Knotted guts.

Gut feelings...mine are influenced by food, circumstance, outlook and anxieties.  Summary of what I've discovered food wise.  My body is happy when I eat whole, non-processed foods, small amounts of chicken, more fish, no beef, no pork, and more lentils, quinoa, brown rice, loads of veggies, save for the few I haven't tried adding back in yet, fruits, and berries.  My list of foods that don't work now includes wheat, rye, barley, strawberries, beef, coffee, and tea.  The foods I can have sometimes are popcorn, eggs, and I limit potatoes.

Today's gut reaction:  I had a couple of fries yesterday when we stopped to snack after our swim, and then popcorn last night.  Today--that uncomfortable stuffed turkey feeling.  That means a smoothie breakfast for me, so I don't overload.  The kids are waiting for some fantastic griddled breakfast, but I've declined in the interest of getting them to their swimming lesson on time, and feeling good, without a sink filled with dishes to greet us when we return.

The circumstances of the day?  We'll spend some time at the pool today with friends, maybe check out a Rugby practice, Jeff has a morning or afternoon of work, and that's it.  We have some outdoor experience clothes /supplies to sort for next week, so we send him off properly outfitted for five days in the remote camp in the South of Chile.  

And now, my visceral reaction to the field trip...I'm doing battle with the anxiety of having him so far from medical treatment, which is a revelation to me, because until now, I hadn't fully realized how I've used proximity to medical attention to logically counteract the unease that comes with having kids who have severe nut allergies.  The week in the Squamish camp was easy--Whistler's medical was 10 minutes away!  For this trip, he'll be thirty minutes by helicopter to a hospital...which is a few minutes more than the epipens could provide in the worst case scenario.

It's something that needs slow deep inhalations to manage, along with a dose of re-realizing that I can't protect everyone from everything, all I can do is be smart, plan ahead, and mitigate the risks as best I can while remembering that he's a smart kid...and another good swim should help!  Like the weather here, usually sunny outlooks are sometimes clouded--not often, but from time to time.  My challenge for the week. 

I'm know I'll feel better once he's home, having not reacted the whole week!  I'll send the kit, instructions, and the bag of snacks to sub in for anything that's suspect at the camp...and exhale slowly throughout the week, because experience has taught me that knotting my insides with anxiety helps no one!

On with it!  Chao!