Gluten-Free...the way to be?

I've had stomach issues for....well, forever. I've tried over the counter stuff, even prescription meds. Still, I would sometimes end up with the worst stomach ache. I would literally end up crying my stomach hurt/cramped up so bad. I really believed that I would have to live the rest of my life being withing running distance to a restroom. That is until I talked to a friend of mine who has had some of the same issues. She went to several different doctors, and did her own research. She thought she had a gluten sensitivity. She went to a naturalistic doctor, who confirmed it. It's just a simple blood test. Some might think I'm talking about Celiac Disease, but that is a condition that a person can't eat gluten foods at all. A gluten senseitivity is your body reacts negatively to gluten, and it can be a range of how much gluten your body can take without having a reaction.
My friend thought I too might have a senseitivty to gluten, so I did some research and thought, why not? It really can't get any worse than what I'm dealing with now. So at the start of July, I went gluten-free. This means no food with any wheat product, flour, etc. that doesn't say gluten free. I had to hunt, but I have found some good gluten free food at the regular grocery stores. It is WAY more expensive, but I feel it is totally worth it!
Since the start, I have had no symptoms I had before. However, if I eat something that I shouldn't. I know it had gluten, because the symptoms return. For instance: EW and I went to the movies and not thinking I got pizza. WRONG! I had such a stomach ache that night, I couldn't sleep. I won't be making that mistake again.
Sometimes you may not know if it's gluten free or not, so I ask what it's made of, and go from there. I've done research, so I can about tell if the ingredients are ok or not. It's all about being informed.
I know that this will have to be a rest of my life deal, and yeah, that kinda sucks. But being able to go out with friends, not having to worry if my stomach is going to act up really is worth it!
Having a gluten senseitvity or celiac disease is not the only reason why someone would want to try a gluten free diet. Studies have shown it also works on people that have autism, add, adhd, irritable bowl syndome, thyriod problems, inflammatory diseases, and many others. I was amazed at how just changing one substance found in what you eat can have such an affect on your health.
My challenge to you is think about what you eat--It could be making you sick.

-Brina

Update on Fibrous Dysplasia

I thought I would do an update, since I haven't in awhile regarding my FD. I just went and saw the endocrinologist on Monday. She said that she can't really say if it's FD or not without a biopsy to confirm. I called the sinus specialist to see what we should do, and was able to get into to see him yesterday.

We discussed biopsy and waiting 6 months, then re-scanning to see if the mass has gotten bigger/changed. There are risks to both. If I get the biopsy, obviously it's surgery, and something could go wrong. They will be sticking a big needle up my nose, and going right pat my eye. So I could lose sight, or lose sense of smell. These are all the worst of the worst, but it's part of the risk. If I wait 6 months, the risk is that if it is cancer, it could spread. They have no reason to believe it's cancer, but no reason to believe it isn't either.

The sinus specialist doesn't believe it's FD, because it's really rare to have it only in that area. However, it's really rare to have cancer there also. It also could be a benign tumor. So really without a biopsy it's a crap-shoot. After weighing the options, I really don't care to wait 6 months. The unknown scares me more than the word cancer. I really don't want this looming over my head for the next 6 months, so I've decided to go ahead with the biopsy. It's scheduled for Sept. 15th. Let's hope I get some closure on this, and maybe some good news too :)

While I was at home, we got our family pictures taken by Heidi of Heidi Beth Photography. She is awesome, and worked so well with Bandit! She works out of Watseka and DeKalb, and if you pay her enough, she might even travel :) You really should check out some of her work on her FB page here. She's so talented!

-Brina

Finding Myself

Caution: If you don't want to read depressing pity-party ramblings, then don't read this and go here instead.

Can 1 decision change your life? I know that it can, but there are other factors that also feed into everything else. Everyone says my life is just beginning, so then why does it feel like it has ended? I guess it's a chapter ending, and a new chapter has yet to start. Looking back on the short 25 years I have had, most of them have been wonderful. However, this past year has been anything but. There have been highs, but more lows than I care to count. How can I say that, considering that in the past year I married the love of my life, we started our life together, and I got the most loving little puppy? Yes, that all is wonderful, yet I still haven't been able to stop mourning my previous life. My friends tell me to be happy, because I have a man that loves me. Yes, I do, and I love him also, but does that mean I have to give up everything else for love?
They say that I need to get over it and just be happy with what I have, but I can't. I can't pretend to be happy. What really bothers me is that I was one of the those girls that said I would never give up my life, my independence for a guy. And yet, that's just what I did. I have a husband, yet no independence, nothing of my very own to be proud of. If I knew what I know now, I would have never made the choices I did. I was the independent woman, living on her own, with a job that I went to college for. I thought everything would fall into place. I had my man, and everything else would come too. Now I know it doesn't work that way. I have been on both sides of the fence, and every time I look over the fence and see that the grass is just a bit greener on the other side. Single women want a man to come home to, and I get that, because that's what I wanted to. But the lesson I learned is that a man can't make you happy (it seems so simple right?) You can't give up everything that means something to you and expect one thing to make you feel whole. The only thing that will happen is that you will feel resentment toward the one thing, no matter how hard you try not to.
My single friends tell me I have it all, but they don't get that they have good jobs and are doing something with their lives. I screwed up by leaving an opportunity. My friend that I worked with told me she knew I wouldn't find a job when I left. I asked her why didn't she tell me this a year ago? She says, "would you have listened?" Yeah, probably not. I was blinded by love and everything was puppies and rainbows. Others asked if it was really wise to leave a stable job. I can answer now, no, it wasn't.
I've tried to get back into teaching, and I've even had 4 interviews, but I now know it's not enough. I've been out of the classroom for a year. Now it's going on 2 years. There is no way I will get hired being out of the classroom for 2 years.
So what now? Where do I go from here? I refuse to take just any job, hoping for my big break. I have a feeling that I need to cut my losses and start over. I need to go back to school and find something that makes me happy, and if I decide that's it's teaching, then I will take more classes in education. If that's not what I decide, then I guess I'll take other classes.
Overall, I know I can't change the past, and all of the choices I made were my own. I'm really trying to deal with everything, and maybe when I find peace with it all, I will end up finding myself.

-Brina