GI must stand for Gigantic Idiot

My GI specialist is an idiot....

January 28th

Him: "I saw you before...why are you back?"

Me: "My stomach pain has returned"

Him: "You don't look like you're in pain"

I bit my tongue to avoid saying some rude words. He did a quick exam and said I was malnourished so I asked him how I could gain weight without ingesting starches, which cause the pain to become severe. He told me to drink Boost.

Me: "Boost contains dairy. I'm allergic to dairy"

Him: "They make a lactose-free kind"

Me: "The lactose-free kind contains whey protein. It makes me very sick"

Him: "No, no....drink Boost" (waving his hand dismissively)

I bit my tongue again.

He tells I have an intolerance to certain sugars (he is certain of this, just like he was certain before that I had Celiac) and to start the FODMAP diet, take a multivitamin, antacid and probiotic daily, and come back in 3 weeks. 

Me: "But I don't have heartburn or acid reflux, only abdominal pain"

Him: "Pain is from the acid, take the Pepcid"

Me: "Pepcid makes it worse, that is why I stopped taking it"

Him: "You have pain because you stopped taking it. Take the Pepcid"

By this time my tongue was pretty sore from all the biting. I realized there was no getting through to him, so I just nodded like a bobble head at whatever he had to say, got out of there and went back home to scour the web for answers. Meanwhile, I did try the FODMAP diet out of desperation with minimal improvement initially, but, as with all the medication and diet changes before, the pain returned and foods that I could tolerate one day, caused me pain the next. My weight dropped to 97 lbs. I became too weak to bathe myself or keep up with washing the small amount of dishes I was using. If diet wasn't the key, what was? I decided to change my approach. Instead of searching for ways to work around the erosion, I began to seek out the root cause of it, so I could attack it at the source.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to the Doc I go....

After going starch-free in August of 2013, the severe abdominal pain I'd experienced for an entire year before that went down to next to nothing. Now, approximately 18 weeks in, the pain is back, with it's annoying little buddy nausea. ARGH! For the last week it has been sharp and constant, worsening with movement, pressure and sometimes after eating (though I've found no correlation to specific foods). It wakes me often at night, which leaves me weakened and exhausted, and has my bowels moving 5-6 times per day.  Mint or chamomile tea with a touch of cane sugar seems to alleviate the pain and accompanying nausea for a while, though my appetite has waned a bit and my weight continues to drop...I am at 99 lbs as of this morning. Time to return to my GI doctor as promised to myself and my friends if my weight dropped below 100.

Baby Hat Drive day 31

My apologies for not posting the last few days...I've not been well. However, I did manage to reach my goal of 40 hats just this morning ...woohoo! Many thanks to all my awesome friends for supporting me and to the donators, pledgers, and promoters who helped make this fund-raiser a roaring success! You guys are the best! 

Akira-Kitty Black
Maria Casey
Steve Lenier
Cynthia G Kandel
Steven Gibb
Mark Dean
Robert Wagner
Scott Martin
Lisa Douthit
Amber & Stephen Larriva
Jason Kulpa
Karen Herring
Delois Avery
Christy Johnson-Ledyard
Scott Lesh

Hat count: 40
Donations: 9
Pledges: 4

Funds raised: $530

Baby Hat Drive day 27

I woke not feeling very well and had to spend most of today in bed. On the upside, I got to finish 3 more hats! :)

Hat count: 38
Donations: 8
Pledges: 4

Funds raised to date: $510           Revised Goal: $600

From December 1 – 31, I will be knitting and crocheting baby hats for donation to Tucson Medical Center’s NICU with a maximum of 40 hats for the month, and I'm looking for sponsors to pledge a small amount of money per hat that I complete.  Sort of like running a marathon, only my progress will be measured in hats instead of miles. :)

Here’s how you can help:

 Type the following info in the form of a comment to this post.

Name

Contact # or email

Pledge amount per hat ($0.10, $0.25, $0.50, $0.75, $1.00)

Payment type: (Paypal or postal money order only)

Example: Suzie Smith, coco200@gmail.com, $0.75

Easy Peasy!

At the end of the month, I will post the completed hat count.

