How do you respond to that?

A little over a year ago I started a blog on blogger.com about getting healthy.  It sounded easy.  I would blog about my progress and just watch myself get better and better.  However a year later, I think I'm further behind than when I started.  I have had good days and bad days.  Lately it's been more bad than good.

About two months ago I started having problems again and wasn't able to eat or handle much at all.  I waiting about three weeks before going to a doctor.  My doctor was stumped so she sent me to my GI doctor.  He too looked puzzled and said he wasn't sure but thought it might be my liver swelling and my body not healing.

So then I took a trip to my nutritionist who put me back on a soft diet for a few weeks and said that I just needed time to heal.  I was following her diet to the tee and seemed to be doing better.  She told me after 2 weeks I could introduce one item to my diet every two days until I could tolerate food again.

Last night was my first day of reintroducing foods.  Let me just say it didn't go as planned.  I literally ate one bite of meat and then spent the remainder of the night in pain and trying not to cry.  So it's back to soft foods for me - the introduction wasn't a good idea yet.

I guess you are wondering what all of this has to do with my title....well let me tell you.  Today my husband and I got a little snippy with each other and started to argue which is pretty rare for us.  So in the middle of this stupid argument my husband throws the bomb out there.  "Look I'm stressed and I hate you being sick.  I have always seen us together growing old together and lately I just don't see that anymore.  I feel like I am going to lose you and you won't be here to grow old with me".

The question now is what do you say to that.  To the person who is my rock, who is my earth angel and the one I count on to be strong? How do I reassure him when even I don't have that answer.  What if I am not here later in life?  What if something serious is wrong and the doctors are just missing it?

I want to watch my baby grow up and have his own babies.  I want to sit with my husband when we are old and watch our family.  I want to live a life I never got to see my mom live....
So how do your respond to that?

The more I learn the less I know

The fact that I am a researcher at heart and that I become obsessed with learning would normally lead you to believe there isn’t much I DON’T know about my health.  However to say that would be a total lie.
I have had Celiac for two years now.  When I found out, I immediately took on the task of learning everything I could so that I could heal and get better.  I can now recite long words that contain gluten in them.  I can tell you that beauty products have wheat in them and though the doctors say that doesn’t matter that they are dead wrong on that one! I can whip up a delicious home cooked meal that is completely safe for a celiac to eat without giving it second thought.

What I cannot do is tell you that I am an expert in this area.  Lord knows I should be - I have read, researched and lived everything I can get my hands on.  The crazy thing is that even TWO years later I am STILL learning about this disease.  I am still finding things I didn’t know and I am still healing from the damage the disease did to me in the first place.

This is what leads me to my title - the more I learn the less I know.  What I do know is this - Celiac is not a joke. It isn’t an easy disease to live with and it’s effects can rack up some major damage to your body.
My suggestion - do not stop learning.  Make a commitment to stay up with the latest news and medical findings.  Doing so will cause you a lot less heartache later on.

Learning will help you become healthier in all areas of your life and if you have Celiac it may just save your life!

If you are not learning you are not moving forward and that could be a fatal mistake!
Peace to everyone - may this week you find one thing that can help you be healthier in your body, heart and soul…….

And There's More...

I have had Celiac for two years now.  It was a relief to be diagnosed and seemed to be such an easy fix for such a large health concern.  Now two years later I am finding out "there's more".  There hasn't been a week that has gone by that I haven't learned something new about this disease or the diet that goes along with it.

And there's more....
I have learned that there is gluten not only in foods but in shampoos, lotions, make up, and much more.  I have learned that doctors tell you that this doesn't matter as long as you do not eat it.  Then I learned that if I used it I became sick - and when I started asking around so do many many other Celiacs! 

 And there's more....
 I have learned that just when I think I have researched every corner of this earth and that I know all I could possibly know about Celiac I am wrong!

And there's more...
I have learned that the damage my body has sustained from Celiac includes dental problems, gallbladder problems, liver problems, and much much more.

And there's more....
Mostly I have learned this is not an easy disease and that most likely this has become a full time research and life long learning process! That nothing will ever become one hundred percent easy with this disease!

Mostly....
I have learned that I am getting really good at research, that this disease will become a defining moment and my life and that I am stronger than I ever imagined.