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Over time, my symptoms started to go down hill slowly. I married in December 1994; however, the summer prior I started experiencing weight loss, anemia and abdominal pain. The heartburn kept increasing in discomfort and the pain was intolerable from my pregnancy until 1994. From then and until recently I have been taking Zantac for the heartburn but it hasn’t been strong enough for me. Then, my doctor put me on Prilosec. This medication worked and helped control the heartburn and nausea but it didn't help the abdominal pain. This is when I had to live with the abdominal pain. Over the next few years, the heartburn and abdominal pain were my main complaints. Then, suddenly I began getting joint pain and muscle pain. My family doctor thought I had Lyme disease. She referred me to a rheumatologist who said I didn't have Lyme disease but treated me with Vioxx and a muscle relaxer for the joint and muscle pain. I was diagnosis with Fibromyalgia. I also started having headaches but didn't know at the time until recently that they weren’t just headaches but migraines. I have been to so many doctors and have had many diagnoses but I wasn't happy with what most of the diagnosis’s the doctors were handing me. I was diagnosed as having depression, anorexia, irritable bowel etc. They told me that I had a slow digestive tract and I believe this was true but I didn't know what it meant. The information I was given was limited at that time and I was never told I had Gastroparesis. In January 2003, I went out to dinner one night and ended up in the emergency room for severe vomiting. Since January 2003, I went down hill very fast. I was hospitalized a lot last year and became familiar with many of the emergency doctors. The reasons for my hospitalizations were for dehydration, due to not eating for days, heartburn, high blood pressure and for pain and discomfort. I was finally diagnosis in May 2003 for Gastroparesis and ulcerative colitis. Summer of 2003 was a bad year for me because I was in the emergency room every month. This had put a strain on my relationship with my husband. I had to find help because I couldn't live this way. I did a search on the internet and found a wonderful doctor, Dr. Henry Parkman, who specializes in Gastroparesis. In November 2003, I was under his care at Temple hospital for 2 weeks. This was my lowest point in my life. After running many tests, he told me I had Gastroparesis and Zollinger Ellison syndrome. Zollinger Ellison Syndrome is even rarer than Gastroparesis. Zollinger Ellison Syndrome and Gastroparesis combined are not good. Zollinger Ellison Syndrome is abnormal high gastrin levels, caused by tumors, which give severe heartburn and cause ulcers in the digestive tract. On January 29, 2004, I had a Nissen Fundoplication and a Pyloroplasty performed by a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Sean Harbison at Temple University. I have made some progress since surgery but I still have some problems. I knew the surgery wouldn't be 100% successful and wasn't sure what the outcome would be but it has made a good difference in my life.
Recently, I met my good friend through G-PACT;
her name is Hope. She was their Spotlight Patient in the November 2003.
We have been talking to each other over the past year and we finally met
on Sunday, October 17, 2004. She has meant the world to me and has
helped stand by me. I have also met some wonderful people who have
Gastroparesis and have been so supportive. I want to thank everyone who
has been there for me. |
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