Update

My Health Update on my Family Blog...Today!

I s'pose I should give you an update on my health of late.  I am not so anxious to blab on about the status of my health, as it's not so hot.  However, so many of you have asked and thus I shall provide...I need all the prayers I can get, after all!

The week of Thanksgiving I had an endoscopy to verify that healing was actually occurring in my stomach.  I went under with confidence having had great reports from my hematologist that my blood counts were higher than they had been in two years!  The bleeding ulcer had evidently stopped with help of the Prevacid and I was on my way to health with additional iron supplements.  I was THRILLED to not be facing more blood transfusions and without explanation for the need.  I was THRILLED to not have to be poked anymore.  I was just THRILLED period.  It had been a really discouraging time for me.  Discouraging, stressful, humbling...Until that point, I had never been on the receiving end of life-giving blood before.  Truly...life-giving.  The circles my family ran to donate their blood to me were endless and for that, I am truly grateful.  So, do you write a "thank you" note for blood? :)  How does that work?  I am not sure that Emily Post has covered that one before.  I was beyond Thank you note grateful.  Words cannot express it.

When I woke up, my doctor, whom I love, said in his thick accent, "You want me to sugar coat it or speak da truth?"  I told him I could handle it, thinking it couldn't be worse than I have ever been...or not.  He said, "It's bad. Worse! Terrible!" As my heart sank, I was expecting a pat on the back, not this!  He said that even though I had stopped eating the day before around 5pm, my stomach was completely full...to the esophagus.  He didn't even get to complete the study because he feared I would aspirate my food to my lungs and that would have been terribly dangerous...life-threatening, even.  "Life-threatening" has never been used with me before.  I was stunned and broken.  I cried most of the day, knowing I had big decisions to make.

My GI understands my desire to treat myself naturally.  He believes it and he gets it.  But he also wants something to change about my stomach and fast.  He wants me to take the Humira that the GI at Mayo wanted me to take.  Bottom line...I am no where close to having a peace about that. The risks of lymphoma are 1 in 1000 and it doesn't even hope to cure my disease.  It only claims to alleviate symptoms.  I can do exactly that by controlling what I eat and I take on ZERO risk of depriving my children of a mother some day.  Morbid, yet a real thought for me. I know what I need to do.  I know it's hard.  But, I don't have a choice.  I am saying this now so everyone in the world will hold me accountable, but staring January 2nd  (after cheese grits and corn bread :)) I am going back on my major diet.  This time, it's a Live-it.  It is a life change and it is going to be my life.  My life will consist of God-made food only.  No sugars...meaning no breads, no pasta, nothing with an ounce of sugar in it.

I still believe that I have two major problems. I have Crohn's Disease, but I also have a Candida Overgrowth.  Since doctor's don't know much about Candida Overgrowth, it is very hard to differentiate between the two. I think I can.  And, I think if I can go for a year (with MUCH prayer!) eating a yeast and sugar-free diet, then I can get the Candida under control and hopefully many of my "Crohns" symptoms will disappear.  I am not convinced my issues are simply Crohns Disease.

And now...you are posted.  Love to you all.  Thank you for always asking and praying for me.  I cannot do this on my own!