Celiac's disease

The last few months have been a little bit of a challenge for me.  Back in the end of January and the beginning of February I got influenza type A.  Really that wasn't that big of a deal, everyone in the house got it and we all got over it within a couple of weeks.

The following days month I started noticing I had some stomach problems. Also Benson has had eczema really bad, so in the end of February I went off dairy for a couple of weeks things for Benson didn't change but I felt things were a little better for me. After the two weeks I decided to have dairy again and see what happened, everything seemed to get worse really fast at this point.(About a month and a half since the flu) I was often waking up in extreme pain during the night, all day long my stomach hurt, I was real gassy and bloated. Also I had almost gotten to my normal weight of 125 after Benson's birth but within a few weeks I started dropping weight fast and was down to below 115 in a very short amount of time.  I was worried about this since I am still nursing and wanted to make sure Benson was getting the food he needed so I started to eat like crazy trying to maintain my weight.  I tried doing no dairy and no gluten at that point..but I didn't last long, it was just to much for me to cut out at one time especially when I didn't know that was the problem. I just started minimizing eating of both dairy and gluten. 

In April I went to visit family and decided I would eat whatever everyone ate and act like nothing was wrong.  After all maybe it was something in my head? (wishful thinking) I got a stomach bug after the first day we were together. (That's another thing I have caught illnesses so much easier lately) I thought maybe it was related but later on my kids got the bug so I decided I could still eat whatever.  I then got a number of sour stomachs and was still in pain. I decided to go to a family doctor in Utah that I know cares for me and whom I trust a lot.

He said everything sounded a lot like Celiac's disease.  He explained the only way to know for sure was to visit a GI doctor and have a scope done.  He said I could also just live the diet and if everything goes away then I would know as well. 

I decided I would go see a GI doctor because I wanted to know for sure.  My appointment was a couple weeks out when we were back in Arizona.  I decided to keep eating some gluten because you need to have been eating gluten to be accurately tested.

This is when things started getting really bad I wasn't eating dairy but that didn't help any more.  I often felt as though my body was just going to turn off. One of the times I felt this way was driving home from Phoenix, I decided I needed to pull off the road because of how I felt.  The next thing I remember was my window being pound on by a police officer.  I have no idea how long I was out but I am grateful to the police officer for checking on me and my kids. I did have some neat experiences during this time and I feel as though death is nothing to be feared but is something very sweet.  I also feel as though we have a lot to learn in this life and we need to use the time we have been given wisely.

Anyways my doctors appointment was a disappointment. On the way to the doctors I felt like I often had over the last few weeks as though I might just check out for a little bit but was able to keep it together. On the way I felt strongly like I just need to do the gluten free diet and thought, "why am I waiting just for someone to tell me to do this." The doctor was running late so I waited for a long while and I am sure by the time he saw me my appointment had gone into his lunch hour.  I told him what I was going through and then I listened to see what he thought it might be.  He proceeded to give me two prescriptions and explained the symptoms that they would take away.  All of the symptoms he said were ones I had never experienced..feeling offly confused I said, "well I really don't have that problem". He then continued with what he was saying I then said, "okay that sounds great but I don't really have those problems"

He then had me check out and said to come back in two months. On the way home I realized that  I could not live like I had any longer and that I was just going to go off gluten.

These are pictures of us eating garbanzo bean pizza.  Which is much easier to make then normal pizza. I have learned a lot this last month about different flours and eating a gluten free diet.  I know I still have a lot to learn though. This last month things have gotten much better! I still even though things were better still didn't feel as though I knew for sure it was Celiacs, still I wondered maybe it was because of all of the sicknesses ext...that I felt that way. A couple things solidified it for me that I feel pretty sure that is what it is.
The first was the other day I went running and tripped on my shoe laces and ended up with a large gash on my knee and side also sores on my hands and arms. These were sores I could see that I knew where there definitely not something I had made up and I knew the stomach hurt much worse then the sores that were outside of me.
Sometimes in life I think many of us, including me have a hard time believing in things we can not see even when the evidence is just as strong or stronger then what we can see right in front of our face. Things we can tangibly hold, or see seem more real then the things we feel, where sometimes the things we feel are more real then what we see with the natural eye.
Well this fall showed me that the feelings inside were real and stronger then what I could see in front of me.
Even with all of that I still wasn't convinced that it was Celiacs, yes it did convince me that the pain was real. A few days ago I decided to have a baking day and make bread, pizza (both with and without gluten), and some other things.
All day I had problems with being bloaty and gassy. With flour going all over, I know I inhaled some, got small amounts as I finished other things on my boys plates that had flour on them.  And then in denial I ate a piece of pizza. That night  I was up with pain. After that I have decided that I really think it is Celiacs and that the only way I will be 100% well again is to keep gluten out of my diet.  It is amazing how much better I feel with even a few days of staying completely away from gluten.
Although this last little while has been somewhat challenging I have learned so much and am extremely grateful for what I do have.  I feel so blessed in so many ways as I have looked outside myself and seen so many with challenges so much greater then what I am dealing with.

