Introduction to “Health is Wealth”
Disclaimer: I am not a licensed medical doctor or counselor. All of my posts are from my own personal experiences in the areas of my own health and wellness. My posts are meant to inspire you in your health journey, but do not qualify for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Please consult a licensed medical professional or counselor. I cannot be personally held responsible for any advice you take from my blog postings and implement into your life without consulting a medical professional first.
October 18th, 2011 is a day I will never forget. I remember sitting in the Doctors office twiddling my thumbs, shaking my feet and legs up and down, and being quiet as a mouse with my mom in the room. When the Doctor came in my heart was pounding, and when she confirmed my diagnosis I knew my life was never going to be the same from that moment forward.
For as long as I could remember I had been struggling with my health. My stomach was always in pain, I was nauseated all the time, my joints would hurt, my mood was all over the place, I was extremely exhausted, had headaches everyday, and would fight a viral infection every few weeks. I got to a point that I just accepted that was how my life was going to be. My stomach had always hurt during childhood and my teenage years, however it started getting to a point where the symptoms were uncontrollable and I was not able to live life. Finally after months of hiding most of my symptoms from my family I finally broke down and told my mom I needed to go to the Doctor’s.
During my first appointment I talked to the Doctor for two hours about all of the symptoms I had been experiencing. I have never talked about my trips to the bathroom in such detail in my life! Afterwards she ordered lots of test and labs. I had blood tests, a stool sample collection, and an ultrasound on my gallbladder. Most things came back normal except for one which was the Tissue transglutaminase antibody test, abbreviated as tTG-Iga. This is a blood test that is typically used for Celiac Disease screening.
My results for the antibodies knocked the normal ranges out of the park! Normal ranges are 5 and less, and mine were over a 100. They performed a more in depth Celiac Disease blood screening which came back positive on all three test.
After discussing my blood test results, they referred me to a Gastrointestinal Specialist after. Once I met with the GI Doctor, she said they needed to biopsy my small intestine to fully confirm Celiac Disease. The upper endoscopy procedure was scheduled in late August prior to me transferring and starting at Western Carolina University that next week. However, my follow up appointment with the GI Doctor was not until mid- October. For two months I waited to see what they were going to say. During the waiting period I started researching Celiac Disease and found out more information about the Gluten Free diet. I slowly started researching what I could and could not eat if that was what the diagnosis was going to be. I was terrified about the possibility of changing my diet and my life. I was not ready for it, but when the Doctor confirmed my diagnosis I knew I had to dedicate to my gluten free journey. Was it easy….ABSOLUTELY NOT. However, within days of being GFree I was thriving! I felt like this dark cloud lifted and I was AWAKE for the first time. I finally felt good!!
“I found out that obtaining health and feeling good is the greatest form of wealth we can have, especially after suffering for 20 years of my young life. My celiac diagnosis not only changed my diet for the better, but my overall approach to health in general.”
Now, “Health Is Wealth” is not all about my Celiac Disease management, however there will be many posts regarding Celiac Awareness. “Health is Wealth” is really about all the MANY things that go into your health. It’s about the mental, emotional, social, spiritual, etc. You name it and there is probably a way that it relates back to your health in both good and negative ways. Now, like I mentioned in the About the Blog page, I am not an expert in regards to this area. However, I do know what it is like to go through a diagnosis, and manage an autoimmune disease. I also minored in Nutrition during college, which is only a handful of classes, but it did help me learn more than I would have otherwise.
The best part about “Health is Wealth” is that it’s about the JOURNEY to obtaining health. I myself am far from perfect in this area of my life! It’s something that I am always trying to fine tune, but once I think I have it together I realize that I really don’t.
“Health is a door that is is constantly revolving and evolving.“
Nobody has the perfect life to prioritize health first. They just make time for what is important to them. It’s not always about the tools and resources, but about your drive and approach to bettering your life. Instead of a workout or celiac blog, I wanted to dedicate this space to looking at and taking care of health in multiple ways, and finding a balance between them all.
“If there is anything that I have learned over my 20+ years of life it is that health is not simple, but a holistic organism that needs to be approached in a multitude of ways. It should be a constant journey, not one with a final destination.”
Here is to happier and healthier versions of ourselves friends!
Always,
