Thanks For Making Me A Fighter

I've had a couple of suggestions that I should write about my medical struggles and what exactly that means for my life.

So, I know I've mentioned this before on my blog but I guess I haven't gone into much detail. I've included links for each different medical malady that I have just in case you'd like to see more information about each one. 

So, I've always had struggles with food. Feeling like I was going to be sick after eating a normal sized meal, having pressure in my stomach after eating certain foods, heartburn started as young as eleven. (That's the first time I remember having heartburn at least...)

I never really assigned a reason to all the craziness with food until I moved to college and realized it was a bigger problem than I thought. 

After a few (okay, so really it was A LOT) of tests over the span of a year and a half and two different doctors/surgeons  I was diagnosed with the following (in order of discovery):

1. PCOS- Poly cystic ovarian syndrome

*This is why I am also Insulin Resistant (different than Diabetic)

2. GERD-Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease

3. IBS- Irritable Bowel Syndrome 

Now the breakdown:

PCOS

This, apparently, is common in women of this generation. There is a range of "how bad" your PCOS can be. I'm on the "higher"  end of the scale. PCOS also increases the chances of being insulin resistant. Together, this makes it harder than normal to lose weight. Want to know the frustrating thing? Losing weight is one of the TOP ways to manage your PCOS and make it less of an issue. Do you see the catch 22 there? Yeah. It's annoying. On top of having a hard time losing weight, I will have a harder time with pregnancies. (According to my doctor.) The more weight I lose the better but according to another doctor I've seen the only way to know how hard getting pregnant will be is by how "regular and heavy" my menstrual cycle is. (I apologize if that was TMI for you.)

Medication: None really, except for Metformin but Metformin screws with my stomach...thank you, IBS.

Fixable?: Losing weight and taking Iron supplements are two ways to deal with it but as far as my research as shown, there is no "cure".

GERD

This is the bane of my existence. Heartburn all day everyday. I have a medication that soothes the burn but because my lower sphincter muscle is all messed up, stomach acid is constantly "splashing" up into/onto my esophagus burning the tissue. If this continues (and gets progressively worse) it is possible to have stomach/esophagus cancer. Joy. The meds help to soothe the burn and prevent massive amounts of acid coming up BUT they don't lessen my chances of cancer. Again, joy. There is a surgery that basically fixes the esophagus but my current surgeon didn't write a convincing enough report for the insurance company, therefore no surgery just yet. There is a surgeon that would do it but he is about 6 hours away so we're looking to when I could have the surgery done...probably next year.

Medication: Nexium, Pepcid and Tums

Fixable?: With a 90% success rate, a Trans-oral Fundoplication can reconstruct the sphincter (essentially) making the acid remain where it should.

IBS

Oi. This took forever to diagnose. Finally, they figured it out. Basically, I need to be near a bathroom at all times. It's highly obnoxious and semi embarrassing. I won't go into details because if you checked out the link up top, you'll have a good idea of what it does to a body.

Medication: Dicyclomine (3x a day)

Fixable?: As far as I have been told, no. 

Because of the GERD and the IBS there are a lot of things I "can't/shouldn't" eat. 

Here is the short list:

Berries: Mainly blue, rasp, black and boysen. Strawberries are okay if they are sweet. 

Citrus: Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Pineapple (yikes). I can do "Cuties" if they are sweet and fully ripe. How do I know if they're ripe? They're a little bit "loose" feeling. Not mushy but loose.

NO CHERRIES!: Oh my gosh, I get SO SICK. The only kind I have had without getting sick is the fresh black kind. Even then, I can only have a few before I start to get sick.

Coconut (it makes my throat swell up)

Peppers: Bell (any color) jalapeno etc. 

Onions

Fresh Garlic (powder is ...okayish)

 Pork: (most people are sad because I can't eat bacon but growing up just the smell of bacon gave me a headache and made me sick. I've never liked it so I'm totally okay with this). Pulled pork (like the Cafe Rio kind) is okay, but I have to be careful not to eat too much. 

BBQ Sauce

Tomatoes (again, it depends on the kind. Cherry and grape

 Beef: This is okay, in fact I eat beef a lot but my stomach takes FOREVER to digest it. But, I like steak way too much to give it up entirely. I just can't eat it everyday.


What I LOVE to Eat...
Mangoes
Celery & Peanut Butter
Cuties (If they're ripe. I'm totally obsessed.)

Cucumbers
Carrots
Eggs
Other things...

I do have to say that I am blessed.

I don't have to fight cancer or any immune diseases.

I fight my health battles and I will win. I know because the Lord is on my side.

So, to quote Christina Aguilera, thank you, medical issues, for making me a fighter.

P.S.-Update, I've been put back on Metformin as of today. This will be an adventure.