New Year: Writing more and frustrations galore

Believe it or not dear reader, I have a degree in journalism. I worked for years on newspapers, crafting articles, and going to the theater to help the local community know what was going on. I loved everything about those jobs.

As of now, I am the managing editor for a metaphysical magazine. It is a great experience for me. I am not paid to do any of it, but the rewards are felt in other ways. I am learning more about psychology through the use of visuals and I get to contact people who are in the field. I have learned what it takes to build a magazine, as well as general language skills being polished. Through this job, I have been able to have a book published with my co-author (the CEO of the company). That is one thing I never thought I would get to in my 30's. https://a.co/d/0RkBxGB

Honestly, I miss having my own column about emergency preparedness and imparting wisdom about how to survive. I have been doing a lot of research when it comes to ChatGPT. I think it is a valuable tool for helping keep things straight, but those people who are using it to write articles, books, and other language filled items...it is a form of cheating. Academic dishonesty was one of those things that I couldn't believe other people would do. Copy things word for word...paste off the internet...and pass things off as their own. Yes, there is a way to properly citate things that have been used, but blatant stealing...that is just wrong. Using any form of AI to completely write something and pass it off as your own is a form of cheating. No one is learning anything. I shudder to think what will happen if people continue to pass it off as their own.

And yes...I do love memes. But now on to the health frustrations.

As many people have surmised, I have a significant amount of health issues and each of them cause delightful things to happen to me. I see a few separate doctors to keep all my levels fairly normal. My list is thus, (Insulin resistant PCOS, Celiacs, Lactose Intolerance, Chronic Nausea, Sleep Apnea, Thyroid Issues, Plantar Fasciitis, Tinnitus, Gastroparesis, TMJ, and more). I recently have been working with my Endocrinologist to discuss what is needed. 

It is always disheartening to hear from a doctor..."You will not lose any weight with the slew of issues facing you right now...and yet losing weight will help resolve a few of them." I already have a lot of issues with losing weight and food growing up and anxiety to boot...so it has become a real issue. However, this endo has been a dream. He has actually helped me find a method that will help reduce my insulin resistance (my A1c and all that jazz is completely normal). 

And because I am a human with kids living paycheck to paycheck...even with health insurance, I couldn't afford any of those fancy weight loss injections (which in case you didn't know...can cause gastroparesis or make it even worse.) I don't wish that gunk on anyone so I was adamant on no injections and surgery would not help either. We found something that I could take every day that would not bat heads with any of my other medications and would not make my stuff worse. Hopefully, my insurance will cover it partially. Thank heavens for good doctors who actually LISTEN.

Thank you for reading my rant. Have a lovely week, month, and year. New writings will be coming your way soon. 

Gastroparesis: What is it and why it is awful!

 Greetings to all you readers. If you have read some of my previous posts, you can see I have some rather awful health issues. One that is a pain to deal with...both figuratively and literally...is gastroparesis.

What is Gastroparesis? This is a disorder of the stomach which basically slows or stops the movement of food from your stomach to your small intestine. It is also called delayed gastric emptying.

Basically, food sits and rots in the stomach. This causes nausea, vomiting, pain, feeling full and whatnot. Some of the lovely complications are malnutrition, fatigue, vitamin deficiency,, bezoars (not as fun as Harry Potter) basically the food hardens into a rock and gets stuck, or even weird bacterial overgrowth. 

As you can see...not fun whatsoever. 

The only way to diagnose it is to have a scan done by the hospital. They have you eat radioactive eggs and then scan how much food is leftover in the stomach. I had it done over 18 years ago at a hospital after having some really gnarly stomach issues. It was almost like the scan they do for having your gallbladder checked, but you don't get shot full of iodine.

I tried to get all the scans from it a while back, but most hospitals dump scans after 10ish years. I had to have another one this last year. They found out that the first hour my stomach worked like a champ...then the second, third, and fourth hour. It slowed to a crawl. After 4 hours, I still had a good 30 percent of the eggs still in my stomach. When all of it should have been gone after 2-3 hours (with normal stomach). 

This is my normal. (even though I love gramma....I felt it went well here)

One common denominator in all my health issues is a problem with my Vagus Nerve. This is the lovely nerve that is called the wanderer and deals with lung function and digestion. Many times, if you pass out or have gastroparesis, it is due to your vagus nerve having issues. It is in such a weird spot in my spine, that the two times I had C-Sections I passed out from the needle...and then when I usually upchuck, I pass out (which can get messy and potentially dangerous).

What I deal with is almost a constant wave of nausea. Sometimes it is chill. I can work, eat fairly normal, and deal with it with nausea meds and a Relief Band stimulator (I LOVE MINE btw). I absolutely hate throwing up so the less things that might cause it the better.

The worst is when I am trying to exercise or do things well...and then I turn or stretch weird, and my stomach is like...The HELL you ain't gonna have a happy day. So, fighting off nausea is always fun. 

I have to eat small meals and if I am feeling particularly nauseous...I usually subsist on rice crackers and noodles....(Did I mention I have celiacs disease too?)

There you have it. So, for all you out there suffering or are having to subsist with a feeding tube (I salute you too). You guys are warriors as well. I hope you enjoyed my rant.