It’s the oats

The planets must have shifted last week because in a number of areas it felt as if a threshold was crossed. Health issues, construction site challenges, results after hard work and tech stalls all showed positive movement.

Matthew woke on Monday morning feeling the best he has in a long time. It has been a challenging time for him, health wise.

Over a protracted period of several weeks Matthew has had a challenge with breathing, low energy and an irregular cough. Also patches of itchy rash that flared and settled and then flared again.

It started with what we believed was a building intolerance to oats. Of all things. Actually the protein in oats, called avenin, who would have thought?

Over the last few months Matthew had been steadily finding it more difficult to catch his breath on our walks. He put it down to a general lowering of his fitness levels. Chantal wasn’t so sure.

“You weren’t like this when we started walking seven years ago,” she remarked as they stopped for another break. “Never this bad and not for such an ongoing period of time.”

Two nights before we left for George in June Matthew, feeling particularly unwell, got a message: “Stop eating the granola”.

It’s the oats

We had started eating Base, the best home made granola in the world, that we had discovered at the Sedgefield Market the previous time we were down there. It’s all made in the owner’s kitchen using wholesome, preservative free ingredients.

There are four types and one common denominator. Oats. It was the only ingredient that could possibly cause some intolerance.

There wasn’t a lot of oats in it but Matthew had been eating a spoonful or two of it every day with the rest of the nuts and fruit in his morning breakfast bowl.

In the week before we left for George, we ran out of mixed nuts, and not wanting to roast a whole new batch just before going away, Chantal supplemented with the delicious granola. Now most of the meal was granola. With oats.

It appeared that we had been steadily poisoning Matthew’s system. Lovely. So no more oats.

The symptoms lingered for what felt like ages. There was slow improvement until Monday when Matthew felt and sounded so much better.

Doors opened

On the other side of town, the Hancock household was living in a building site. With two babies, a work at home dad and an upside down house, life was feeling pretty heavy for the new mum, Cailyn. Last week the construction site corner was turned, as the last tile was laid and the last wall painted.

The garden was cleared of the rubble, rooms emptied of the surplus furniture being stored for the duration of the renovations, and order more or less restored. With relief, the family could breathe out.

A new process for taking exams online had made, what was already a stressful time, even more challenging for Tristan. Last week his concern was allayed when he received the good news that he had continued his trajectory of excellent marks, garnering distinctions in all his subjects.

The week continued to open doors where they had been locked and barred before. Solid coaching sessions, connecting meetings with friends and colleagues we had not seen in some time, and a long awaited somatic therapy appointment left us feeling lighter. Although it was still only mid July, the early mornings seemed to be getting lighter earlier and the days did not feel as cold.

Not all sunshine and birdsong

It was not all sunshine and bird song, a planned water maintenance shut down stretched for more days than expected. Linden was one of the suburbs affected. By day four residents were getting restless.

Although it had been planned, other unfortunate incidents, like a power outage, impacted the turnaround of the work.

We were not that affected as we had a water tank installed over a year ago that can sustain us for up to ten days but we were still impacted by the panic that started to set in around us. The street rallied together and those with boreholes and access to extra water reached out to those without.

There were also two sobering reminders for Matthew to really and truly stay away from oats. The first one was a casual snack of choc digestives. They are more a favourite of Chantal’s but Matthew reached for one with tea. Then another. Almost a third before the pig’s ears called his name.

A while later: the familiar mucus build up and tightening of the throat. What now? Matthew wondered. A little voice sent him back to the cupboard. There on the biscuit box, overlooked by familiarity: “With chocolate and oats”. Eish.

A week later feeling chipper and positive, itches and closed airways descended just before bed. What now? Wondered Chantal. Not the pumpkin soup, could it be the wheatfree rye? A sneaky suspicion sent her on a search. Marmite. We had Marmite and butter on the fresh bread after our soup. Marmite is made with oats. Oh dear, another favourite struck off the menu.

“I am so grateful that you did that,” said Matthew through his coughing and itching, “At least I know what the cause was, for a moment I thought I was going mad!”

The fact that it was clear what the culprit was for his discomfort gave Matthew pause and relief. We’ll have to be much more diligent in future but at least we know. While it was sobering to be reminded of our fragilities it was also an opportunity to be very grateful for the health that we do have.

We’ll be taking more steps to get Matthew back to his easy walking self. Breath is life and we want his to be full and satisfying.

Until next time.

Yours in breath,
Chantal & Matthew

Credits for this issue — Images: 5th Place