issue is avoiding foods that are going to make your own stomach acids increase, not foods that are acidic. Having said that, I still avoid some high acid foods. For me, absolute DEATH food is anything with artificial sweetener in it. If your daughter was ingesting that kind of stuff, I highly recommend she stop. Also bad for me is alcohol and tea. If I was trying to rebuild my gut bacteria, I wouldn't drink those things. Alcohol is the waste products of bacteria so too much of it is toxic to bacteria. Also, tea contains tannins which are toxic compounds made by plants. A little is OK, a lot and you'll pickle yourself. (Note: that was a JOKE, not a scientific pronouncement!). Some herbs stimulate stomach acids, some calm them. I have good luck with fennel, which is given to babies to help with colic. Chamomile too. Tumeric and saffron also are anti-inflammatory. But a little bit goes a long way with those. Parsley, cilantro and other green herbs like basil and dill are also wonderful for digestive health. I already went on about probiotics, they are a very good idea but it really takes some doing to get live cultures. A lot of folks are into doing their own, food culturing, I may try it some day. A lot of products that you can buy that might have contained probiotics may not have any live cultures left by the time you eat them.

Dairy, especially modern pasteurized dairy is pretty hard on the stomach. Don't get me wrong, unpasteurized milk carries lots of health risks, but it also if managed properly, has some health benefits. But if I was going off to college I wouldn't fuss with finding special dairy products. I would just avoid high lactose ones like milk and fresh cheeses. I do really well avoiding dairy. But if you're going the soy route, make sure it is organic.

The best thing, and the hardest thing, is just to avoid junk foods that are high sugar and use refined carbs. That includes most bread and baked goods! Those are my weaknesses.

Also, soluble fiber is very good for the stomach. If I have an IBS flare up, a bowl of oatmeal is often the best medicine. I can't tout the benefits of oats enough, although some folks are sensitive to them. If that's you guys, never mind. Other soluble fibers are barley, white and sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, berries, beans, (they have insoluble too, so watch out!), apples, carrots, almonds, flax, (I don't do flax, I sub sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead, because you have to grind flax or it is a total wash and it has insoluble fiber too)j. I don't try and AVOID bad foods, I have just developed a repertoire of recipes I like with the good foods. I eat lots of oat things like oat bread, oat muffins, granola, (in moderation since it is loaded with fat and sugar), oat pancakes, etc. I also throw butternut squash in with a lot of things, and routinely make roasted root veggies which are great. Luckily I love greens too, so eat lots of braised greens like cabbage, collards, kale, etc. Again, in moderation because they have some negative chemicals in them if you go overboard on them. Insoluble fiber in my case is NOT good, so watch out for things that are high in that, one of which is wheat bran. Also lots of fruits and veggies have the insoluble fiber but can be cooked to help soften it. Corn is somewhat problematic but I eat it without problems.

Here are links to three recipes that I have made and liked that are loaded with soluble fibers.

Asian Style Corn Chowder Note: Make this with coconut milk instead of the recommended cream. And add some carrots and a green veggie like green beans, pea pods or broccoli.

Pumpkin Shitake Risotto. Note: Use UNCURED bacon. I make this with pureed butternut squash, just as good. Can throw some spinach in it too.

Thai Pumpkin and Chicken Curry Note: use mild red curry paste and don't go overboard with the hot sauce! Same with this, throw some cabbage or spinach in with it.

Also, if your daughter is taking NSAIDs for a chronic pain problem, she needs to get that as much under control as she can, because pain killers and terrible for the gut. One thing about pain killers, better to take a moderate amount proactively at the onset of pain than to wait until the pain is unbearable and then you have to take much, much more. There are a lot of books out there on managing chronic pain, your daughter might want to check them out. I had been healthy as a horse in my youth so it took me a while to realize what I had wasn't just a temporary headache or a bad period month, but rather an ongoing problem that had to be managed. So I started out way abusing pain killers. I was popping Vanquish like sweet tarts. Again, pain killers don't do much good once the pain is bad, but you can use NSAIDs to manage menstrual pain if taken ahead of time, before the pain gets bad. And honestly, she might want to think about going on the pill if that is her problem, because that was something that nipped my bad periods in the bud. I wouldn't want to be on them forever but for a while to see her through this upheaval time might be OK. But you can also manage them through exercise, like yoga and running. When I was very physically fit I didn't have near the problems I did later on in life. Of course maybe that's not her problem, maybe it's a skeletal or muscular problem. But at any rate, an exercise regime is pretty close to a miracle cure for a lot of ailments. It's just sticking with it that is difficult.

