How many more weeks?!?!

My doctor called yesterday!!!! She told me that she went to a conference this past weekend where they recommended people with numerous symptoms (like me) stay on the elimination part of the diet for eight weeks. (Sigh) Eight weeks!?!? I know the idea is for me to get better, but this diet has been a bear. Even when you start to add things back into your diet, you only do it one food at a time for three days. Depending on how my body reacts to the "new" food I can make it a part of my regular diet or take it out completely. Since I have already completed five weeks of the elimination part, I only have three more weeks to go.  When I think of it that way, three weeks doesn't seem that bad.

Because my doctor thinks I have a gluten intolerance, I won't try to add that back into my diet for at least six months. Hopefully, after six months of being gluten free, my weakness, numbness, and fatigue will be gone. If it comes back when I eat gluten, we'll know that gluten was the culprit of my symptoms. If not, I can try to eat wheat and gluten again.

To make things a bit more interesting, I found out yesterday as I was making lunch that our glass stove top is chipped and cracked.  

Due the chips and cracking, we shouldn't use the stove top because we could get shocked or it could cause a short. :-/ So now we can only cook with the oven and microwave. We do have a plug in grill I can try, but for liquids (like soup) that's not going to work so well. So now I'm on the hunt for a replacement glass stove top. If you know where we might be able to purchase one without breaking the bank, I'd appreciate your tips.

Also, if you have any tips for "clean" food using a grill, oven, and/or microwave; I'll take those ideas too.

I don't usually share a Scripture on my blog posts (a habit I should probably begin), but today; I woke up very fatigued and weak. This Scripture showed up on my Facebook feed, and I felt I should claim this promise today. It's a good promise for all of us.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

 

Why aren't you better?

I'm ending week five, and I've decided that food is my sworn enemy.  Even on this diet, food is my enemy. My body hates me and food is my enemy. Eating food that is supposed to be "safe", my stomach hurts, my body is weak, and I don't have a lot of energy. I am so frustrated that I don't have a doctor to talk about with all this. My kids and and DH get the brunt of my frustration, which obviously isn't good.  

This diet is extremely stressful on my family.  They are ready for it to be over and there have been times where they just wanted me to quit and have told me so. I had to be on this diet over Valentine Day and our wedding anniversary which meant we couldn't really go out to eat (except for Chipotle, which wasn't edible on that date because it was too spicy) and DH feels guilty eating in front of me.  It's hurting my relationship with him and the rest of my family.

I can't say that I'm getting better.  I feel like I may have more energy than I usually do, but almost all of that energy has to go into making my food, so it's difficult to know if I truly do have more energy. DH isn't seeing any improvement. This was supposed to be the answer when none of the other medical professionals could figure it out. This was supposed to "fix" me. No luck. I'm just as sick & broken as I was before. 

I thought I'd be able to play with my kids again. Take them to the park and the library.  Walk barefoot with DH, and be able to go places without a wheelchair or walker.  Be able to exercise on a regular basis, and go out to eat on occasion without having to pick the entire meal apart just to eat something not worthy of the price paid for it. I'm so angry I could just scream!

So where do I go form here?