It was worth it

Well, that wasn't my favorite 48 hours, but it could have been a lot worse I suppose.
Turns out I am my father's daughter.
I have the same chronic condition he has- diverticulosis(sp?). I am sure I will learn a lot more about the specifics when I do my follow-up visit with the Dr., but, if I understand correctly, it is basically inflammation in the diverticulii(found in the wall of the colon). It is potentially dangerous if the inflammation turns into infection. If they do get infected, the diagnosis changes to diverticulitis- which my dad has has struggles with more and more the older he gets. If it is caught early, they can treat the infections with antibiotics, but if not abscesses can form and that is the dangerous part.
I am young and reasonably healthy though, so we should be able to manage it quite nicely. I will have some dietary restrictions, but it won't be too bad. Hey, I'll take it over some of the other problems I could have had!
The Doctor gave me some medicine to start taking to heal the inflammation. I'll start that today. I'm hoping for no side-effects. If there are side-effects, I usually get them- even the weird ones.
So, a lot to be thankful for- including peace of mind.:)
p.s. I have had a WONDERFUL time making up for all of the eating I didn't do all day Wednesday and half of the day Thursday!!!
*Update*
I do have diverticulosis, but I was wrong about a couple of things(guess I should have waited till the follow-up visit before I gave all that info.!). The diverticulosis is not what they are treating for, nor was it the problem causing my symptoms. I have some mild inflammation in my diverticulii(sp?), but it isn't a big deal at this point. The condition causing my problem is ulcerative proctitis(again- sp?!). It is related to ulcerative colitis, but it is much less scary. Ulcerative colitis happens higher up in the colon and is MUCH harder to treat. Many people suffering with ulcerative colitis spend a lot of time in and out of the hospital. My ulcers are found lower down(in the rectum to be precise. Sorry if the terms bother you. I myself, am past all that.) and it responds well to treatments. Like ulcerative colitis, it isn't curable. It will come and go throughout my life. When the ulcers are present they will use drugs to try and speed the healing so I won't have any complications(abscesses). So, it isn't fun or pleasant, but it is manageable and for that I am thankful.:) I really hope I got it right this time. A third correction would just be embarrassing.
And as for side-effects... I have been getting a lot of headaches since starting the med.s. The Dr. said that is a common side effect. Unfortunately I will probably just have to put up with it. I guess there are worse things!