NSAIDs can cause ulcers pretty quickly in some people. NSAIDs plus Coca Cola? Oy.
Anecdotal info.:
I find mint tea soothing. Some say to avoid this, so you might ask her doctor. Protonix was super helpful for me. It took about three days for me to notice the improvement. Beef stew? For me, that would have been a very bad idea.
I am so sorry to hear how weak she is. Is she anemic from the ulcer?

Oh John, I'm sorry daughter-san is still feeling so badly.

Probiotics? You know they are also in Kim-chee and sauerkraut, although I don't know how that would settle on a bad stomach, kefir does too, although I can't stand the stuff.

In addition, legumes and grains contain prebiotics, which are "gut friendly" and help your digestive system, so if she feels up to beans or wheat berries, those might be good for her.

I agree on the oatmeal, and if you mix some rolled oats in yogurt and leave it sit overnight you can add fruit the next day and have a nice cold yogurt kind of parfait, you don't even have to cook it.

As for the beef, Elery also says he finds it hard to digest, but I've never had any more problems with beef than with any other meat, although chicken tends to upset my digestive system pretty easily. Beef barley soup with mushrooms is one of my "upset stomach" meals, for some reason it settles nicely for me.

That tuna looks delicious, and I'm not good with chopsticks, so my sushi gets eaten out of hand or with a fork anyway, I wouldn't even blink before devouring that.

I did take Protonix at one point, as well as Zantac, Prilosec, a couple of others. Now it's Prevacid, which seems to be working. And yeah, a couple weeks of NSAIDS and coke would do it for me too...

I do hope she feels better soon and that any further problems can be averted. I suppose they've checked for things like a hiatal hernia or other problems?

Annie

Lpink, it sounds like you are interested in and knowledgeable about the topic of body as ecosystem. Us and our millions of parasitic microbes. I find it fascinating. A while ago I read about fecal transplants as an increasingly accepted treatment for C. difficile and other gut disorders. The idea is that certain diseases result from not having the correct microbes in your gut, so those microbes are harvested from a healthy person's gut and "transplanted" to you via colonoscopy. Respected hospitals are doing this regularly now (see article below by Mayo Clinic). I bring it up because I think I've read about the technique being used for other gut disorders too.

Daughter-San is recovering well. It is good to be 18 y/o! She still gets tired very quickly, and has moderate pain, but she has an appetite and her energy level is increasing. She is not anemic.

The beef stew was so-so. Omitting the onions and red wine was a tough hurdle. I used beer instead, it was ehhh. Didn't seem to upset her tummy.

Today she decided to make dumplings. She got out of bed, made the filling, rolled the dough, and filled, pleated and cooked one batch of dumplings before her energy ran out. Her brother was tasked with finishing the dumplings, which he is doing now. They are pretty good: nice taste, texture is a little dry (I haven't shown her the gelatin trick yet), solid pleating (maybe not the brother-made ones).

Oh, on the sushi shown above, I forgot to mention what a pain it was to slice. I had to tightly wrap the roll, and then the fish, in plastic wrap and slice through the wrap. Otherwise the roll was too soft and sticky to cut cleanly (sticky rice, what did I expect), and the fish had a crusty seared exterior that resisted a knife just enough to squish the soft interior.

I am fairly sure Daughter-San will never drink Coke again. She is convinced that was the cause of her ulcer. I'm not sad about that at all.

