I have had quite a long journey through many scary and painful experiences to reach my current state of health. I have learned a lot over the past few years and I hope by sharing my story, my experiences and the knowledge I gained by them, information on products and ingredients, and recipes for healthier eating, that I can encourage you on your own journey to better health.
My digestive issues began after I had knee surgery and was given oxycodone for the pain, which was excruciating at times. I didn’t realize it then, but for some reason it seems that the oxycodone was the beginning of my digestive problems. It was so acidic and because I was healing from surgery, I was very sedentary. I began experiencing such burning and piercing pain in my upper abdomen that it totally immobilized me and at times the pain was so intense that it caused me to pass out.
These attacks went on for awhile so I finally made an appointment with my family’s conventional medicine physician. She ordered several tests and I received a call late on evening from her telling me that I needed to contact this specific surgeon THE NEXT DAY and schedule surgery to have my gallbladder out. However, before I made that call, I began doing some of my own research and realized that my symptoms did not match the symptoms of a diseased gallbladder.
It was then a friend of mine who was being treated naturally for her digestive issues told me about her doctor, Dr. Lewis. I made an appointment with him immediately and after reading my ultrasound results, he discovered that although I did have some small stones, my gallbladder was not diseased. He diagnosed me with a sliding hiatal hernia. There was a small tear in my esophagus and when I would bend over, especially after recently eating, my stomach would slide up into that tear and get caught, causing an esophageal spasm which produced heart attack-like symptoms. My digestive system was so inflamed that I couldn’t even lift a gallon of milk or a laundry basket and I walked around feeling like I had a cinder block affixed to my stomach.
These attacks began happening more frequently and the episodes began lasting longer and longer. One Sunday, an attack began while I was sitting in church and continued through the afternoon until I could no longer stand the pain. I texted my new doctor and even though he was at a convention, he responded and told me to go to Urgent Care and get an “anti-spasmodic cocktail”. Shortly after drinking that concoction, I had relief from pain. Needless to say I carried a small bottle of this cocktail with me at all times for a many months.
Dr. Lewis provided me with a chart of anti-inflammatory foods as well as a chart of acidic/alkaline foods. With the implementation of these two charts, along with some natural supplements to help heal my digestive system, I began the path of healing my gut. This new way of eating was like stepping into a different world. I was overwhelmed! But, I knew that I had no choice but to learn how to eat differently if I wanted to get better and heal my body.
I stopped eating all grain: no wheat flour, no rice or corn products (many people don’t realize corn is a grain and not a vegetable). I also stopped eating refined sugar including organic cane sugar and refined sugar. You may recognize the term “paleo”. I didn’t know the term at the time and several years ago there were absolutely no products available to aid this kind of diet. As a result, I began to heal and have now been four years without an attack. I not only have been able to resume the “mom” tasks, I now live on my farm and do all kinds of manual labor. I am thankful to be a long way from the woman who couldn’t do laundry or lift a gallon of milk.
I want to be able to share the knowledge I have gained so that it may help someone else. There are so many common cooking ingredients that are not beneficial and may even negatively impact your health and digestion. I will share ingredients, brands, recipes and sources I have come to trust. When I started this journey I wasted a lot of money and effort on recipes that just didn’t make an edible item.
I hope that you will find the information shared here to be helpful and I hope that you will share comments if you find something is helpful to you.
