Lactose Free: Day 1

HAPPY VOTING DAY!


I had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Vedula, the gastroenterologist, to get the results from my biopsy. Unfortunately, I am mostly still without answers. She said that there is a definite irritaton in the lining of my stomach which is most likely the culprit for my digestive problems but the test for Celiac came back negative. At this point, she is suggesting that I start a lactose-free diet for 2 weeks to see if I have any relief of symptoms. At first, I was very reluctant to do it because I'm pretty sure that I am not lactose intolerant but she is the doctor so I'm following her advice. After the 2 weeks of lactose free, I will be going gluten-free for 2 weeks. Of the two, I suspect that the gluten-free will have better relief of symptoms but will be significantly more difficult to maintain. When I asked, Dr. Vedula confirmed my suspicions that just because the Celiac came back negative does not mean that I won't find relief in a gluten-free diet. She is suggested the lactose-free first because it is much more liveable. Personally, I can't imagine living the rest of my life lactose-free. No ice cream? Chocolate? Milk? NOT FAIR! I go back to Dr. Vedula in mid-December to report my progress. She said that if neither of the diet changes work she is planning to run "a lot" more tests but didn't really elaborate on what they are.



Our trip to Florida has been cancelled. I will still be traveling to Orlando in early February to attend a conference but Dave will not be joining me afterwards. I discovered that our traveling companions are no longer able to join us and at the same time our good friends decided to move up their wedding to Valentine's Day which was during our scheduled time in Florida. Initially we discussed trying to save some additional money and taking off to spend some time in Mexico. We LOVE Cancun and I can think of no other place that I would like to vacation but we are still undecided since it will still cost so much money.

Overall, life has been kinda getting to me lately. With the stress of all these medical tests and no answers, combined with our ongoing struggle to get pregnant, I've been feeling down. As a good friend of mine reminded me, God won't give me more than I can handle. That said, it is all weighing rather heavily these days. As my 30th birthday draws nearer, I can't help but fear that it won't be long and all of our friends will have children and it will still be just Dave and I. Don't get my wrong, there is nobody else that I would want to spend the rest of my life with. We just always that there would be at least 3 of us, maybe 4. I'm trying to continue to have faith that it will happen when it is supposed to but the treatment costs so much money and it has pretty high emotional cost too. It will get better, not go away, but get better.

Boy! I just realized that this might be the most depressing thing I've ever written. Sorry about that...it just kinda came out. I will keep posting updates on the new diet(s) and results. Please pray for me to find and maintain some willpower throughout this (no chocolate? I repeat, UNFAIR). :)

Love and hugs,
Melissa