Step Four: Game Time! (Part 3)

Day 6

The transplant was uneventful but afterwards they gave me a demo so I'd be able to do it myself at home. With the ten day treatment, you get two complementary treatments, which you can either take home and keep frozen to use within six months, or you can bank them at the clinic, and return to receive them there. The procedure's straightforward enough and much simpler than I imagined, so it should be fine, though I'm not looking forward to it. 

Each wing was about the size of my palm!

There was no rain in the forecast, so even though it was chilly, windy, and a bit cloudy, I figured it was as good a time as any to head to Butterfly World. I'd seen a sign on the way to Heathrow and had put it on my to-do list. 

It definitely would have been better if I could go later in the summer, but it was still a nice time. They have one greenhouse with tropical butterflies and then lots of grounds with really cool, busy, and (to me) typical English gardens, all tucked away and nestled in with each other. I imagine in the warmer months there are butterflies everywhere outside. 

My buddy

I was definitely on my own in terms of age group. Most of the other visitors were parents and kids or groups of young school children. But I listened in on some of their "lectures," and it was fine. 

Parts of the garden are designed to make you feel tiny

The cutter ant room was wild - definitely learned the most there 

Butterfly World happens to be next to a fancy rose garden, so I headed over there next. 

Most bushes were in bloom, so I just wandered around and smelled what I could.

They were on grounds for a house, but it wasn't obvious what goes on in the house and whether it was a place for visitors. There was a nice looking tea room, but I was ready to get rid of my implant and have lunch. 

Watch out for the Digoxin!

I came home for lunch and a movie, but as it was nearing dinner time I wasn't hungry yet, so I took a walk. This time I went across the street down a public bridle path and spied on some nice barns.

Day 7

The day of truth

Ok, so today I did the transplant myself with supervision. It was actually really easy and I'll have no trouble choosing a day to do it and then actually doing it on my own. They say everyone's really different in terms of when they decide to use it. Supposedly many people wait on them and use them if they need antibiotics or get food poisoning, but you have to use them within six months, so that doesn't really make sense to me. I don't see either of those things happening to me within six months. I guess those aren't things people plan on, but aside from a few futile attempts at treating SIBO (won't be bothering with that again), I haven't been on antibiotics since I got my wisdom teeth out four years ago.  And I actually don't think I've ever had food poisoning (knock on wood). I guess I could wait five and a half months just in case, and then use them, but I think I might like to spread them out. You also have an exit stool test, which happens three months post-treatment (apparently it takes three months for it to be 100% your bacteria and none of the donors'), so I'm at least supposed to wait until after that. 

Thursday was actually very warm and sunny, so, as I'm apt to do once in a while, I figured out where the closest shore was and drove in that direction. It took me to Southend-on-sea. 

To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I got there. The tide was low (and several hundred feet out) and it was more of a bay (no waves) and there was also some kind of plant in the distance (though apparently it's one of the cleanest beaches in Britain). But I walked around and got over it. The tide started to come in and there were lots of dogs having a great time. I had a picnic lunch I'd brought, read for a bit, and walked up and down the shore. It was only a little over an hour away and I was glad by the time I left, with the tide all the way in and sailboats bobbing around, filling up more space and making the plant less obvious. 

Day 8

I let myself be transplanted today :) I didn't retain it as long when I did it. Maybe that was coincidence. Afterwards, I tried to go to a pottery painting studio, only to find that you need to give them a full week to glaze your product and I'll be gone before then. That was unfortunate, because I'd really been looking forward to that. There is at least one real art supply store in town, though, and I've been feeling a bit artsy lately. Maybe one of my donors is an artist. Who knows? I also used to be into that when I was younger, so maybe I'm just coming full circle. Not that I want to be an artist or anything, or ever did, but I'm just craving a sketchbook. So I'll look into it the next time I'm in town. I also tried to buy a bag big enough to fit the two transplants I get to take home, but couldn't find one big enough at the market, so it's on my to-do list for the weekend. 

