best thing that ever happened to me?

Its been a while since I updated. Apparently I changed my computers 'firewall' settings and could not log into my account. Since I have no idea what firewall settings are, nor do I care...it made it difficult to make any updates.

First things first, my ankle. Its been nearly 7 months since surgery and it feels perfect, amazing, and virtually pain free. There are a few activities that cause it grief, but those are very few and generally not a part of my everyday life. For example, while trying to play a game of frisbee a few weeks ago my ankle struggled while running over uneven ground to catch the frisbee. The good news is, I did catch the frisbee...and thats significant for anyone who knows my extreme lack of coordination.

Yet, ironically...my coordination and balance are much improved these days. Sounds impossible, but it is very true. After years of clutziness, fatigue, dizziness, stomach pain, digestive issues, numbness is my hands and feet, and tingling in my face I finally found a reason for all these issues. After a few doctors told me these things were in my head, I just assumed that it was normal to feel that way and went about my life. I probably would have kept going on with my life this way if it had not been for the digestive issues getting markedly worse. My blood test for Celiac Disease was overwhelmingly positive. I declined the intestinal biopsy because I did not see the need to sedate myself yet again, pay thousands of dollars, and have the result tell me to stop eating gluten. I was willing to stop eating gluten without the biopsy. Besides, the blood test is 95% accurate in diagnosing Celiac Disease.

For the past year before learning about the Celiac Disease I felt like I was losing my mind. Of course this is something that everyone likes to joke about from time to time. (saying something like "oh I must be losing my mind...") But for well over a year, I truely and literally felt like I was on the verge of going absoltely nuts and completely losing my mind. I could not focus on anything, I made no sense half the time, and I was so completely fatigued that all I wanted to do was sleep. (Working out became my obession because it gave me a little bit of energy to help me get through the day.)

So what is Celiac Disease? CD is an autoimmune disorder that causes a person's intestines to attack the villi whenever they eat gluten. (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, tricale) Eventually the villi get so damaged that the person's body cannot absorb nutrients. (Ah, vindication! I was accused thousands of times last year of being anorexic...which I WAS NOT!!!!!) The cure for CD is to not eat gluten. Once a person with CD stops consuming gluten the villi are able to heal and the body can thus absorb nutrients again. (and I have gained 5 pounds in the past two months...I look healthy again!)

A gluten free diet seems easy enough. For the most part it is. The challenge is that gluten is in 95% of the food out there. Wheat products are also used in a lot of things labeled as "natural flavors" but the manufacturers are not required to list wheat as an ingredient. Then there is the issue of cross contamination which can occur virtually anywhere. So, eating gluten free has its challenges. I have found that I have to cook all my meals and that everything I eat needs to be 100% natural. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing) All the trouble is well worth it.

I do not feel like I am about to lose my mind anymore. I am not painfully tired from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. I can concentrate, hold intelligent conversations with people, and my digestive issues have all but disappeared. In many ways, going gluten free is the best thing that ever happened to me. The improvements are vast. For years I would always pile my dishes up in the sink and they would sit there for WEEKS until I had to wash them. Now, I wash all my dishes right away. My laundry used to get piled up in my bathtub and bathroom sink and then make its way down to the washing machine. Many times I never bothered to fold it and put it away, I would just grab it out of the dryer as I needed it. That does not happen anymore. All my laundry is washed, dried, folded, and put away promptly. My house is clean. The list goes on and on. I finally have the energy to do these things. MY GARAGE IS EVEN CLEAN!!! Anyone who really knows me knows that this is amazing. The list of positives goes on and on. Now unfortunately, going gluten free did not solve all my problems...that would be wishful thinking.

But for the first time since I can remember, I finally feel positive about the future. I do not feel sick anymore and that makes a huge difference in my outlook. So yes, going gluten free might have been the best thing that ever happened to me.