Health Happenings..

Update: After I posted this earlier, we found out Doug has been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to go get a stat X-ray on his colon, more details will come from the doctor once it is read . We now need to change his diet and most likely go ahead and change all of ours, to gluten free. I know our grocery store carries gluten free items and am going to try and set up a tour to find all of the items that they have, so that I do not have to search when I go grocery shopping. We are asking for guidance from the Lord and we are glad we finally know for sure the self diagnosis we made earlier. It is a relief to know something for sure and how we can handle and take care of it now.

For those of you who know and those who do not, here is an update on Doug's back and shoulder. If you remember, back in January he fell at work and hurt his back and shoulder and getting hurt at work, well can be a hassle to say the least. Why? Well you have to deal with worker's compensation insurance and not your own health insurance, which would have solved everything by now. Back to treatment, at first they thought is was a pulled muscle and said it would heal on it's own, wrong. All the while, he has been hurting and nothing really being accomplished, let's just say when it comes to a company's insurance paying for something, they deny, deny and deny more until you take them to court. That's right court. So, finally a judge court ordered treatment for his back, in May, that's right nearly four months later, all the while he is at home hurting. He has a 3/4 inch tear in a ligament in his lower back, which will eventually heal on it's own, we hope. They tried physical therapy to help with the muscles around it but that just made it hurt worse. So now, this Tuesday, I will be taking him to the orthopedic specialist to get a shot in his back, right in the ligament to see if this helps. They have approved three shots, how kind of the insurance company. The lawyers will also be meeting on Tuesday to try and decide what they will do for his shoulder, a torn rotator cuff, that's right they are fighting against treating that as well and here we are six months later, with nothing accomplished. Doug is a trooper, he has been back to work under doctor's order for a month now, although he is hurting, he loves his job and his family and we truly appreciate him and love him very much. So, please keep him in your prayers and we hope that these treatments work and he stops hurting.

The G Free Diet

Whether you are conservative, liberal or the man on the moon you should stop by your local book store and pick up The G Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I am only on chapter 3 but it is so informing and interesting to read you will not want to put it down. Why am I reading this? Well, we are trying to find out why Doug is having so much trouble with food, he is having so much pain in his stomach after eating certain things. After so much research and trying to find answers with numerous doctors, we have self diagnosed him with Celiac disease. What is celiac disease? It is a digestive disorder where your body has a toxic reaction to gluten. It is also an autoimmune disorder where your body attacks itself and is hereditary but not everyone experiences the symptoms, which there is a long list of. Untreated celiac disease can cause you to have problems with your health such as intestinal cancers, infertility, Type 1 diabetes, miscarriage and osteoporosis. What is interesting so far is that some doctors believe and evidence shows that celiac and gluten sensitivity can possibly influence mood and behavior disorders like ADHD, depression and bipolar disorder. Right know doctors are studying the link between gluten and autism spectrum disorders because they believe that if you remove gluten from the diet this can improve the condition.

For Doug to get his diagnosis he will need to have a celiac panel done, which is the first step. This test for the presence of antibodies associated with celiac, these include antiendomysial antibody, antigliadin antibody, tissue transglutaminase and total serum IgA. The next step in diagnosis is a endoscopy and small tissue biopsy, you only need to go through this if your celiac panel shows your risk level as high. Step three is genetic testing and this only needs to be done if step one and two prove inconclusive. So once we get his doctor to set it up we will be one our way to hopefully prove our self diagnosis and then change his diet. And hopefully getting him to feel better and eating healthy options so that he isn't hurting after he eats anymore.

I hope this helps anyone who may be experiencing problems after eating to go out and ask there doctor for a celiac panel to go and starting living a happier, healthier life.