It was cloudy but warm and muggy out, so I chose today to visit Hatfield House. It's another one of those things I've been seeing signs for and thought I should check it out. It was kind of expensive, but worth it. I don't pay much attention to the history of these things, unless I'm already interested. I prefer to just enjoy the architecture and think more about the practicalities of living in these houses. Bedrooms and kitchens are always my favorite. 

Apparently some royal family still lives here...

After the house I moved on to the gardens, which were amazing. If I could time travel, I would definitely spend some time in the Victorian era, being a spunky pants-wearing girl and galloping around the grounds. The sample menus for the nobility weren't too bad, either. 

On the way out, I wandered around Hatfield Park, which is a beautiful and huge green space. There were minimal paved paths and otherwise it was mostly well-manicured lawn. There were many people with off-leash dogs, but not so much that you ever really saw more than one at a time. I took the opportunity for some legit barefoot walking. 

Heading back towards the car, I visited the farm. I think it's geared more towards kids, but whatever. You're also not supposed to touch the animals but let's just say I met some very friendly goats. In the case of the donkeys and some hens (their label was "ex-battery hens"), at least, it seemed to be more of a sanctuary than a working farm. 

Step Four: Game Time! (Part 2)

Weekend

Saturday was a bit of a bust. We left the apartment at 10 am to drop my mom off at Heathrow. While I was in the area, I figured I'd check out what Whole Foods looks like in the UK. I put an address in the GPS, got excited about the free parking, and off I went. There was a bit of traffic and I got there later than planned. By "there," I mean the GPS dropped me off and I had no idea where the store was. I drove around in circles for a bit and figured it must not exist. I put the next location in the GPS, and set off. There was significantly more traffic in this trip. This store had no parking attached to it (so it seemed) and I ended up at, according to my GPS, the closest parking garage, which was a 2.5 mile walk from the store. It was a nice day and the walk crossed over the Thames, and at that point I'd been driving for over two hours, not counting the one plus hour it took to get to Heathrow. So I walked. I got there and the store was pretty tiny. No more than an eighth the size of the smallest Whole Foods I've seen in the US. But no matter, they had the best organic produce selection of any store I'd been in so far. I got some produce and some other non-perishables, and ate a late lunch at their cafe: coconut milk yogurt with dehydrated apples and the most deliciously buttery smoked salmon (seriously, I forgot how good it was this side of the pond). 

I'm jealous of anyone who has regular access to this stuff!

They didn't seem to have a public bathroom, so I started the long trek back to the car. By the time I arrived back at the apartment, it was a little after 6 pm. So yes, Saturday was spent taking a seven hour excursion to Whole Foods. Needless to say, I took it easy the rest of the day.

After all the driving on Saturday, I decided not to go anywhere in the car on Sunday. I made a big breakfast (with some gluten-free [finally], organic pork sausages from Whole Foods, read a lot, watched a movie, took a nap (as in, I laid down for two hours and slept for about two minutes), succumbed to the internet and caught up on some of the blogs I follow, and blogged myself. Oh, and there was a decent dinner involved, but I'll talk about what I ate in a separate post.

Most importantly, though, I took two walks: a long one in the middle of the day and a short one at night, after dinner. The apartment is situated along a public path... walkway? I forget what they call it, but basically a trail. I ran into a few people, saw/heard a bunch of these guys, got intentionally lost, stung by lots of nettles (wearing shorts), and then for a few nerve-wracking minutes, got unintentionally lost. I managed to find my way back (somewhat accidentally) and then awkwardly hid from the owners in the bushes until they went back inside. It's not that I'm embarrassed to tell anyone why I'm here, and I'll happily tell most people. It's just that the owners are much older, have heavy accents, and are hard of hearing. I don't speak very loudly and I just don't feel like they're aware of the latest in microbiology. I also don't feel like trying to explain it to them. So they think I'm here on holiday and I'm running out of things to tell them that I did, so it seems easiest if I just avoid them as much as possible, so that when I do finally see them, I have a few things to tell them, since I only do one thing (outside the clinic), at most, a day. 

