Creatures of habit

It’s my nephew’s birthday this week, which means it’s Teppanyaki time!

But tragedy struck when my sister tried to book our regular restaurant and discovered it had shut down … a victim of progress, with the building to be demolished to make way for high-rise apartments.

She was devastated – we’ve been going to that scruffy local joint for around 15 years.

She sighed and booked another place in a different suburb and we put on a brave face.

But it turned out to be awesome! Delicious food and fun stuff like “machine gun egg”, which involved pieces of omelette being fired at us via a metal spatula at lightning speed.

We laughed so much during dinner that my stomach hurt.

I an ridiculously bad at catching things, in the end the chef gave up trying to get egg in my mouth and I also dropped a raw egg on the floor.

Born a klutz and will die that way.

The youngest was supposed to join us but she had medical tests earlier in the day that confirmed she has two new serious ailments to add to her very long list, so she stayed in bed.

It’s unbelievable how many conditions she suffers from. I was looking up the new ones to see if I could connect them to me developing multiple disaccharide deficiencies when she was born.

It turns out there’s not a lot of research in the area … and I discovered my former condition has a sexy new name: “pan-disaccharidase” deficiency.

Disaccharidase deficiency can involve lactase, sucrase, maltase or isomaltase enzymes. Deficiency in disaccharidases, which are produced by the intestinal brush border, will interfere with the breakdown and absorption of carbohydrates. Patients deficient in all four disaccharidases are much rarer and are known as having “pan-disaccharidase” deficiency.

Reading the most recent research report made me realise I’m not feeling entirely well. Definitely not sick like I was 19 years ago, but not great.

If the condition had returned I’d be very thin. But I am very, very not thin.

Just in case I’m at risk of developing it again, I looked up the diet plan for “pan-disaccharidase” deficiency and I think I might follow it. It’s changed a bit since I first did it – potatoes are allowed, with French fries and hash browns encouraged. Hurrah! But nuts are out.

Deficiency in disaccharidases can be addressed by dietary changes that reduce inflammation. It’s worth a try and I might actually get thin for the right reason – reducing carbs and sugar in my diet.

As for the youngest, I’m hoping her biopsies don’t lead to a diagnosis that was floated as a possibility by the hospital that doesn’t have a cure.

She’s been through so much in her life – the list of medical issues is insane – I’d like her to find relief and be able to live without constant fatigue and autoimmune issues.

Have a good weekend. With DD away mine will be super quiet and full of walks with friends.

I’m also hoping he can actually get back home next week – airports are severely cutting flights from today due to escalating issues with the government shutdown.

Song of the day: Bruce Springsteen “Fire”