My dedication to fitness is fueled by a cold reality: my health depends on it.
It didn’t start out that way, though. I grew up in an incredibly active family where fitness was never an obligation to me — it was a way of life. I played school sports, softball and volleyball competitively, devoting up to five hours per day to them. But my active lifestyle came to an abrupt halt when I was seventeen and woke up with severe stomach pain and nausea. Initially, my parents and I assumed it was a stomach bug. But it didn't pass. Each day, I lived in pain. Eating aggravated the condition, so I began to cut my intake. Within months, I went from being an active, happy teenager to a person unable to get out of bed. As an athlete, I knew that I needed food to fuel my body. But my body was rejecting most food. Food had become my enemy.
Within months, I went from being an active, happy teenager to unable to get out of bed.
I went from specialist to specialist, hospital to hospital, to search for the cause of my pain. My symptoms worsened. My doctors were baffled.
Maybe it’s an ulcer? No.
Perhaps a tumor? No.
Is she celiac? No.
Crohn’s or colitis? No and no.
I was desperate for an answer. I endured endless medical tests and experimental treatments. No one knew what or why. Then, a few agonizing months later came a test and a diagnosis. Gastroparesis.
There are a variety of causes including diabetes or a virus. It rarely afflicts the young. Doctors never pinpointed the cause of my affliction.
Gastroparesis paralyzes the stomach, making it impossible to digest solid foods and condemning victims to a lifetime of small, liquid meals and bouts of severe nausea and vomiting. It also triggers a feeling of fullness after eating only small portions.
My diagnosis was bittersweet. I was grateful to finally have an answer after a long year, but treatment is limited. I experimented with a plethora of oral medications, most of which provided little relief and massive side effects. At one point, I was prescribed a medication normally reserved for severely ill cancer patients. When that failed to work, my parents began importing another medication from Canada because it had been banned in the United States. My doctors told me that I would likely never be able to eat solid food again. I was put on a liquid diet, with few calories, nutrients or fiber.
