It began in January on a trip to Seattle. My guts did not feel right. It took awhile for the serious discomfort to go away, and I was not sure what was going on. I’d get periodic resurgences—a really uncomfortable feeling, like there was a baseball lodged in there that wasn’t moving.
Then it advanced a bit more, waxing and waning, and began to include pain. And then I remembered that this was not the first time. It was just different. Diverticulitis. I’d first had it in 2012, brought on by plant secondary compounds, like spicy lettuce leaves (e.g., arugula). That had gotten quite painful, and a trip to the emergency room sorted it out with antibiotics and a liquid diet graduating slowly back up to and through soft foods. Periodically I’d get a little ping to remind me, but I didn’t have another real case until this sort with its different feeling in 2024.