A very intimate look into my gastrointestinal problems

Does anyone else out there suffer from some weird stomach ailment that can't be explained? (How's that for a specific question)? Here's what I'm talking about: until college, I could eat anything and not feel a thing. Then, when I was about 19 or so, I suddenly began to get horrible stomach pains when I'd eat broccoli. Since then, I've developed some kind of weird thing where I can't eat zucchini, squash, cauliflower, and, as I so painfully discovered last night, fiddlehead. Lots of people have told me it's just gas, but this ain't just gas, people. After we got home last night from a very lovely and delicious dinner with some very fun and intelligent people, my stomach felt as though someone was pushing hard on it from the inside out. It's a rather difficult pain to explain. I took two Rolaids and two Gas-X with Immodium, but to no avail. It went on for hours, me doubled over in pain, and finally I woke up at about 2 am out of an uneasy sleep and was certain I was going to throw up. I felt like this for about an hour, then finally, the pain began to subside, and I fell asleep. If anyone else out there suffers from this, or knows someone who does, please, please let me know if you've discovered if there is anything you can do for it. I've talked to my doctor, and she just told me not to eat the things that make me feel this way. But it can't be good to have your list of foods slowly diminish. And I don't always know what's going to affect me like this. (Heavy cream sauces affect me the same way, but I'm not too concerned about that, since they aren't good for you anyway).

And, on a lighter note: Anna was fetched yesterday by my sister and her boyfriend. I think Missy misses her a lot. Every day when I take her out, she sniffs around the yard, taking great care to put her nose in all the places Anna peed. I just swiffered and vacuumed about two inches of dog hair off the floors, but I miss her, too.

Tomorrow night is Book Club. We're discussing "Sights Unseen", by Kaye Gibbons. If you even remotely like to read, you should read Kaye. Start with "Ellen Foster". I met Kaye once at a lecture she gave at Anderson College, which is why I think I can take liberties with calling her by her first name. I asked her to sign a book (which happened to be "Sights Unseen") and told her I'd just finished teaching "Ellen Foster" to my AP English class. She seemed genuinely pleased and signed my book, "To Shannon: Many thanks! Kaye Gibbons". I felt like I'd just met a rock star, and walked away grinning crazily from ear to ear. What a nerd I am.