MY STORY

PART 10

Gluten Free Journey Part 2

On May 3, 2023, I had my kidney stone blasted. The blasting only got part of the stone. I ended up having to reschedule to have the rest of the stone surgically removed. On July 19, 2023 I had surgery to have the last of my kidney stone removed. It was a success.

One of the things that triggered belly attacks was eggs. Eggs are so nutritious???. I could not eat them. Other things I had to eliminate was dairy, pork, some of the things I love. But they were not worth eating if I would have the attacks after eating those foods. I got to where I’d eat the same things to avoid the pain. It was very boring.

On August 29, 2023, I had an appointment with Dr. Jared Nielsen. After reviewing my blood tests, he told me that I had celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Both were a result of wheat intolerance. It was no wonder I was living in pain. Up to this point I was grain free and wheat free, but I didn’t have to make sure it was totally out of my diet and my life. Dr. Nielsen said it was probably the wheat in my diet that hardened my gallbladder to make it malfunction and that it was now working on my liver. I now had no choice but to eliminate wheat out of my life totally. That meant no more wheat in my home and no more sourdough bread for my family. I was not to breath it in or touch it.

My son thought I needed to get a second opinion on my hands. My hands were getting worse by the day. They were getting more red and flaky. My hands didn’t hurt that much but they did itch. I made an appointment with a dermatologist. He took two plugs out of my left arm as the DH was moving up my arms. He sent the biopsies to the University of Utah Lab. The labs came back with a diagnosis of eczema. The PA put me on a 15 day regimen of prednisone. I hate prednisone!! I took the prednisone for 15 days. My hands were healing up nicely. BUT two days after ending the medication, the DH was back. I asked Dr. Nielsen why the University of Utah thought it was eczema? He said, they do not know about DH. Dr. Nielsen put me on a regimen of supplements. It’s taking awhile but I am having success.