***** SPDF. Med Update. Houston, we have a problem.

At about 10:30 today they started me on normal solid foods. A normal, tasty breakfast. A normal, tasty lunch. A normal, tasty dinner. Since ending the hunger strike 2 weeks ago tomorrow I was extremely careful to be wise and informed regarding the process of gently enabling my body to switch from consuming itself to being able to consume food. In addition to the years of experience that I have with this, I did additional reading, and was sure that I was heading the advice quite well. And yet, as some of you know, whether related to the hunger strike or not, my body has been quite a disaster as it relates to my stomach and gastrointestinal tract since Saturday morning about 10 days ago. Friday night when the medical team inserted an NG tube in my nose was 8 days of four bouts of ever-increasing intense abdominal pain clearly a consequence of partial and then finally total bowel obstruction. Since Friday night, 6 days ago now the medical team has had me on IV fluids until about 2 days ago, then 2 days of clear liquids, and beginning this morning solid food. Their intention was to give my bowel the opportunity to totally totally totally decompress and our hope, our expectation, was that upon eating food as I begin this morning the problem would not reappear.

Well, it has totally reappeared. Despite being three times more careful than ever, eating extremely slowly, one meal over 2 hours, chewing extremely carefully and slowly, consuming plenty of liquids, avoiding high roughage food, taking great care to never reach the point of feeling full ... I have the same distension, the same early low level of pain, as has been characteristic of the prior four bouts beginning about 10 days ago.

My wonderful young nurse that has been with me most of the days called the medical team to inform them about 45 minutes ago and they are due to come examine me soon.

This is distressing, I admit it. And it is totally nothing in the scheme of things, Palestine, environmental Armageddon, the end of democracy.....

Yes, it is a great blessing that it is happening here at the hospital, and the medical team, surely they are due credit for keeping me this additional night in the event that there was something to see. Well, show number 5 has begun.