A CORRECT diagnosis

We have a new development in our household that forever changes the rest of our lives, although it directly impacts my life.  While there is much to discuss on the new subject, this particular post will be on the facts and science alone.  Opinions, feelings, outcomes, future happenings, etc. will come in later posts.

In early August (I believe the 11th), I got cold/flu sick and went to see a doctor.  Henry ended up having to drive me because I was SO SICK.  Thus, he missed work that day.  While there, I …for some strange reason…decided to bring up my history of digestive issues, which obviously was a totally separate issue.  I’ve been dealing with numerous symptoms for 10 years now.  I explained to the doc what I’d been through in regards to previous docs, GI docs, testing, MISDIAGNOSISES, etc., and she decided she wanted to test me for something new.  I knew what that something new was, and I insisted (somewhat rudely) that she was wrong.  She tested me anyway.  I had to do a blood test, and thought nothing of it when I did not hear anything within 72 hours as the lab technician explained.

One week later, THE DOCTOR called; not her nurse, not the lab…THE DOCTOR.  She told me that the panel she had run on me was positive. “Krista, you have Celiac disease.”  Stunned…I thought of nothing better to say than, “You just turned my cooking blog upside down.” 

She referred me to a GI doctor, Dr. Ira Flax.  On August 31st, Henry and I met at Dr. Flax’s office and spent 2 1/2 hours with him, his nurse Helen, and a small amount of time in the lab for yet another blood test.  I was being tested this time for liver damage and anemia.  Both turned up negative.

Furthermore, Dr. Flax wanted to biopsy my small intestine as well as get some photographs of them.  I was scheduled for an endoscopy for September 8th.  Henry and I both had to take off of work.  I was put under, they photographed my intestines and biopsied them as well.  The results of this biopsy were no different; I still have CD.

In order to better understand what Celiac Disease is, I would highly encourage reading one of the three links below.

-CeliacCentral.org

-Celiac.org

-http://www.celiac.com/

What all of this means for me now is that I will be eating gluten free for the rest of my life as there is no pharmaceutical treatment for this diagnosis; the only treatment is to eat gluten-free.  I’ve been on this diet since my biopsy was over (I was required to continue eating gluten until testing was over).

While this is not a beautiful disease to hear about when you read about the symptoms, here are the symptoms that I specifically was suffering from (that we know of, and that I’m willing to share):

-Fatigue

-Irritability

-Bloating

-Gas/Abdominal Cramping

Possible symptoms that could have been a result of this are as follows.  We won’t know for sure until after being on the diet for some time.

-Headaches

-Vitamin deficiencies

-Weight gain (I HOPE THIS IS A SYMPTOM ;) )

Anyone can read for themselves, so I’ll just go ahead and put one thing to rest right NOW.  Infertility is not a symptom we know was a problem for me or not as we did not try this path.  For all we know, it could have been (and therefore built-in birth control) or could not have been (and we are just that talented).  So no suspicions are to be made regarding that symptom ;)

Other facts and figures I think are necessary to have a look at:

• One in 133 Americans have celiac disease.
• Three million Americans across all races, ages and genders suffer from celiac.
• 95% of celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.
• 10 years is the average time a person waits to be correctly diagnosed. This is EXACTLY how long I lived with symptoms before being CORRECTLY diagnosed.
• 17% of celiac patients have an immediate family member who also has celiac.
• Celiac disease can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility (see my note above), reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases.
• $5,000-$12,000 is the average cost of misdiagnosis per person/per year of celiac, not including lost work time.
• There are NO pharmaceutical cures for celiac disease.
• A 100% gluten-free diet is the only existing treatment for celiac today.
• A positive attitude, 100% of the time, helps celiacs create a gluten-free lifestyle for themselves and their affected family members.
• 500,000 new celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the next 5 years thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of celiac disease.
• The gluten-free marketplace is expected to reach $1.7 billion by 2010 thanks to new vendors manufacturing better tasting and more affordable products.

That is all for facts and science.  As I said, there will be more posts to come on other feelings/developments/how it’s going/ etc.  However, for now, this is more than enough info.