Brittany Caudell
Utah
Idiopathic GP

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Several months later after endless testing and dropping 30 pounds or so, I was admitted to the
hospital. They did a few simple things, then did a Gastric Emptying Scan. That was when they finally figured out I had Gastroparesis (GP). My stomach was really delayed in emptying, and the doctors immediately stuck me on Reglan for the nausea and the next day I was sent home. It wasn't long before the Reglan stopped working so my doctor doubled the dose, which also increased the horrible side effects. However, it was the only thing that helped the nausea.

Eventually, I could only eat rice and bread since everything else made me a lot more nauseous. I was only able to eat two meals a day. I was losing weight rapidly again. They eventually added Erythromycin to my Reglan, but it didn’t do a thing. I couldn’t watch TV or read a book ­ I just couldn’t think about anything at all except that I was nauseous. I ended up in the ER several times because of dehydration and I was losing weight like crazy.

While in the hospital after exploratory surgery in which a benign liver tumor was found, the doctors and nurses were getting terribly frustrated with me for not eating, but I just couldn’t handle it. I was getting anti-nausea medication every four hours in my IV, but it didn’t help at all. I was continuing to lose weight so they stuck a Nasal Jejunum tube (NJ) down me to get some weight back on me. I was sent home with the familiar slogan "just deal with it." I was truly depressed.

Then something strange happened ­ my nausea went away. I started eating normally, three full meals a day, absolutely anything I wanted. This glorious time lasted for a little over two weeks, after which they decided to pull the tube since they thought I was miraculously cured from GP! The day they pulled the tube, the nausea returned. It wasn’t as bad as it was before, but I was still upset because I thought I was better. They placed another NJ tube to help me gain some weight. It worked ­ I gained 15 lbs, but the nausea continued. We all thought that since my nausea went away the first time I got the NJ tube that it would go away again. It didn’t, and I was so discouraged that I made them pull it out after only a few weeks.

I then decided to give Domperidone (motility medication) a try. My doctor also decided to try an injection using botox that could be done to possibly help the emptying of the stomach. Neither of these treatments were effective. My weight loss dropped rapidly to a dangerous level. They finally put in a j-tube and a g-tube so I could get some nutrition. I am much stronger now, my hair isn’t falling out quite so bad, and I’ve even gained some weight!!! I’ve tried to go without using the tubes, but I end up getting so weak and much sicker that I just swallow my pride and realize that I can’t do it alone right now. It was terribly frustrating seeing my life waste away, I almost starved to death because I could eat so little. My liver was starting to fail and if I hadn’t have gotten my j-tube when I did, I would have died.

Unfortunately, my doctor basically told me that he had tried everything he could think of, except the gastric pacer. They do not perform this surgery here in Utah where I live, so I set everything up to do it in Kansas City. The pacer was just placed on August 18th, 2002. I’m still waiting and hoping it will work for me, it could take anywhere from two weeks, to two months to two years to notice a difference ­ I’m hoping it will start helping soon. My health is still quite a roller coaster and I’ve been chronically nauseated for well over two years. It drives me up the wall sometimes, but for the most part I’m handling it well.

Before I became sick, I was a piano performance major on scholarship, a typical 20 year old. I practiced 5-7 hours a day as well as taught many piano students in addition to all the college classes I was taking. After coming down with GP, I had to give it all up due to the severity of my symptoms. Even though I hate the constant nausea, the constant "sick" feeling - I would never change what has happened. How could anyone WANT to be sick? It's not necessarily that I want to be sick, but that I didn’t like the person I was and this illness has changed me to a better person. I know God has something planned for me, I just don't know what it is yet. Maybe he does plan on me getting better - I just don't know. But one thing I do know, if I do continue to be sick - be it two days, two weeks, two months, two years - I will do my best to be all that I can be and not squander my life away moping around because I'm sick. I don't know that I will be able to return to college, or for that matter that I will even be able to hold down a job, but God has a purpose for me, that somehow, some way I will affect other's lives for the better. I don't pretend to understand all that is happening to me, I just know that there is something for me to accomplish- and accomplish it I will!

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