I'm embarrassed to admit that, although I knew Hertforshire was the birthplace of Beatrix Potter's stories, I did not know it is also the setting for Longbourn

This was around 9:20 pm!

Impromptu MovNat - I could use some practice

Day 4

Monday was pretty uneventful. So far it was my best day in terms of being able to retain the implant. I wandered around Hitchin some more and found a few new streets and local artist shops (my favorite) and did a few errands. I was unsuccessful in finding more animal fats to cook with. I tried to stop at a tapas place that had lots of gluten-free items marked on their menu, but I had a hard time telling if I was in the right place and the menu they handed me was different (and not even gluten-free friendly, let alone anything else), so I chickened out and just ordered a pot of lavender tea for two. It would've been good if I'd waited for it to steep enough and asked for honey. But I read and it was fine and welcome, even, since it was a little chilly. 

The rest of the day I spent in the apartment: reading, listening to podcasts, watching a movie, and made one of the most delicious meals I have ever made in my life (I need to remember to keep broth around for deglazing purposes). I took another brief walk after dinner. The late sunset is pretty convenient. 

I really don't feel any differences yet. I thought briefly that the treatments were causing me to have vivid dreams until I realized it was probably the magnesium/melatonin cream I've been using at night to help with jet lag, abundance of daylight, and pheasants making their bizarre noises beginning at 4 am (seriously, they sound like a shopping cart with a broken wheel). Even my GI symptoms have quieted down. Last week I noticed more gas and rumbling, but this week I feel pretty average. I've had to up my Oxyklenz back to around 5-6 pills a night, which was where I was pre-first lavage. My allergies were awful the first couple of mornings and now they're back to average, too. I don't think it's the implants so much as slowly recovering from missing a whole night of sleep. I have a couple of mild and small eczema/psoriasis patches on my body, which hasn't happened this time of year since my diet/lifestyle upheaval almost three years ago. I'm hoping it's not the peas or anything. Maybe it was the rice I had a few weeks back? 

Day 5

The Halfway Point

Fact of the day: the implant comes from a different donor each day in order to get as much good bacteria as possible. Today's was super bubbly. At least that's what it was like on the outside--it didn't feel that way on the inside. The only difference I felt is that it was easier than usual to retain for the first few hours, but then I had to lost it earlier than usual. Go figure. One of the nurses asked me if I felt different each day due to the different donors. I said I did not, which didn't make me feel good. But then I talked to Annie and she said most people don't feel any different while the treatment's occurring, but their changes start one or two months out. Let's hope that's the case. 

Because you need a market for this

Today was market day, finally. There were about three fresh produce stands. It's funny but only a few items are actually from the UK--there are lots of bananas, oranges, and pineapples for sale. I even found a guy with more of an African/Middle Eastern-themed booth with taro, yucca, etc. (all those starches I'm not familiar with yet). I bought some Japanese sweet potatoes from him. They were a bit squishy but I know they're starchier than the orange variety, which is all I've seen so far, so let's hope they're fresh enough. The rest of the booths were more stuff-oriented: cheap clothing, bags, old books and CDs and records, weird tchotchke things, ribbons and buttons, and more. There was even a booth that had crates that you would expect to have produce in them, but instead they had candy bars, cookies, and other processed foods. Weird. There was no meat guy, unfortunately, but there was one fish stand. He didn't have too much, but he had a bunch of smoked options, so I bought a portion of smoked haddock. 

... and this

After that, despite it being very cold and windy (and it even drizzled for a minute--the nerve!), I sat by the water (river? canal?) and read while I watched some very bold ducks and partridges bother people with food, and then saw the people feed them bits of their lunch and later families with their children even came with bags of old bread with the sole purpose of feeding the birds. The birds were even pecking at the kids' wellies, at which point their mothers would shoo the birds and whisk the kids away. 

Good thing I'm tall, too

I then sat in a little tea shop and had a pot of peppermint tea. This time I let it steep and ask for honey. There was absolutely nothing in their food menu that didn't involve gluten or stuffed potatoes, but the tea was nice and warm the honey crystallized. I didn't even mind the excessive floral decorations or the hordes of stuffed animals in the window. Very different from the tea place I went to yesterday, which was more for the twenty-something hipster crowd. 

