I thought I should let you all know why I have been missing in action this week.
After 22 years of a gluten free diet and never having any follow-ups, my daughter thought that I should have a check up.
I’ve been having some indigestion type discomfort for the past several months. My daughter is a Cardiovascular Technologist in the cath lab of one of the major hospitals in Pittsburgh, so naturally we went down the road of ruling out heart disease. I had a walking stress test which was fine, in fact the cardiologist told me that my “heart was as healthy as a horse”. Thank you, I think. 😉
So next off to the Gastroenterologist. She read my diagnosis from 22 years ago, asked me my age and said, “I want you to have an Endoscopy and a Colonoscopy. Yeah 🙁
So this week I’ve been preparing for my tests that I had done yesterday. Monday night was my last real meal. Tuesday was a day of all liquids. That was fun, especially being at work. 🙁
Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm I got to start my magic elixer. It wasn’t a glass of fine wine, but it didn’t taste as bad as everyone kept telling me it would. I’ll spare you the details of what happened over the next 3 hours, but bright and early Wednesday morning I was off to the hospital for my tests.
The testing went smoothly and a lot faster than I anticipated. I got most of the results back right away. Everything was normal and the doctor said that there was some rippling typical of celiac disease but not abnormal. In fact if he wouldn’t have known I had Celiac Disease he would not have attributed the rippling to that. So my vigilance of a gluten free diet has been successful.
Proof positive that if you are careful, watch your diet and stay on a gluten free diet. You can stay healthy, even without follow up medical attention.
Oh and the diagnosis for my digestive discomfort? Acid Reflux. So I take an acid controller twice a day. Well at least I know I’m still healthy. 🙂
Extremely interesting post thank you for writing it I just added your site to my bookmarks and will check back.
Wanted to say thank you for your help on the HillBilly Housewife sight. I have gone gluten free, because I have severe acid reflux and it has helped me alot. My stomach is starting to get better and hoping to get off of some of the stomach medicine some day. Thank you again and I have booked marked your blog and will be checking back. CharlieAnn
You are very welcome CharlieAnn!
Let me preface this by saying that, some of the things that I was told when I was first diagnosed was not completely correct, and without any medical follow-up over the past 22 years, my body has suffered. With that being said, after all the test results were in, it was found that I have the beginning of Barret’s Esophagus. I am now on 40mg of Prilosec once a day. And I have made some major changes in my household. All of which have been beneficial.
My stomach is healing and I too am hoping to get off the Prilosec soon. That is why I am so adamint about remaining on a gluten free diet.