Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Gastroparesis Flare


I haven't done an official health update since starting this blog, and I figured it is probably time. I like blogging about things other than my health. It makes me feel normal for a few minutes. :) But if this blog is to be about a disabled wife and mom, it has to include health updates too.

The biggest battle lately has been gastroparesis. My gastroparesis has been getting worse over the past three weeks, but I didn't think much of it until this past weekend when it really flared up. For the weekend I had to be on a mostly liquid diet, and my stomach still had a hard time emptying. It has been hard to get enough calories and nutrients. I'm praying that this flare doesn't last long.

Meanwhile, I'm eating pudding, soup, saltine crackers, and drinking a lot of Ensure, juice, Gatorade, and soda. I'm staying away from water as much as I can right now. Normally that's not something I would do, but I need any calories I can get. Water fills me up, but doesn't give calories, so I've replaced my normal water bottle with glasses of ginger ale and root beer.

Mornings are harder than they used to be. It is so hard to get my body moving in the morning. Waking up and getting out of bed can take an hour or more, and it feels like a fight the whole time. Once I'm up and out of bed, it can still take an hour for my brain to "wake up."

As always, I have to rest a lot throughout the day, and I have to spend most of my time lying down. This can be discouraging because I have so much on my to do list: thank yous to write, taxes, letters, coupon clipping, filing, medical journaling, appointment scheduling, and more that I'm forgetting. I feel so unproductive. I can usually only accomplish one small task per day, and some days not even that. I'm very careful about pacing myself. I can't do too much or I'll pay for it later (with even more fatigue, weakness, dizziness, etc). I have to push myself just enough, though, so that I don't lose even more muscle. It's a delicate balance!

So that's a bit of an update for those of you who are wondering. Enough about me. How are you doing? :)

4 comments:

  1. I love that you are still smiling, and that William looks so very happy with you.

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  2. Rachel, you need to get better because you won my Chili's gift certificate! Girl, you've got to be able to EAT! Seriously though, I am so sorry that you are having to go through this. I will definitely keep you in my prayers.

    If you could email your address to me, I will get your gift card in the mail tomorrow. Thanks again for entering.

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  3. Hey Rachel!
    That is a really cute picture of you and William in bed together....he looks like a very good cuddler. That is exactly how Asher and I cuddle.
    I am JUST like you...I started my blog to keep people up to date on the health stuff, but I would so much prefer writing about other things. But then, I do think that people think I am doing better than I really am.
    I'm really grateful for the health updates b/c I hate to ask you to email all of those details (and have to talk about it even more!), but I so much want to know what your days are like.
    I really hope this flare settles soon. You are right--it's all about the calories at this point. Ugh.
    Love you,
    em

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  4. I for one really appreciate the health updates. I often think of you & wonder how you're doing. Thanks for sharing the bad as well as the good. 

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