MY STORY

Part 9

Gluten Free journey

In November, 2022 I was diagnosed with a 1.1 ml kidney stone. Because I had had 10 surgeries since my gallbladder removal, I opted not to have the stone blasted or removed. I thought I’d save some money. (HaHa:).

In February, 2023, I started making sourdough bread. I took a class on sourdough bread making and it indicated that the reason so many people were having gluten intolerance was because of the way people were making bread. They were not taking the time to ferment the dough and break down the lectins. My mom had my son, Tc’s, garage full of her wheat she had been storing since I was a young girl. I finally had a way that if I had to eat that wheat, I could make it into sourdough and I would be able to eat it.

I was making bread and sourdough waffles weekly. I was eating it. My family loved the bread and waffles also.

In April, 2023 I started getting a rash on my right hand. I thought it was eczema. It gradually got larger on my hand. I had a prompting to call Dr. Jared Nielsen’s office and talk to Jen, his assistant. I asked her, “What is Jared’s take on sourdough?” She said, “he is not a fan.” When I ended the call, I quit eating sourdough. I continued to make it for my family.

Later that month I ended up in the hospital with excruciating belly pain that radiated up into my upper back. The doctors did an MRI and found that the kidney stone was still there. I had hoped that I could pass it without surgery. Ugg!! Not so. I scheduled the kidney stone blasting on May 3, 2023.

I was still having belly and back pain. About every 2 to 3 weeks I would end up in the ER having bent over, exhausting and excruciating pain. The doctors would run tests and not be able to find anything. They would give me Tramadol which would do nothing much to help the pain and send me home. I literally paced the floor one night for 8 hours after taking several doses of Tramadol. At 6:00 am I woke Glen up to go to the ER. Finally, the doctors, after running tests, gave me Tramadol and Hyoscyamine. Hyoscyamine is a muscle relaxer and the two together helped relieve the pain.

Once I got those two medications, I could now control the pain at home. Those attacks came about every 2 to 3 weeks and sometimes every 2 to 3 days. It was dependent on what I ate. I was being inspired to fill out a Food and Lifestyle Journal, a form that I have my health coaching clients fill out. I kept putting it off but finally said, “Ok Lord”, I will do it. After filling out the food journal for a week, I was able to determine some of the things that would trigger the attacks.