Wow... what a crazy last few weeks it has been for me. On August 4th, 2010 I finally went to see a specialist for all of my GI and bowel issues. During the visit I discussed my symptoms with the doctor and he said that my symptoms sounded a lot like stress induced irritable bowel syndrome, but he was also going to test me for Celiac Sprue to make sure and rule out any other possibilities. Well, after going through a week of fear just gripping me because my blood work was slightly out of sorts I received a call from my specialist that I had indeed tested positive for Celiac Sprue Disease. At that point we changed my scheduled colonoscopy to an endoscopy so that he could take biopsies of my small intestine to have "prove" the diagnosis. After yet another roller coaster of emotions, which began with confusion because my biopsies tested negative, my specialist called me back apologetically because there had been confusion in the lab. My lab work had been confused with another patients and my labs were indeed positive for CSD. So my instructions at this point... give the gluten-free diet a shot on my own for about a month. Then he would meet with me again to see where I was and at that point get me an appointment with a nutritionist. Apparently my insurance will only pay for a nutritionist once and my doctor wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to put together my questions. And so begins my gluten-free journey.
I am on week 4 of being gluten-free. Some of my symptoms have improved but some have not changed much. I learned that I had been accidentally glutening myself with flavored coffee. So i decided to cut coffee out completely until I am healed and then find a gluten-free flavored coffee for my "crack in a cup" fix. So after 1 week of eliminating coffee there were some improvements in the bowel movements. Weird symptoms that I had never thought had a thing to do with CSD, like my extremely dry itchy hands and tingling fingertips, have started to clear up!
So one thing i've learned thus far is that I am having a hard time finding a CSD support group in the Des Moines area. I am hoping after meeting with the nutritionist I will have more solid information on getting connected with people who have been living gluten-free and hopefully have some recipe sharing and information sharing!
So enough about me!
Kaylie started her second year of pre-school on September 8th and she LOVES it to say the least. She missed her teachers so much, and can hardly sleep at night she is so excited to go to school. I can't believe how big my baby girl is getting. 4 years has flown by since my little peanut was born and I can't believe how much and HOW FAST she is changing. Can life just slow down please?
Jennah is starting to talk and LOVES playing with "Kaywee". I am looking forward to having more alone time with Jennah and spend time playing, reading, and just having time to be getting all mommies attention. I think she'll love it ;)
peace