Sitting by the water

Spoiled birds

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies under a blanket. It's a bit sunnier, but still pretty cold and windy. I didn't get much walking in today, but I feel tired enough that it shouldn't be a problem. I've made tentative plans for the rest of the week so hopefully I'll have interesting things to report about the area. It's just hard to make myself do them when I know I'm going to be worried about retaining the transplant. 

Lately

 This is going to be a rapid fire post. This past month has been one of the most personally and academically trying months of my life and I'm currently in the middle of a physiology (which is kicking my butt) and anatomy (the head.....) exam. However, I still have to keep eating and there are quadrupeds to take care of, so here's some of what's been going on in the last month.

Wait, but before we begin... I have to share a little nugget from a talk I went to. The speaker was a doctor from the nutritionist school who came to speak to us about the role of nutrition in cognitive performance. I had such high hopes when she showed a collage of books on the topic and included Grain Brain.  It turned out to be a waste of my time... her only conclusions were to supplement with "fish oil" (no specification on type or quality) and eat blueberries. Although she made an interesting point about what's normal for some cultures is gross in others (tripe was an example). Afterwards, I asked her what she eats in a day. It's a lot of fruit and granola and a little turkey, basically, and way under 2000 calories if she was being honest. Then my friend asked her what she would recommend eating for increasing focus. Her answer? Glucose. But that wasn't even the worst part of that hour. The worst was, as a human nutritionist, she briefly touched upon obesity and quality/quantity of calories and mentioned she didn't know if the mechanisms were the same in animals. Luckily, in a room of vets, a doctor from our nutrition department raised her hand and said, and I use quotes, because I quote, "It's only quantity. Quality of calories doesn't matter." Cue eye roll. Can't wait to have a rotation through that department...

Ok, on to food...

Somebody found a new bed...

..... now. 

This was an "eat all the things day," if you know what I mean. I don't usually have a second lunch, but that's what it was. Banana chips and sardines and fermented carrots and ginger (Real Pickles brand) wrapped in nori. 

I met Chris Kresser! I drove an hour to a small presentation and book-signing. He looks so much younger in person! Unfortunately, I may be saving this for spring break. 

Planting seeds...  My mom "went primal" for Lent last year and has really kept it up!  Occasionally she'll have grain at a restaurant or vacation, but less and less as it doesn't live up to expectations. My brother does it for stints at a time, too. He feels better but he's a freshman in college and has trouble staying full enough. My father's making the teeniest and tiniest of baby steps too. After all the ranting and preaching I do, he had eggs for breakfast (instead of scones or croissants) a few weeks ago and before dinner very surprisingly remarked, "Wow, I was so full all day from those eggs, I didn't even have lunch!" If he'd listened, he wouldn't have been so surprised... 

I made an amazing beef stew! It was just your normal ingredients (beef stew cubes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and garlic) but I took the lid off to boil off some of the liquid, forgot about it for about 1 1/2 hours, and ended up with a very deliciously reduced stew.
Served here with chard in tallow and a sweet potato with coconut oil.

I braised a bunch of cabbage in the same pot from the stew. Braised it in bone broth, if you couldn't tell from that healthy jelly blob in the middle. 

Cooked up a bunch of bison burgers for breakfasts for the week. I think this was the first time I actually pulled them off before they were done so I didn't end up with overcooked leftovers later. 

I need all the tupperware I can get...

Breakfast one day (a weekend, from the looks of that light): a bison burger, mushrooms, and asparagus (speaking of which, I really need to stop having that for breakfast, or just not drink a lot in the morning, or just not use the restroom while at school.....)

This was a quick lunch: roast beef, avocado mashed with garlic sauerkraut, and leftover liver pate from Christmas (previously frozen, of course).

Oh, and we have mice. These two are generally good mousers, but either they're getting too old, or since they can't leave my apartment (but the mice can), they're having trouble. 

