Okay folks.....Bear with me here a minute and all will be made clear........First, many of you remember the great Cornbread Recipe thread we ran just a short while back and all the great recipes on it. This is the thread.

Some of you noticed I was gone for a week or so and checked with my friend kat to see what was up. I asked her to keep it off the 'Cat but to let those who asked know that I was in the hospital AGAIN! Geeziz, it gets embarassing after awhile because I'm not in bad shape, look healthy and all that, it's just that this bizarre stuff keeps happening to me! I wasn't going to post this thread except for another of those strange things that occur around here.

Yep, another dumbass thing happens to me. Every once in awhile over the past two years I've had gas cramps...last about 2-3 days and go away. Gawd knows I'm never constipated or anything (generally far from it!) but this last time about 3 weeks ago, the cramping just kept hanging on and getting worse until last Friday (3/1/02) I was in excruciating pain and had started running a fever. Infections can kill the new heart valve so I figured it was time to go to the ER. Actually it was well past the time and by the time I got there I was hitting toxic shock as my own body decided to attack me.....again.

Diverticulitis. It had turned into an immflammatory mass and after assorted tests and heavy antibiotics, I started to come out of it. Now I feel fantastic, don't look or feel sick and in fact I'm doing great....9 loads of wash yesterday, meals, dishes, took the kids to the mall, went bowling for a few hours today......feeling fine now.

The Infectious Disease Doc and I are getting way too close! After the cellulitis in August and now this........But, no damage to the mitral valve and now we need to decide whether this is controllable with diet or whether I'll need to have surgery. We'll know more in a few weeks. But once again, the dumb shit seems to happen to me, but like the "Cat" I am, I seem to have at least 9 lives!

Remember after the fire that Richard Pryor had a few different stories as to what happened? Anyway, one of them was really funny and as I lay there in the ER it came to me. Richard said, "All these people freebasing and did you ever hear of anybody blowing up? 10 million motherfuckers freebasing and I blow up! Why me?"............That's about it. 10 million assholes with Diverticular disease and I blow up!!!

OR SO I THOUGHT UNTIL I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING FROM ANOTHER 'CATTER WHO HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF MY SITUATION!!!................ Thanks to your wonderful cornbread recipe...the one with the creamed corn, peppers, cheese etc ....I ended up in the hospital for 10 days! I'll explain... I've had a very delicate "digester" for a number of years. Every Dr. that I went to would put me on anti-spasm drugs and send me on my way saying that I had irritable bowel syndrom and not to worry. After eating all that wonderful cornbread, I was in such agony that I passed out. My girls got me to hospital . They determined that I had a massive peritonial infection and put me on the anti-anthrax drug for 10 days. My colon had absessed and perforated. After several tests they were able to see that a large portion of my colon is very badly diseased and has to be removed.

It seems I have been suffering from diverticulosis for years and didn't know it. The Dr. feels fairly confident that he can do a resection with out doing a colostomy . So to make a long story short ... I just want to thank you sincerely for your recipe and to let you know that Mudcat literally saved my life. I was on the brink so to speak and they we're able to fix me up enough that I will be healthy enough for my surgery in a couple of weeks. I wanted to start a thread about this but thought better of it ... I'd be the "butt of shitty jokes" so to speak ... perfect flame material! Just wanted to tell you about another "Mudcat Miracle"!

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Now how's that for a strange coincidence???? I called her and told her the story and we both cracked up (so to speak).......We were in the hospital at the same time 2000 miles apart with the same problem and it was something neither of us had even thought about having before. If the 'Catter in question doesn't want to check in here it's fine, as I do respect her privacy too.....But the weird synchronicity of the 'Cat is often so bizarre that I thought you'd enjoy the tale and have a laugh or two over it!

Spaw