StandingWater Creations

No. This is not a post about Erin and 'little camper'. Rather, it is a post about the changing nature of my body. Specifically, what is causing some new and more disturbing problems, to include incontinence. This latter part has been less than fun, often embarrassing, and has (more than once) cause me to have to destroy underwear that I don't really want to destroy/replace.

After the last bout (20 minutes plus in a stall in the McKay Building waiting for traffic to die down, then walking to my car, and then driving home and cleaning myself, putting on new clothes, and then waiting hours for Imodium to kick in so I could do anything) I took the advice of the people in my life and scheduled a doctor's appointment. The doctor listened, did some things (I won't go into graphic detail), ran some tests, mostly blood, but also included defacating into cups over a couple of days, and then being sent to a gastroenterologist.

The visit to the GI (short for gastroenterologist, don't ask me how or why) was today. I showed up about 30 minutes early knowing I was going to a new doctor and wanted to make sure that forms and documents and insurance were all taken care of. As a result, I was in to see the doctor about ten minutes before my scheduled appointment and the doctor came in about five minutes early as well. He sat down, looked at the information sent over from the BYU Health Center and then asked a lot of questions about what was going on with me.

One part of this conversation was my diet change about three years ago. I indicated a belief that I might be Celiac, that a doctor had tested me for two of the four markers, and since then I have been a pretty strict wheat-free diet. As a result, since I am not eating wheat my body is not producing the anti-bodies that would exist if I were Celiac. The doctor listened, was actually very surprised that I was not only on a wheat-free diet, but had been on one for this long.

Part of me expected to hear that I would have to take in some grams of wheat a day for the next month and have another test to eliminate Celiac Disease.

For those that don't know, Celiac Disease is a condition where the small intestines attack wheat or wheat based foods (starch, wheat, gluten, etc.) and as a result, destroy the small fingerlike celia in the small intestine. The outcome is two-fold: first, your body stops absorbing the nutrients from food which, in turn, causes a lot of other problems; and second, you begin losing weight, your body stops accepting other foods and you end up getting sick.

In my case, the problems occurred after a very tense time when I had to deal with a sexual harassment complaint (I opened the complaint against someone else) which is, often, one of the causes for Celiac to present itself. On top of that I had abdominal pains, diahrea, and other problems. For these reasons, and more, I stopped eating wheat after seeing a doctor who (again, three years ago) tested for two of the four markers and then declared that if I felt better not eating wheat I should just not eat wheat.

Well, according to the GI specialist (gastroenterologist) he didn't think I was Celiac and was reticent to add that to my medical history because I could be one of two other things that present in a very similar way: wheat intolerant, carbohydrate intolerant.

The big difference between an intolerance and Celiac disease is, believe it or not, which one causes cancer. Granted, they may all present in exactly the same way, but Celiac Disease has a tendency to become stomach and intestinal cancer if the diet is not changed; where intolerances are just that, your body doesn't like what you're eating, but also doesn't stop you from eating things - though eating wheat based items can cause discomfort (in my case pain).

Instead of focusing on Celiac, the doctor decided that my symptoms were more along the lines of Crohn's Disease. Crohn's Disease is an abnormality in the intestines that causes them to not sync properly. Essentially the intestines are a series of muscles that push the food through while absorbing nutrients. What this does is cause the body to not function in a way that allows nutrients to be absorbed properly or the body to function all that comfortably.

In any outcome, the gold standard in testing for all of these problems comes in the form of a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Essentially, I am going in for an anal probe. Actually, they will be scoping and biopsing from both directions. From what I've read and heard these are extremely painful procedures, so I will be put under (sleep) while they are being done. The doctor said they would last about 30 minutes and that my entire time under should be less than two hours.

This does not mean I can drive away from the out-patient facility on my own, which is why Erin is going with me. She has admitted to being a little scare for me. I am not exactly at ease with this. Having and endoscopy and a colonoscopy sounds like something that does not even resemble fun. I guess I should be glad that I will not be awake.

The outcome is going to be a pretty satisfactory understanding of what has been causing me problems for about four years. What is a pleasant side-effect of finally seeing doctors and having BYU Student Insurance is the chance to actually meet with a GI and have him determine what my problem(s) is. The outcome may remain that I keep the current wheat-free/Celiac diet, or I may find that I get to experiment with foods and can start seeing what causes what kinds of reactions inside of me. Truth told, I think I will find that I am more comfortable with a wheat-free diet; but I won't know until after everything happens next week and then the doctor has had time to do whatever he needs to do and then tells me whatever it is he thinks based off of the evidence, symptoms, and other things.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West

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