This last month I have seen many tender mercies from my Father in Heaven. I just wanted to list a couple so I remember them. One Friday night I went to make pasta... I realized I couldn't sit down and eat it with everyone I would have leftovers or something else instead.  Anyways although I realize it isn't that big of deal, it made me somewhat sad as we all sat down to eat.  (They do have gluten free pasta but it is way too expensive for us at this time.) Well the next morning at market on the move they had spaghetti squash for the first time. I had never had spaghetti squash and asked about it, the lady there said how it is easily substituted for noodles in any recipe. I can now sit down and have pasta with everyone with my squash noodles.  This also opened my mind to other substitutes I hadn't originally thought of.
On Sunday's at our house it is the one day in the week, we get to have cold cereal.  The boys always look forward to Sunday mornings as do all of us really.  A couple weeks ago I realized all of our cereals contained gluten and couldn't eat with them. (We only buy cereal at the 99cent store, they get cereals that stores can't sale fast enough so we get full size box cereals for 99cents.) Anyways to my pleasant surprise they had a certified gluten free granola the next time I went in. I am sure it cost $6 or more in the stores so grateful to get it...just wish I would have bought more.

 The other day I wrote about how Benson had just started rolling over...
Well today he started crawling! We all  were cheering when we saw him doing it. Alden and Calvin both started crawling at 8 months but we were thinking it might be a little later for Benson. He made sure he wasn't out done by his big brothers!!

The other day all 3 boys were in their room playing. It was fun to see them all together being so happy!

Lately Alden has been big into good guy bad guy stories games etc. I think in the picture at the top they were either building swords or towers.
The other night at dinner Alden explained how the broccoli was the good guys and the rice and chicken were the bad guys. ( at first I thought oh good he knows what is good for him) He then went on to explain how when he eats them it kills them. You wouldn't want to kill the good guys would you?
While I was sitting there talking to Alden I heard Calvin saying something I looked over and realized for the last several minutes he had been sitting there picking up a piece of rice throwing it and saying," it ran away, it ran away". Anyways it made me laugh.

 Over the summer we decided to take a break from team sports and we were going to do gymnastics. As you might have read we didn't do gymnastics based upon the fact that my boys are constantly doing gymnastics all day at home so we decided to just save the money and pay off more of our student loans.
Anyways Alden has missed the sports, today he tried to rally up soccer teams but was only able to get Hoppy to dress up for the occasion. (Hoppy is the rabbit playing goaly in the soccer jersey.)

 Calvin watched the game he played cars. Calvin loves any car and loves to play cars!

Benson is starting to be more interactive and move a little more. Alden took these pictures after Benson had rolled over...something he does every now and again. He is usually pretty content wherever he is and would rather make noise to get what he wants then to move. We think he will be crawling soon though with the few movements he does make! :)
We love his smiles and love the cute sounds he makes!!

new shirts!

I have an aunt that is amazing at finding and sending the most fun packages. They always bring a smile to the boys and my faces.  This week she sent us matching t-shirts!

 These are the ones that I got with everyone looking at the camera. Just for fun I posted a couple of the other ones I took, and trust me there were more, trying to get everyone looking. How did people do it before digital?

 Alden and Calvin wanted to take some funny pictures... We let Benson go take his much needed nap!

desert museum

During the summer the Desert Museum does summer nights because of the heat not many go during the day. We've never gone because the boys go to bed early but we decided to do it one time before I pass runs out.

 It was a special night focusing on keeping safe in the sun. Alden and Calvin got a special picture with the sun.

sayings

These are some quotes/ conversations I had with Alden just after I got my new phone.

I was reading the instructions where it says something will happen just like magic.
Alden,"magic is for mommies huh"


Alden, "it's everyone's phone"
Me,"no, its my phone"
Alden, "but you are going to share with everyone"
Me,"no, I think it just for me"
Alden, "Jesus says to share and likes it when we share"

market on the move

 Every Saturday here in Tucson you can go to some location and get 60 lbs of produce for $10. It is an amazing deal and we go quite frequently. My boys love it because they get to help fill up our box, pay, and push the stroller. ( were the grocery store they don't get to do as much)
You can get as much as you want of whatever they have. This last one there wasn't much variety so I came home with 8 honeydew melon and lots of acorn squash. It is a fun challenge for me figuring out what to make with the different things we get. Above the boys are eating acorn squash ravioli. They loved it, definitely a first time but probably not the last making that.
The market moves hence its name market on the move. This last one took us by the mall so we stopped by to play at the play place. That's what the picture above is.

Last night for dinner I didn't take a picture but I should have. I was excited that we had a bunch of different things on our plates because normally other than our salad we just have one thing I've made. We were having spaghetti squash with sauce, acorn squash, and yellow squash with cheese. Anyways when I served it up all the "different things" I found myself saying here is some squash and more squash and more squash. So much for all the variety. But that is what happens sometimes when we try to eat everything from market on the move.