a weekend with gp...

This past weekend was a very trying weekend. At the beginning of the week, my digestion was becoming an issue. After eating each meal, the nausea would come and the food wanted to go. Some days, I absolutely hate eating outside of my house because of this. I never know what is going to happen when I am like this. I continued tip toeing around my meals with caution and Wednesday, my GP got the best of me. I had a baked potato for dinner and it did not stay. On that note, I have eaten so many baked potatoes; I can be a nightmare for a waitress. If my baked potato does not taste fresh or good enough, it is going back. Baked potatoes are a staple in my diet and I'm sorry for being rude but a person can only eat so many bad baked potatoes.
I went to work Thursday determined. Whenever I loose my meals like that, I feel extremely run down. I was determined to get my rice down for lunch. My rice was plain there were no spices or special flavoring. I made myself wait about an hour before asking my boss if I could home for the afternoon. I decided that it was time to switch over to a liquid diet. I decided that it was time to switch over to a liquid diet.
Friday, I started my liquid diet. I do not like liquid diets. Whenever I am on liquid diets, I crave the oddest things. I crave things like water chestnuts, green olives and cheese-its. Friday night, Jacob and I had a business dinner to go to so I cheated on my liquid diet and I ate half of a bad baked potato. I was in the bathroom not long after we got home. I figured it was the potato and went to bed. I woke up Saturday morning and I was still miserable. Whenever I drank something, it wasn't long and I was in the bathroom. I could not hold in Sprite. I was like that until Sunday evening. My weekend diet consisted of Sprite, popsicles, and chicken broth. That was my weekend with GP.

My Reasoning

Whenever I was first diagnosed I felt alone. I knew that my family and friends were there for me but they did not have GP (gastroparesis). They had absolutely no idea what it felt like. I finally met some people who have GP and I no longer feel alone with my condition. They understand what I am going through. My reasoning for my blog is for me to keep track of what goes medically but mostly it is for that one person like me who has been diagnosed and feels alone. So from here on out, I'm going to be telling you what is going on with me and my gastroparesis.

My Story

I was always a healthy person growing up. I remember I once went four years between doctor appointments. My doctor told my mother, whenever she's sick I'll check her then. It was great, no waiting in the waiting rooms, no needles and no doctor bills or medications. Whenever I was in college, I had an appendectomy. It was an experience. Shortly after whenever I would go out to eat with my boyfriend Jacob, I would become nauseous and lose my meal. This became a frequent pattern. Before long, I was seeing a gastroenterologist about my gallbladder because my diet had became more limited. After trying several medications and performing several tests, my gallbladder function was said to be at eighteen percent. It was time to remove it and then I should have my relief. After my surgery, my surgeon told me that it looked as if someone had poured motor oil in my gallbladder. Give it a month or two and I should be close to my old self. Three to four months after my surgery, I was worse than before. I could not keep food in my through my whole meal sometimes. During this time, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer so my family was under enough stress so I did not want to add to the mix. I finally excepted that eating eight Maalox tablets a day, not including the my prescriptions to help keep the food in was the way it was going to be.

By February of 2008, my weight was steady going down. My parents were beginning to notice and I finally made the call to my doctor to ask for a referral. My appointment was at Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center with the Head of Gastroenterology, Dr. Kenneth L. Koch. After visiting and going over my case, he believed that I had Gastroparesis, a condition where the stomach ability to empty is delayed due to paralysis. He would not know more until He did a series of test in May to confirm. He performed an Electrogastrogram which is like an EKG or EEG. Next came an Upper Endoscopy and an Esophageal Manometry. The Endoscopy was easy for I had already had two before. The Esophageal Manometry was a different story. Coming home with a tube down my nose to measure my pH levels in my esophagus was not so comfortable. The final test was the Gastric Emptying Scan. This test was so hard for me. I had to eat eggs with a trace of radioactive material in it and toast. My mom had to make me eat it. I do not do breakfast foods for breakfast. This was my third straight day of testing and I was tired. This test shows how fast the food empties through your stomach. It can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 6 hours. It took me a little over five hours. It seemed like forever.

Whenever I went back to get my test results, it was offical, I had Gastroparesis. My stomach functioning was at thirty-seven percent. My lifestyle would have to change. My diet would have to change. I would have to eat foods that were easy to "mill" or "grind up" in the stomach. From the time of my appendectomy until my diagnosis, I had went from one hundred twenty-one pounds to ninety-one pounds.