Update

I realised that I haven't given an update since my gluten free diet properly started. Looking back on a few posts since the 9th March I see that the pain didn't go away at first, but after a week of no gluten there was no pain. There was a bad cold with accompanying cough that lasted for at least 2 weeks. In the process I nearly killed my wife - she caught the cold and cough and still hasn't dropped them.

Anyway, I have been awake since just after 4am, so I thought I should write a proper update. Yes, the pains went and with the cold I was sleeping until 6 o'clock and sometimes 7 o'clock.

And Easter came along with a busy Holy Week. There were services every night from Monday to Saturday. I had a wedding to arrange and 2 funerals, as well as catching up on some visiting. I only led one of the evening services - Thursday, with communion-in-the-round. We had a long table for the communion and I walked round and round it. I nearly fell once, because by this point in the week I was tired.

Good Friday morning we had a service in the Anglican church, followed by a walk through the market, where we had an open air service. I was asked, probably a month before, if I would speak at this service, and for reasons beyond my understanding (let's blame brain fog), I agreed to do it. It was a test of my recovery!

The first time I preached in the open air was in the early '90s in Lisburn (Northern Ireland - not Lisbon!!) I painted things while I was talking.

The last time I preached in the open air was just before I came here, so probably 5 years ago. That was on Keyhaven Beach (Hampshire). That was very much preacher-speak: ""the first time and "the last time". It sounds like I did it a lot, but really, the last time was the 2nd time. (Well, I did it twice in Lisburn, but....)

Anyway, I spoke without any notes, without any brain fog, and without losing my way. And I stopped when I intended to. So I walked home on a high, with my feet barely touching the ground.

And then we had the evening service, and after I got home I was hit with the most agonising pain I have had in a long time. It lasted about an hour. The next day I was fine, then after the final evening service I had pain again; not as bad as the day before.

The same thing happened on Easter Sunday. The morning service was good and I preached with great freedom (evangelicals will understand that phrase), but that evening, pain again.

And so it has continued with me waking up with pain this morning. There has been no gluten in my diet, but oesophagitis, diverticular disease and urachal diverticulum can all cause abdominal pains. None of these things are curable, so I guess the pains will stay. With the coeliac disease the theory is that at my age it can take 2-5 years for my duodenum to recover, but if I accidentally eat anything with gluten in, the clock is reset and my 2-5 years start again.

Heigh Ho! And: Ouch!