Death by Wheat

Well it's been entirely too long since I've updated my blog, especially since the last post sort of left off at the begging of the huge Tour de Médecine I've been on this past month. So far I'm averaging 2.75 doctors appointments a week, so maybe that's why I haven't sat down long enough to update my blog. And have any of the tests been conclusive? No, not the Barium CT Scan, the Small Bowel Follow Through X-Rays, copious amounts of blood work for Celiac Disease, Thyroid Disorders, Tissue Inflammation, and the Consultations with Surgeons, Gynecologists, Generalists, and GI doctors seemed like dead end after dead end. But I was getting sicker and sicker. A week and a half ago I was eating a cup of food at a meal if I was lucky only to be overwhelmed with horrible stomach pains and feelings of nausea and a bizarre pressure at the back of my throat. It was like I'd just eaten Thanksgiving dinner, several times. I didn't want to eat anymore, but I was soooo hungry. Within 20 minutes of eating my stomach would swell, distending into a round ball, bigger and bigger over the course of the day. Each day I was less and less energetic, sleeping on the couch most of the afternoon.

Then about a week and a half ago my Mom insisted I try an elimination diet. I started with rice and rice milk on Day 1 and added a small food group each day. I first added fruit, then nuts, veggies, and finally dairy products, starting with yogurt. Within 24 hours, I felt better, in two days I was a whole new person. I started eating full meals, my stomach started to shrink to a normal size and my cramps slowly began to dissipate, getting better each day. The only thing we didn't add back into my diet was gluten. Hummm... a pretty obvious correlation to me. My GP wasn't convinced, but she really had no other answers, but your blood test for Celiac is negative the Medical Community insists. However, with some firm persistence, I finally got in to actually see my Gastroenterologist in person. The colonoscopy scheduled for Monday was switched to an oral endoscopy. They are looking for Celiac in my intestinal walls, but the biopsies might still miss it. Celiac presents in a patchy distribution, and he will only take so many samples. It could be very easy to get a false negative. So in order to give me the very best chance of getting a positive biopsy I was instructed to start eating gluten again. No problemo! I headed straight for Big River and ordered the biggest piece of Chocolate Cake on the menu. So bring on the cake, fresh baked bread, cookies, just rolled pasta & beer, I'm going down in glory. And God, do I feel awful. My stomach cramps roared back to life, my tummy is slowly swelling back to previous proportions, that dreadful feeling at the back of my throat is back, my head aches in a foggy haze and I've taken up residence on the couch again. You can have the cake back. For as devastated as I was a week ago upon contemplating a life without soft pillowly bread, I am now counting down the days till Monday. Go Figure.

For more information on Celiac Disease: Click Here