Funds can be sent via paypal toamoneof8@yahoo.com  or in the form of a postal money order to Jessica Larriva at P.O. Box 57669 Tucson AZ, 85732-7669
Monies will be used to offset the cost of the yarn, and obtain basic necessities like toiletries, bus fare, wheelchair maintenance and any food that my allotment of benefits does not cover. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

Baby Hat Drive day 26

Finished a couple lacy preemie caps tonight :) I used avocados to model them...sometimes playing with your food can be a good idea ;)

Hat count: 35
Donations: 8
Pledges: 4

Funds raised to date: $510           Revised Goal: $600

From December 1 – 31, I will be knitting and crocheting baby hats for donation to Tucson Medical Center’s NICU with a maximum of 40 hats for the month, and I'm looking for sponsors to pledge a small amount of money per hat that I complete.  Sort of like running a marathon, only my progress will be measured in hats instead of miles. :)

Here’s how you can help:

 Type the following info in the form of a comment to this post.

Name

Contact # or email

Pledge amount per hat ($0.10, $0.25, $0.50, $0.75, $1.00)

Payment type: (Paypal or postal money order only)

Example: Suzie Smith, coco200@gmail.com, $0.75

Easy Peasy!

At the end of the month, I will post the completed hat count.

Funds can be sent via paypal toamoneof8@yahoo.com  or in the form of a postal money order to Jessica Larriva at P.O. Box 57669 Tucson AZ, 85732-7669
Monies will be used to offset the cost of the yarn, and obtain basic necessities like toiletries, bus fare, wheelchair maintenance and any food that my allotment of benefits does not cover. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

Baby Hat Drive day 25

Merry Christmas, everybody!

It's back to knitting for me, while enjoying a quiet day at home. Just for fun, I decided to try some simple lace :)

Hat count: 33
Donations: 8
Pledges: 4

Funds raised to date: $510            Goal: $500

From December 1 – 31, I will be knitting and crocheting baby hats for donation to Tucson Medical Center’s NICU with a maximum of 40 hats for the month, and I'm looking for sponsors to pledge a small amount of money per hat that I complete.  Sort of like running a marathon, only my progress will be measured in hats instead of miles. :)

Here’s how you can help:

 Type the following info in the form of a comment to this post.

Name

Contact # or email

Pledge amount per hat ($0.10, $0.25, $0.50, $0.75, $1.00)

Payment type: (Paypal or postal money order only)

Example: Suzie Smith, coco200@gmail.com, $0.75

Easy Peasy!

At the end of the month, I will post the completed hat count.

Funds can be sent via paypal toamoneof8@yahoo.com  or in the form of a postal money order to Jessica Larriva at P.O. Box 57669 Tucson AZ, 85732-7669
Monies will be used to offset the cost of the yarn, and obtain basic necessities like toiletries, bus fare, wheelchair maintenance and any food that my allotment of benefits does not cover. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

Baby Hat Drive day 23

I took a break from knitting yesterday to hand out care packages to the homeless at the park. There were more people than I had packages to give out, so they went pretty quick! Many of them had doggies so I was very glad I brought the treats to give out as well. Most of my time was actually spent chatting with the men and women there and playing with their dogs. It was hard to leave, especially knowing that some of them were still hungry and would be cold that night :( There is such a vast need for homeless services...I look forward to being able to do more in the future. 
(Sorry, no hat pic today....my camera is acting up)

Hat count: 31
Donations: 8
Pledges: 4

Funds raised to date: $510            Goal: $500

From December 1 – 31, I will be knitting and crocheting baby hats for donation to Tucson Medical Center’s NICU with a maximum of 40 hats for the month, and I'm looking for sponsors to pledge a small amount of money per hat that I complete.  Sort of like running a marathon, only my progress will be measured in hats instead of miles. :)

Here’s how you can help:

 Type the following info in the form of a comment to this post.

Name

Contact # or email

Pledge amount per hat ($0.10, $0.25, $0.50, $0.75, $1.00)

Payment type: (Paypal or postal money order only)

Example: Suzie Smith, coco200@gmail.com, $0.75

Easy Peasy!

At the end of the month, I will post the completed hat count.

Funds can be sent via paypal toamoneof8@yahoo.com  or in the form of a postal money order to Jessica Larriva at P.O. Box 57669 Tucson AZ, 85732-7669
Monies will be used to offset the cost of the yarn, and obtain basic necessities like toiletries, bus fare, wheelchair maintenance and any food that my allotment of benefits does not cover. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Thanks!