About Me

Me, Myself and I

I began to have stomach problems as a child. I was diagnosed with out any test being run as having food allergies. My mother removed from my diet mixed meats like hot dogs and bologna and chose instead meats that stood alone. I was also diagnosed as being b12 anemic, and placed on over the counter b12 (to fix a problem that would plague my life.) But when all was said and done, and my mother got tired of all the visit to the doctors, she told me that I would have to learn to live with it, with out any further complaining. I can’t even remember how many times that I went to school sick to my stomach , with only my own stubborn determination to not complain, to get me through the day.

The issue’s with my stomach did not begin to be a chronic nuisance until after my youngest son was born. I was 26 years old when I asked my husband to pull over to the side of the road , when he did I leaned out of the car and threw-up my lunch. Thinking I might be pregnant , I went to see a doctor, who told me I wasn’t. What he did tell me was that I had an ulcer, with out running any test to prove his theory. My ulcer was to be treated, according to the doctor, with an over the counter medication , Maalox. I most have drank Maalox by the gallon, and I still threw up my meals. So I looked at what I was eating every time this happened, and decided that I was a person that could not handle soda pop, and therefore removed it from my diet. I have not had any kind of coke a cola or Pepsi since.

By the time I was 30 years old, I began to experience chronic nausea that woke me up each morning like clock work. When pain was added to the equation, I finally broke down went to see a doctor. I was put immediately into the hospital for what the doctor believed was a gallbladder attack. Four day later, and no clear diagnoses for what was causing my pain and nausea, my doctor asked another specialist to see me. And into the picture came a psychiatrist. The final diagnoses, I was clearly a hypochondriac. Therefore, my pain and nausea was a figment of my imagination , born out of my need for attention I was clearly not receiving at home.

I had seen the pain that my grandmother experienced , as a child, because she was labeled as a hypochondriac. This was something I refused to allow people to believe I was, so I closed myself off and learned to suffer in silence with out any further complaining. But it is hard for me to suffer in silence when my own husband kept calling an ambulance, after finding me on the bathroom floor to weak to get up. It is very hard to refuse to see another doctor, when my own husband demanded I see one and threaten to make me go even if he had to carry me there. So I went once again.

During a 9 months period, with my husband at my side, I went from one specialist to another. I went through test after test, from x-ray‘s , MRI’s , Cat- scans, to internal scopes that went up one end of my body and down the other. In the end there were a lot of theories about my pain and misery, from my needing to lose weight in order to feel better, to being a hypochondriac. But when all was said and done only one test showed a real problem.

It seem that when my gastro specialist , as he ran a scope down into my stomach that he found undigested food in my stomach. His first thoughts when he saw the food was one of anger. He believed that I had went against his orders not to eat after 6 o’clock the night before. Since I am over weight, his assumption and accusations were that I was pig and couldn’t stay away from food. With tears running down my face, I couldn’t answer his accusations, but my husband could. He knew when I had last ate, and he told the doctor he was being an ass. When the truth came out it was discovered that while a normal stomach should only take 3 to 4 hours to digest a meal, my stomach had undigested food still in it 17 hours after my last meal.

I really believed that when the truth of this came to the suffice , I was finally going to get a name for my stomach problems, so I asked the doctor what would cause my stomach to not work properly. He told me that he had no clue. Then I took the conversation in a different direction, and asked him if my stomach problem could be the result of Crohn’s disease. You see, my mother at that point had just been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. And since my grandmother had also had Crohn’s disease, I needed to know if it was possible. His answer; " You don’t even want to even consider that possibility, it is to nasty a disease to even be considered. " And he shut the door to any more test, or theory on his part. Once again I was left dealing with my illness with no clear diagnoses , and no medical intervention. I was once again on my own.

When I was 39, I was in a car accident. Although the ER doctors couldn’t find any broken bones, they let me leave the hospital unable to stand on my right leg. Not because of any pain, I was naturally sore from the accident, but for some unknown reason at the time I simple was unable to stand using my right leg. The next day, I went to see a Chiropractor who discovered that I had twisted the lower part of my spine, causing my hip to be out of alignment. On top of that, my hip was slightly out of the socket just enough to make it impossible to stand on my right leg.

Two weeks of treatment and I was finally able to stand on my right leg, but he was unable to straighten out my twisted hip. Test taken a few years later would show that I had four damaged discus. But because of this unknown issue, I began to experience terrible pain in my legs. With in a few years , the pain spread to my arms and the back of my neck . All of a sudden, I was making trips to the ER because I was in so much pain, only to be sent home with 12 pain pills. Even after I was diagnosed with Fibromaylgia, I continued to fight with doctors to get the pain medication that I needed.

