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"In this tempestuous, havoc-ridden world of ours, all real communication comes from the heart."

- Etty Hillesum

March 13, 2006

Two birds successfully killed ...

So, one of the recurrent joys of my life since early childhood has been my propensity to come down with urinary tract infections (UTIs). An extremely conservative estimate of the number of UTIs I�ve had over the year is around 100. (That�s 3 a year for almost 33 years).

What I�m telling you is that it�s safe to say that I�m an expert on the topic of UTIs. I can spot one brewing before the bacteria even know they�re multiplying. There have been plenty of times when I�ve gone in to the doctor and given a urine sample, only to have them tell me that I don�t have enough bacteria in my urine to treat � and then a few days later I go back in, give more urine, and get my antibiotics. The benefit of this is that I get to say, �I told you so � neener neener!� The downside, of course, is that I suffer for a few extra days because they don�t have clinical proof of a UTI.

Well, listen. I�ve had so many UTIs that you�d think I�d be pumping gallons of cranberry juice into my system on a daily basis via IV. Unfortunately, I hate the taste of cranberry juice with the fire of a thousand suns. I mean, I�d probably have an easier time choking down 8oz of cat pee than I do downing cranberry juice. I find the stuff repellant in every way.

Today I was strolling down the juice aisle of my local grocery store and I stopped at the cranberry juice section. A flavor caught my eye. White cranberry with peach. I almost didn�t buy it, because I figured that it was surely just as nasty as every other cranberry juice that I�ve tried.

Then I had a second thought. What if I do get pregnant this time? Wouldn�t it be nice to have a natural defense against the inevitable UTIs? Wouldn�t it be great if I could prevent just one of those during the pregnancy?

So I bought it.

And brought it home.

And tried it.

And � well, it�s no miracle. It still has a cranberry juice bite to it. But you can taste the peachy flavor and it�s almost palatable. So I�ll try drinking a glass a day and see where that gets me.

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Another new purchase from the grocery store:

Benefiber.

That�s right. I�m already getting irregular and I haven�t started the progesterone and inactivity of the embryo transfer.

Are you over the moon with delight that you�re learning about both my urinary tract and my colon in the same day?

Anyway.

I�ve traditionally done Metamucil mixed with Tang as my fiber of choice � tastes like sandy Tang and keeps things a-movin.

But a doctor friend recently recommended Benefiber.

So I bought it.

And tried it.

It really is tasteless, non-thickening, and totally hides in a beverage.

So you know what I did?

I put Benefiber into my Peach Cranberry juice.

If you�re going to kill two birds � why not use one stone? Ha!


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Last Few Entries

Back? - November 10, 2007
Just a break. - June 19, 2007
Caddy day in the pool. - June 05, 2007
Sleep! And sleep, and sleep! - June 01, 2007
Happy days are here again ... - May 30, 2007

� More about Etty Hillesum, the woman in the photo.