My Story

              Once upon a time there was a mommy with two kids, a husband in undergraduate school, and a sincere desire to teach her children and support her husband.  She was toiling away teaching her children, who were toddlers, their abc's, how to count, how to play and have a great time.  Her husband would come home give her kisses and dance with the children.  Beside the occasional disagreement or challenge life was, in her mind, close to perfection.  It was blissful, and very simple.  Pregnancy was challenging but she, with the support of her husband came to laugh at the challenges and make the best of it.  Having children in the home was something of a dream come true.  She enjoyed seeing them grow and learn how to deal with conflict and disagreement.  She loved learning their different personalities and how to communicate with each one in their own way.  Her husband was very busy but desired to spend time with the family as much as he could.  He was very ambitious and was working hard to discover what he wanted to do as a career.
      

      One fine day she found out she was pregnant again.  She was excited and wanted to tell everyone.  But almost as soon as it began she was in the hospital (about four weeks pregnant).  She couldn't stand up strait, couldn't keep anything down, and felt as if her insides where being pureed in a blender.  She thought she could be loosing her baby, but wasn't sure.   The doctors did a few tests (blood work, and pressing on the abdomen) then sent her home with some anti nausea medication.  It didn't work and she was ill the rest of the night.  The next morning she woke up with pain in her right side.  In her lack of medical knowledge she believed she pulled a muscle from all her vomiting.  From that point on she had infections, pain, and nausea for the rest of the pregnancy.  She felt so sick (like her body was trying to fight off a sickness and make a baby at the same time). 
     

    When the seven month came around the same experience happened.  This time she called her family doctor first and went to see him.  He quickly diagnosed her with appendicitis.  She had emergency surgery.  She felt so lucky, as the nurses told her it was very diseased (inflamed).  They gave her medication to stop the pre term labor she was going into.  It worked and she delivered a healthy baby boy two months later.  Everything was ok.  At least that was what she thought. 
    

      A few months later she discovered that things were not working properly inside, and she was beginning to experience pain every day in her abdomen, then her pelvic and pelvic floor.  Next she started getting a great deal of pain and fatigue in her muscles.  Then she started to bloat out to looking 8 months pregnant. She got pregnant again because she felt there was no way she could have more babies unless it was right then.  She really loved kids, they had always wanted a big family.  The pregnancy stopped the symptoms except the ones that are already there during pregnancy (nausea).  But she suffered from high blood pressure and exhaustion.  But after the baby came she enjoyed freedom for a few months, from health challenges.  Then came all the symptoms she had before he was born.  And this time all her pelvic organs collapsed and she was in terrible pelvic pain.  An exploratory surgery was done to find out the cause of so much pain.  They discovered endometriosis and inflammation from the belly button down.  There where scars all over everything (except the ovaries and uterus, that's why she could have babies).  She tried drugs, with no help.  She tried diet with little help.  It seemed she would never be free if she didn't go through another surgery.
 
     
    She decided to fix the prolapse of the pelvic organs first to see how it helped.  It helped some, but not significantly enough.  Every day was so hard.  She tried to be positive, but it was very hard not to get depressed when everything she wanted to do had become so difficult.  Her heart was breaking.  She pushed herself so much to do what she felt was important for her family and others.  She often felt lost and alone, and tried to find solace in online support forums, and websites on endometriosis.  She often said, "if just one of my pains would let up I would be so happy."  Her prayers where often repetitious and heartless.  It was hard to feel God in her life.  Frequently she asked the questions, "Is anything worth it anymore?"  and, "would my family be better off without a sick mother all the time?"
 

      After more diets, medications, and supplements, she decided to have her ovaries removed.  The surgeon was hesitant but the pain was still so overwhelming no matter what she tried, so he decided to do it for her.  Recovery was rough but not as rough as the previous one.  Gradually she started to gain more energy and have more strength.  She didn't bloat as much, didn't get head aches, and her muscle pain and weakness improved.  Her pelvic area didn't inflame as often.  It wasn't a cure all but it helped enough for her to start living a bit more normal life with her family.
    

     The entire time she went through this she homeschooled her kids (the kids understood when mommy couldn't do things sometimes).  The kids supported her and did school work and helped with chores around the house.    They all supported dad at medical school as well.  At this point they were moving to where her husband was going to attend his medical residency.  An entirely new adventure. 
   

      She was still bloating some and having abdominal pain that sometimes was still severe.  After years of research and the help of her doctor husband she decided she most likely had an autoimmune reaction after the first surgery she had, and that the surgery on the bowel caused nerve damage.  That nerve damage impaired her intestinal movement.  It may also have caused her "dormant" endometriosis to flare up which also damaged the nerves in her pelvic region and parts of the bowel.  This chronic inflammation seems to have most likely caused interstitial cystitis.  The chronic inflamed bowel may have caused her to be sensitive to foods and caused IBS symptoms to start.  The IBS/bowel motility problems most likely have caused bad bacteria to populate in the small intestines causing extreme bloating and pain.  This caused severe gastritis that became chronic.   All of these things may have very well caused her to have fibromyalgia, because of the painful and weak muscles she experiences, and the tender points she has on specific muscles.
   

     Although she can't know these things for sure (there is not enough knowledge about these diseases yet), she has become almost certain of them.  Her heart feels, because somewhere in the entire experience she started truly seeking Gods guidance and became more patient in her afflictions, that God guided her.  He guided her to study and put knowledge together, and gain wisdom.
   

    After all that she has come to know and understand about her body, she realizes that it is up to her to take control of her body and bring it back into full health.  She feels the surgeries where important in her case because they did relieve a lot of the pain, but there is still much to be done the natural way.
   

     She still homeschools her kids, and is loving it.  But she is also taking care of her own body, by doing the Whole30.  This will help her discover what things irritate her system and what things she can eat.  This blog starts out with the Whole30 prep and day one.  Welcome to her adventure, I hope it helps someone suffering from these same things.
    

      I don't know that there will ever be an end to this story, and I know there are many stories like it in the world.  But this story is mine, and I will keep living it, and striving to better it.