
Gastroparesis has been being nice to me the last week. Nausea is like always … 24/7. However it’s been mild. I’m holding around 120 lbs right now. I say all this because just a handful of years ago it was really kicking my rear. In December of 2012 I went from 135 lbs which was hard fought to gain back to after my original lose during diagnosis back in 2010. Anyway in a two week span I went from 135 to 82 lbs. My gi was recommending tubes to feed me and one to drain my stomach. I refused as I’m stubborn and didn’t want an operation (this was prior to having my gallbladder removed for my first surgery) and wanted to try to avoid one.
I fought hard daily to control my violent vomiting sessions. My severe nausea and pain we’re horrible. By 2016 I had managed to get up to 120 lbs finally. Then I had my gallbladder removed. My gp got pretty bad again till almost 2017 when I started a approximately year long remission. During which I went up to 178 lbs. In June of 2018 I started losing again and by December I had dropped back to 110 lbs. During that six months I did my best to care for the love of my life as she was losing her battle with metastatic breast cancer that had metastasized and spread through her body. After she passed I slipped into a bit of a depression and let my health go south. Due to my vomiting and non-existent appetite my potassium dropped to a 1.2. For those that don’t know potassium levels should be between 3.5 and 5 to be within normal range. I had no energy and barely left my bed. I ignored my chest pain, low BP, and the numbness in my limbs. I didn’t really care. My primary doctor and the love of many people I care about both known in person and known only from Facebook gave me a reason to get out of bed and get to the hospital and get my health going the other way.
Now here we are in August 2019. I’m alive and fighting the good fight on the bad days and doing as much as I can on good days. Everyday unless I’m to I’ll to be online I’m here in the gastroparesis support groups doing my best to support and love others that are fighting. There are many of us out there. We look like your brothers and sisters. Your sons and daughters, cousins, mothers, best friends, wife’s, and others. Some of us gain while others lose. Some like me experience rapid and drastic fluctuations. With periods of stasis where we can’t gain but also don’t lose.
We have lost many warriors to complications of this and or comorbid diseases. We’ve lost children as young as 3 and older adults. Our lost gp brothers and sisters vary in size, shape, color, age, and more. We remember them and mourn their loss.
Please if you read this and care for me at all do me the favor of sharing my story and other gatroparesis posts. Spread awareness and advocate for awareness by doing so.
If you have questions message me and I’ll do my best to answer them for you and help you understand. We are starving for a cure. We need help spreading awareness.