Although I would love to place the blame upon my doctors, for my not receiving regular medications for my pain, but that would not be fair in this case. The problem was and continues to be more complicated. Here in the Lone Star State ( Texas), there is a law governing pain medication and who can prescribe it . Only a pain management clinic doctor is allowed to prescribe pain medication for chronic pain. Any other doctors who prescribes more than a minimum does is considered a drug pusher and can be arrested. Because I have no medical insurance, I can’t afford to go to a pain management clinic. This reality has left me battling my pain with out medical intervention.

I was 46 years old before I was given a clear diagnoses of Gastroduadnal Crohn’s disease. In other words, Crohn’s of the stomach. This type of Crohn’s is rare only 4% of those diagnosed with Crohn’s are diagnosed with this form. As a result of this type of Crohn’s , I developed Gastroparesis. In other words, part of my stomach is paralyzed. As a result, some of the nerve endings that cause the stomach to contract are dead, and therefore hinder my stomachs ability to digest as well as move food out into the small intestine. Which as a natural result of Crohn’s has its own inability to absorb certain nutrients. All of these combined often leaves me anemic. Not only Iron deficient but b12 as well.

There are only a few doctors that recognize and treat this form of Crohn’s. I had to send pictures of the inside of my stomach to the Crohn’s / Colitis Foundation and get an expert opinion from one of their doctors, before my own doctor would accept the fact that I had Crohn’s Disease. All though he admitted that all the signs were there. And he told me I had Gastorparesis, he is also one of those that would rather not deal with a case of Crohn’s disease. After all it is a nasty disease! In other words, it is a disease with no cure and only minimal effective treatment.

I don’t really blame him for his reaction to the fact that I have Crohn’s disease and he did try to treat the issue with medication, but nothing he did helped. The mixture of both the CD and the GP in combination makes treatment complicated. For what might help for one complicated the other and visa- versa . And I refused to take prednisone for CD inflammation. Although it is the most common treatment for CD, I have seen the effects of prednisone. My grandmother ended up in a nursing home after she lost the use of her legs . My mother ended up in a wheel chair 7 months after treatment began. She took her own life when the pain in her legs cause from the of osteoporoses , a common side effect from using prednisone.

In the last year, my chronic illness has been given a new name, Lupus. Evidently, while I may not have considered this small problem the key answer to why I have spent a life time of battling on health issue after another, only dealing with the health crisis of the moment. Little less crucial issues like being sun sensitive, was not viewed as a serious health issue so it was basically ignored by me as well as bu any doctor. But when my face began to break out instead of my arms, I was diagnosed with Lupus. One of the realities of lupus is that some people develop Gastorparesis as well as Crohn’s disease. And some people develop neuropathy, resulting in body pain that is sometime called Fibro.

As a result, of this new information I was given a prescription called Gabapentin to control my chronic pain, but the rest of my health issue I am on my own. But then that is not new to me, I have spent a life time learning to deal with the realities of stomach issues, and other health related problems with out medical intervention. As a result I have developed a holistic approach to dealing with my problems.

Today, I still deal my stomach problem by making aggressive choice, like not eating beef and staying away from gluten products, as well as food items that are filled with preservatives and dyes. And to eat small easy to digested food items. I have also created recipes that I share on line for those with sensitive stomachs and intestinal systems. I also take enzymes, amino acids and Proabotics for my stomach and intestinal health.

I have reduced my pain greatly, by taking supplements like, b12 , magnesium, Omega 3, DHEA. I also have added mild non aggressive exercise to my daily activity . I also watch myself closely to make sure that I stay out of drafts, I keep my legs covered and warm. I still ache, but that pain is helped by over the counter migraine medication.

I will not tell you I have come this far on my own power and inner strength of character. I am not that self-centered. The truth of it is, I have gained a sense of strength, and peace in the middle of all my pain an misery because of my intimate relationship with the Lord. Not my relationship with a church denomination, or one some sermon that has been preached from the pulpit. This relationship was build with in the fires of my pain and misery, when all I could no was cry out to Him for the comfort and peace that can only come from Him. It was build on reading His word and accepting His unconditional love and my right, and something I never had to earn by obey some church doctrine what would steal my security in my salvation. It was build by listening to soft music of praise and by sing "Jesus Loves Me" when I was scared. It was build by calling upon His name when the pain and nightmares woke me from a sound sleep. And with each step that I took as this relationship was build, peace that passes all understanding entered my life. And with it a calmness of spirit that allows me look beyond my pain and see the great God-given purpose that is my life.

What is my purpose? I have found it in the needs of my children and my grandchild, as I tool on the responsibility as their teacher. I have taken my love American History and as a result, I have created so far three Historical Worksheet CD’s , available at Nana’s Corner http://nanasworksheets.com/index.html. And I am now working on an easy to use full curriculum for Home school use.

I have found the peace to deal with my illness, through a sense of purpose and the realization that I a needed. This realization has given me the courage and strength to deal with my illness constructive. And in the process, I have come to realize that there is some much that we can do to make our selves feel better, once we realize that medical science doesn’t always have the answers. But GOD does!