Items

• 2020-04

  Celiac Disease and Quarantine

  In April of 2020 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to immediately stop eating anything that contained gluten, so no wheat, barley or rye. Gluten is in EVERYTHING. Bread of course, but sauces, candy, condiments, cheese dips, frozen foods, you name it. It is even in beauty products and lotions. Learning to live with CD meant learning how to change the recipes to some of my favorite dishes. I started with a Gluten-Free loaf of bread, which ended up being a disaster. Unlike a regular loaf, GF flour is not sticky or elastic, but acts more like a batter. The “dough” was ultra soft and wet, and especially hard to form. I followed the instructions, but the bread came out hard on the outside and dense and wet on the inside, like an old 50s cake recipe. Quarantine and baking hasn’t been the greatest combo.
• 2020-04-10

  Getting Health Care through the Covid Madness

  At the beginning of 2020, I started to experience a dull, nagging pain in my lower right abdomen. Didn't think too much about it at first, but it kept showing up and then it didn't go away. I made an appointment to get it checked out and was told, "Well, I don't know what it is, so we'll get an ultrasound". Got an ultrasound and nothing was found. Next, I went to the OBGYN and received a full pelvic exam. Was told, "Well, everything looks good, just walk more and drink fluids". This took about a month to see two separate doctors and receive the ultrasounds. The pain persisted and the symptoms got worse. It wasn't just a dull ache, but now cramping, exhaustion, trouble with bowel movements, and the pain moved north to my upper right side, under my ribs and into my back. I was worried and scared. I was referred to a Gastroenterologist and had to wait two months. Two months with terrible symptoms. When I finally got in to see my GI, she seemed positive and wanted to get things moving along. I got blood tests done and when they came back, it showed that I had high TG levels for gluten. In other words, signs for Celiac Disease. To diagnose it, an upper endoscopy with biopsy of my intestines was needed. Another month of waiting. A week before my scheduled endoscopy, the hospital called and cancelled my appointment because of Covid-19. I was furious. They were not accepting patients and most all procedures were stopped. Don't get me wrong, I take Covid seriously and I do my best to social distance, I wear my mask everywhere, and I'm crazy about sanitizing, but I was so angry that my extremely important procedure was cancelled. At this point, the symptoms were agonizing and I was forced to wait. After a couple weeks I emailed my doctor and explained to her that things were getting worse and I didn't know what to do at this point or how to take care of my body. I got a call within a week and was told that my case was reviewed and that an endoscopy would be scheduled for me. Huzzah! About two weeks after that I finally got my diagnosis, and yep, I have Celiac Disease. Trying to figure out what was wrong with my body during Covid was a nightmare. I only shared the basics of what happened, but there was a lot of pain, tears, and fear. If it was something more serious that needed more immediate help I would have been screwed. I am still dealing with my disease and I still have my bad days. I unfortunately am still unable to go see my doctor as it is all online which makes it feel so impersonal. For all those having to schedule appointments and see doctors, good luck!