That sound you heard about an hour ago was the sound of utter silence. And if you know me, then you probably think if I was in that silence I must have knocked myself unconcious. But alas, no. That was me sitting across from my new doctor, stunned. I'm GF for a reason. I have celiac spru disease which has no cure (yet but I'm sure they'll be using gene splitting soon right?) and I live Gluten Free out of necessity. I struggled for years trying to figure out what was constantly wrong with me, why my normal was so unlike everyone else's. After a long awkward journey, an intern sitting in on a regular doctor appointment accidently diagnosed me. It was crazy. It was completely insane but completely right. So myit family rallied around me and we jumped in with both feet. Cause it's how we roll, one for all and all that crazy mess. We turned my house into a GF zone after a couple bad attempts of removing gluten from my diet. I even use gluten free shampoo/conditioner now, so it's a pretty life changing thing. I had to change the way I ate and it was the most difficult thing I'd had to do at that point. But over the last three and half years, I've mastered the art of being GF and my normal is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay different now.
That said, since I left Utah I've only been to one new doc. She was not a good match for me. See after I had my girlie parts removal surgery (different subject) in late 09, my system went nuts. I had low everything. Pulse? Blood sugar? Blood pressure? all low. Sleep? Non-existant for months upon months. And when we first moved to Texas, she argued that even though I'd been through umpteen docs and tests and years of drama to get a diagnosis she wouldn't treat me without me seeing her specialist and starting the process over. I don't think so.
So I was gun-shy. Except, I've been having trouble with my tummy lately so I was a good girl and started asking total strangers for referrals. Someone picking up Gluten Free Bisquick at Walmart? Who's your doctor? Buying Gluten Free sandwiches at Jason's? Who's your doctor? Finally found one in my little town here, shocker. A local doc has ALOT of celiac patients and it took eight weeks to get an appointment with him.
I LOVE HIM. We sat down and went through all my medical history and wrapped it up with a candid talk about my routine and mainteance on tummy issues. He's about the most intuitive person I've ever met. He asked questions noone ever asked and I realized that he is very familiar with my lifestyle and how I live with my stomach stuff. It was an extremely joyful moment!
We worked through all my supplements, sleeping habits. He read me the riot act over my smoking then winked at me and said, there I can keep my license now. Then he encouraged me to drop a few things out of my schedule so that I can regulate the amount of stress in my life. (Sorry doc but I"m not putting off my MBA, no way). Then it was sleeping, he told me to chart my sleeping habits cause I was honest and told him that without any aids, I'd trained myself to get at least four-five hours of sleep a night. So I'm a work in progress.
But the silence, those deafening crickets.............. when we finished up and got ready to leave he simply shook his head at my file and told me "You've dodged alot of bullets healthwise young lady, yet here you are happy and healthy. You did that, not a doctor. But I'll try to help you the best I can"
I cried a little in my car over that one. I can't remember the last time someone looked at me and saw the sum of every hurdle behind the smiles and smart ass mouth. It put a little extra something in my step, because I didn't do that........God did that. He's got my back. Since I was a toddler was wasn't ever suppose to walk unassisted to this very moment, he's had my back!
Now I'm gonna go take my kids to church, cause he's got their backs too!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
(Crickets)