I've almost run out of pork chops! I thought those would be so hard to get rid of from my half hog, but I haven't messed one up yet in my convection steam oven. Served here with blobs of Dijon mustard, chard, and asparagus. 

Had another one for breakfast, served with broccoli, chard, and mango. I tried eating mango regularly, but my GI system is not up to the task. I was against buying something so obviously not local for a while, but I know mango's "supposed" to be good to the gut and the farmers' market ended a long time ago, I do all of my shopping at WFM or a local organic store anyway and... in the name of healing, right? Well, no. So I'm sticking with just citrus and berries for now. 

After that breakfast, we braved the elements (possibly a bad idea) to drive to a nearby mountain (not a bad idea if we made it there, right? and the snow stopped before we left, right?). Took the car path to the top and back .

Brought a typical paleo snack: bone broth, jerky, and dates. 

Dinner that night was herring with fresh parsley (splurge!) and lemon, asparagus, cabbage, and a sweet potato with a chuck of coconut butter melting on top. 

Had to spend an unexpected night at home in NY, but it least it had a couple of bright sides - a hike with all four dogs and fresh monk fish liver with lemon (and avocado and chard) for breakfast. 

Made a fresh ham (same recipe from Christmas, more or less) over caramelized carrots, parsnips, and onions, with a big purple sweet potato on the side. 

So many vegetables! Made a big beef chuck roast over carrots, celery, butternut squash, onions, and garlic. I decided it was worth it to me to buy the bags of organic baby carrots to save time peeling and chopping. It's worth it right now...

Made a batch of pork spare ribs over cabbage, garlic, and onions for breakfast, served with asparagus here. 

So many vegetables again! And I love these sweet potatoes... now these were totally local!

A bright and sunny weekend breakfast: more of the spare ribs, plus chard, Brussels sprouts, and grapefruit. I also went to the nearby Wegman's for the first time and found they sold Zukay's kvass! Very exciting. This one here is the carrot and ginger, which I'm not crazy about, but I did like the beet one. 

So many vegetables I couldn't even fit the meat on the plate! Leftover chuck roast vegetables with sweet potatoes and more mustard pork chops (one for dinner, one for later). 

I bought plantains and three weeks later... I cooked them! I saw this GI for a summer and in the building next door was a little grocer with a pretty elaborate hot bar. As I left, I always got white rice, sweet potatoes, and sweet plantains, which were so good and gooey. I'd made plantain "chips," or patties, or burgers, or something, a few times, but I never really knew how to make them sweet. Or I would try to let them ripen, and they never would properly. But this time the stars aligned and it worked. I used this recipe, substituting with coconut oil and maple syrup. I burned them a little, but they turned out well and tasted just like French toast. 

Also, I got a salt lamp for Christmas!

A breakfast of mako shark (with dried cilantro), mushrooms, and chard. You're seeing leafy greens so much because I seem to be digesting them better these days. Go figure. 

For the first time, with the physio exam coming up, I bought a roasted chicken at WFM. Not nearly as good as roasting one at home (when it goes well, not when it would set off the smoke alarm... if I had one), but was good enough (as long as I don't think too long about where it came from). Made for a good snack on the ride home (let's be real here). I reheated it in the oven, which is why it's missing from this picture, but I had it for dinner one night with lots of Brussels sprouts and the last of my purple sweet potatoes.

Here's what's left of the chicken. Am I the only one who pulls off what I can for meals, and then for the last leftovers, just heat up the carcass and pick at it? No? Well, I wasted nothing, and the thoroughly cleaned carcass is sitting in the freezer, waiting for the next broth batch. Served here with broccoli and a sweet potato (tallow and coconut oil, respectively... typical). 

And... finally... this was today's lunch. Roast beef stuffed with mustard and avocado or a Bubbie's pickle and mustard, with broccoli and asparagus. 

If you didn't notice, this is my new partner/sous chef/hiking buddy/etc. My previous one is safer and happier.  Explanation to come... maybe. 

Rest in peace, little mamma. You will be sorely missed.