My journey was long and arduous. I was miserable for the better part of 12+ years. I dealt with immense pain, unpleasant gastrointestinal issues and a degenerating body. Eventually my body gave up. I was rushed to the hospital exactly 15 years ago today: July 29, 2001. I endured all sorts of poking, prodding and medical testing. Finally, after six days, I received the Celiac Disease diagnosis that changed my life, for better or worse.
Celiac Disease Diagnosis: 15 Years Gluten Free
August 2016 marks my 15th anniversary of going gluten free. And I couldn’t be more thankful.
For those out there who may be dealing with similar-sounding health issues described here and in upcoming posts, I encourage you to persevere and be persistent with your medical professionals. I regularly visited my PCP and various specialists to which I was referred. Unfortunately no single doctor looked at all my issues holistically to connect the dots and piece together my puzzle.
Thankfully, awareness of Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance has dramatically increased since my diagnosis 15 years ago. Huge accolades go to the Celiac support groups and foundations, their many awareness-building campaigns, and more frequent press and media coverage.
But, we’re still a long ways off as a country in regularly and routinely testing for Celiac Disease. It’s unclear whether it will ever become reality in the U.S. as in other parts of the world. But hopefully, at least, an accurate diagnosis will no longer take 12+ years of suffering and wondering “what’s wrong” as it did for me.
Celiac Disease Diagnosis: Sharing My Journey
In the upcoming posts, I’m going to back-pedal some 15 years. For the first time, I will open up publicly and share some details about my more than decade-long journey to a Celiac Disease diagnosis – and maybe more importantly, the aftermath of getting healthy again.
For those who can relate, rejoice that we finally discovered “what’s wrong.”
For those of you who haven’t yet been tested and possibly diagnosed: If my story sounds familiar, press your doctors to run more tests. Giving up bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, brownies (sigh…) isn’t as bad as it sounds.
This is my story. Stay tuned…
Sandy Skrovan, diagnosed with Celiac Disease and gluten free since 2001
Founder and Research Director, GlutenFreeRetailHQ.com
Want to drop me a line? Email: Sandy@GlutenFreeRetailHQ.com