Well it has been a long time since I have sat down to blog. I finally got my coaching post up, but I haven't been doing much blogging lately. Things around our home have been crazy!!! First off Kyle and I are foster parents. We have had a very special little girl with us since Dec. 2010. She came to live with us straight from the hospital. She is now 1 and should be going up for adoption soon. We are in the process of trying to adopt her. This process is hard and much like a roller coaster. Some days we are hopeful and others we are sure that the workers are crazy and have no idea what they are doing. It is also a very long process. I believe that trial won't be set until some time in the fall of this year, and that is only to terminate parental rights The trial to finalize the adoption probably won't happen until sometime next year. Anyways with all of this there is a lot of stress. Thank God I am running. I think that I would have lost my mind if I couldn't run to relieve the stress. I am amazed at how much better I feel when I run.
On top of this stress I have been having multiple health problems. It seems so weird to me that now that I am a healthy weight I am falling apart. When I was morbidly obese I never darkened the door of my Dr's office and now it seems I am making an appearance there weekly. Back in July I had my gallbladder removed by emergency surgery. I knew that I had problems a year before that but I was able to keep the attacks away because of my diet change, but all it took was a piece of pizza and I was in extreme pain. The surgeon found too many stones to count and so my gallbladder had to go. Fast forward to now and I have had nothing but trouble with my stomach since. I have had pain everyday since the surgery and I have had a lot of trouble eating most foods. Seriously I think I eat 10 different foods and that's it. I finally went in to see my Dr earlier this month and we got ultrasounds and blood tests and tried to see if there were stones in my bile duct. Nope, no stones. The symptoms were even getting worse landing me in the ER again. The ER Dr believes that I have a blockage somewhere between my stomach and my small intestine. I am also not digesting the foods that I eat. They took x-rays of my GI tract and found that I was full (blush). No wonder I was in so much pain. After a week of killer laxatives and other drugs I was actually feeling worse. My stomach has been swelling when I eat since my surgery but now the swelling made me look 8 months pregnant. I still wasn't moving anything and I was in pain. I went back to my Dr and he suggested that I was probably suffering from Celiac disease. Celiac can be triggered by abdominal surgery. The idea is that I had latent Celiac disease that was triggered, or turned on, by my gallbladder surgery. So for now until I can get in for testing, I am gluten free. I have had a good experience so far, the swelling is coming down and the pain is better. I am still very constipated (TMI sorry) but I am hoping that this is the answer. It hasn't been as hard as I thought to avoid gluten. I didn't eat many grains before this so I am not missing anything too terribly yet. I am sure that it will be going out to eat that is the worst. I will need to eat gluten again for 2 weeks before my test so I am saving all of my cravings for those two weeks. I figure if I am going to be in pain from the gluten I might as well eat what I want.
On top of all of this craziness I have also had heart issues. Way back last fall I had a bunch of tests, blood tests, EKG, urine test all to check what my new normal was now that I am half my prior size. Everything was great except my EKG, there was an abnormality. My Dr was sure it was nothing and just a fluke of the test, so he had me repeat it. Well I didn't get around to repeating it until I went in for my blood work a couple weeks ago. Any guess what, it wasn't a fluke. I have a non-specific abnormality on my EKG. I have no idea what that means. I am going to see a cardiologist on Tuesday. My Dr wants an echo cardiogram (fancy ultrasound of the heart) and a stress test to make sure my heart is ok. So far I am allowed to run. I am supposed to wear my heart rate monitor and be sure that my heart rate isn't jumping around and I am to stop if I feel faint or unwell. Fun times. I figured I would update you all about the craziness going on around here. I am so thankful that I have an outlet to get rid of this stress. I am not sure what will happen if I have to stop.
Anyone else gluten free? What are your favourite meals?
Wow! Yes, I try to remain gluten free and if I do eat it my stomach feels like I just ate a brick, no exaggeration! Maybe losing the weight is what let your body show what's going on? Either way I'll be praying for you
ReplyDeleteeeyikes. Good luck with things going forward. I'm fortunate enough to be free of any food allergies or other such issues. I did have high cholesterol numbers a few years back but running cured me of it. I'm really hoping for the best for you and sincerely sincerely(x infinity)hope your doctor doesn't advise you to stop running.
ReplyDeleteWow is right... prayers for you and all these challenges! And I agree with Stan.. hope you can keep running, because I know what an outlet it can be.
ReplyDeleteAs for gluten-free, my wife discovered she was very gluten sensitive, and I am mildly affected. So, we are all about cooking gluten free.. it's not easy, but it can be done, and fortunately gluten-free seems to be the current dietary fad, so the bonus is that more restaurants are catering to it, and more products are available at the store.. tough thing is that not all gluten-free is necessarily healthy or minimally processed... ugh, such a challenge to cook and eat these days.
As I come across recipes that work well for us, I'll forward on to you. Know that we are thinking about you and your family... keep us posted!
Jeff
Thank you all for your support. I am seeing my Dr again on Wednesday for more tests, and a referral to a GI doc. Even with being gluten free I am still swelling up after I eat or really even after I drink water. It sucks. The bright side is that I feel good when I run, I'd rather run than not. I really cannot believe that I am saying that, I am amazed at how differently I am dealing with these health issues, before I would have eaten away the stress. lol can't do that now. I'll keep you guys updated. And please do send along any great recipes you find. I am looking for a protein bar type recipe right now.
ReplyDeleteRobbie
Check out Elana's Pantry.. she has some amazing recipes.. many of which I learned from Lillian's Test Kitchen.. (another awesome site). Anyway, Elana has what looks like a good powerbar, but I haven't tried it. http://www.elanaspantry.com/power-bars/
Deletehttp://www.lillianstestkitchen.com/
TAG.. you are it.. check my blog post for 1/28.. If you don't want carry it on, no biggie.. it was kind of a pain, but fun :-)
ReplyDeleteWow what a bunch of frustrating challenges! I know of another lady who lost a lot of weight and had to have her gallbladder removed. Gluten free is something I strive for, just to avoid wheat products in general. I feel better when I don't eat bread/pasta etc. I have a gluten free peanut butter cookie that I have made several times, that uses coconut flour. The cookies only have natural peanut butter in them, not the hydrogenated stuff. My kid is addicted to them lol, and they're protein rich. My husband has crohn's disease and has had intestinal blockages that have required surgery to remove parts of his inflamed intestine. Make sure you see a good GI doctor to rule out that angle as well. Rice pasta is gluten free, I make Vietnamese style noodle dishes all the time for the family, they're easy and a huge hit. Email me if you want recipes, or facebook. All the best, and my prayers are with you. Maria
ReplyDelete