Thursday, September 10, 2020

Living through the Diagnosis

It's 6:45 Am and I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room for more testing. Over the years, I've endured a lot of tests and know this is just another one, but yet I feel sad. I am going to be tested for Gasteroparesis. It's a side effect of diabetes that effects your digestion. So why by sad. Because, it's just another possibility of another diagnosis. I'm sooo tired of this. So I'm brought into the room at 7 and am told the test will last up to 4 hours. Essentially, you eat some eggs with radioactive stuff in it and they follow it through the digestion process through X-rays. FOUR HOURS!!! So they scan you immediately, then every half hour for 2 hours and then every hour up until 4 hours. It's not a painful test, just an x-ray but the waiting. On we go. I finally finish the 4 hours and go home. I anxiously wait for the results. Then they come.....I have gasteroparesis. THUD. I knew I did just from the symptoms I have had but still wasn't ready to hear it for sure. So what do I do next, I call my sister and my mom. I talk all positively about the relief of knowing. And it was a real conversation but inside I still felt saddened. Later that evening, I sit home and cry. Why is it that every time something could potentially be wrong, it is. Why is it that it's always me. Why am I the "freak of nature" my husband jokingly calls me. So I go to bed sad realizing that this is another life altering moment in my life. How will I take it? What will I do with it? Will I sit in my sorrows or grow? This is a pivotal moment for me. I've had several moments like these, but here I am 44 years old sitting with yet another diagnosis and realizing that maybe just maybe God is whispering/yelling to me to slow down and take care of myself. Its time for change! So, how am I going to change? What does gasteroparesis mean? Essentially, it's the slowing of the emptying of your stomach. The nerves are impacted by diabetes. So, here is the hard part for me. I want to go all in. I'm gonna start walking a bazillion miles and only eat healthy, etc. But, then what happens consistently is I give up. So, here's the down and dirty. It's time for a mindset change above all else. Do something today different than you did yesterday. That's all you can do is improve yourself and keep changing daily. That's my wish today....may I be different today than I was yesterday. Plan something different. Walk a little. Eat a little different. May we all be blessed with a new morning, a new chance! Until next time, take care and God Bless.!

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