I don't handle being sick very well. And that's what I've been dealing with for the last two weeks.

For the last several years, I've suffered from diverticulitis. I hate the disease. It's an old man's disease. It's one of those diet kind of diseases. Basically a lack of fiber in the western diet causes these little pouches called diverticula to form in the colon. That's diverticulosis. 85% of people with diverticulosis never have problems. I, however, am one of the unlucky 15%

Sometimes, those little pouches get infected. That's diverticulitis. It's usually cleared up with a round of antibiotics. But, every attack exponentially increases the chance of a future attack, along with its severity. The dangers are that you could get an abscess or perforation, which would lead to peritonitis, and that's bad news. The mortality rate for peritonitis is 35%.

So, the long term solution is surgery. They go in and remove the diseased section of the colon, removing the threat of future attacks. It's not that big of a deal. It means a day or two in the hospital and 2-3 weeks recuperation at home.

I've resisted having this surgery because I hoped that I could control it with a lot of fiber and antibiotics when there were flare ups. But this last bout has convinced me to go ahead with the surgery.