She will be cautious about NSAIDs too, no doubt. She doesn't normally take them, but going from high school straight to working 16 hours/day 7 days/week during the frenetic initial weeks of summer camp was tough. Working in the camp kitchen is pretty physical, and her legs/feet hurt, so she took ibuprofen for a couple weeks until her body toughened up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mayo Clinic article on fecal transplant

This post was edited by johnliu on Sat, Aug 30, 14 at 22:01

johnliu, if there was overlap between the ibuprufen and cola, daughter-san may be right.

I got curious, ran a search, came across a study whose conclusion was:

'The Cmax and AUC0-alpha of ibuprofen were significantly increased after single and multiple doses of Coca-Cola, thereby indicating increased extent of absorption of ibuprofen. The results warrant the reduction of ibuprofen daily dosage, frequency when administered with Coca-Cola.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Study

Caffeine helps pain killers work. Not sure if I remember how, either speeds up absorption or just acts as some kind of catalyst. But soda pop can have phosphoric acid and the diet kind has other acids along with carbonic acid . . . So along with the caffeine you get a dose of some nasty acids. I have found that all acids are not the same as far as how they react in my stomach. But also it is a matter of degree. A tsp. of marmalade on my toast isn't going to bother me, but guzzling tea or wine will. Many pain killers have caffeine added to them as an ingredient so read the labels before buying. If I want caffeine with my painkillers I take them with a cup of coffee.

The main thing to try and convey to your daughter is self-care. Not pushing herself so much that she breaks down. I teach college and I see this time and time again. The kids set their expectations too high, push themselves, and then have some kind of health or mental breakdown. I always try and tell them, "slow and steady wins the race." I have seen so many students try and get all A's and then have to drop out of a class or drop out of college all together due to the pressure. Would be better to get an occasional B and graduate, IMHO! No one is going to care if you have a B in some classes on your college record if the whole thing hangs together well, in other words, it's not just a test or a class that makes or breaks you, it is consistently striving to do well in a chosen career path that reflects your passion that will set you apart. Stick to the race but have fun along the way!

It's also often a matter of degree. Beef barley soup with soothing veggies like potatoes, carrots and peas and some little bits of meat, probably great. Big ol' steak with a side of deep friend onion rings and a beer, probably not going to be OK. So pace your vices! I try to be kind of Buddhist about it, not going to one extreme or the other. Same with eating, try to eat regular, moderately sized healthy meals all the time. Don't forget to eat and then fuel your midnight study session with a pepperoni pizza and coke. Regular sleep is very important too. And regular study. Routine is EXTREMELY important when managing inflammatory conditions, IMHO. I also have to say, that it is often the hallmark of the successful students I work with. They manage their schedules and are faithful to their good habits. Note: I was anything but like this when I was in college, it took me years to work that out and I wish I had started sooner. My body finally gave out and forced me to learn these lessons.

Alarming that she got this ulcer before college even started. I really hope she is just particularly intolerant of NSAIDs and Coke.

Her convalescence continues. I have been gradually making her food more " normal" and she reports the meals aren't making her stomach hurt. Tonight I made a quasi Shepherd's pie. A standard pie dough, rolled out and set in one of SWMBO's pie dishes, with a filling of Italian sausage and vegetables, a cap of mashed potatoes, and a topping of thinly shaved Parmesan cheese. The cheese is really inauthentic but SWMBO wanted it.

Daughter went with me shopping, walked about 10 blocks and stood in stores for about an hour, that was pretty tiring for her but it is 2X farther and longer than she was doing a couple days ago - progress.

OMG! That is the most beauteous shepard's pie I've seen! And the sausage is a nice twist. :) The cheese may be inauthentic, as you say, but it goes with the sausage and it made the top so pretty!

Great news on the continuing recovery and lack of stomach upsets. Many good wishes to her for continued improvement and no returns.

Uh oh. This morning, Daughter-San summoned me to her bedside and asked "what will my nutrition plan be today?".

By the way, she also informs me that she is ten pounds lighter than when she fell ill. That was only about 9 days ago.

This post was edited by johnliu on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 15:42