I feel like I have risen from the dead. The last two years (but especially the last year) have been a living nightmare in regards to my health. In fact, when my doctor informed me about my food allergies, she said the allergist told her, “I don’t know how she has been walking around like this for so long.” The thought of going back to living that way is just not worth it to me.

Actually, I have pretty much decided to give up gluten and diary on a permanent basis. It’s so funny to think of my change of heart in such a short time. Two months ago I was in tears and counting down the days till I’d be able to return to a normal diet again. Now, I view that “normal diet” as the primary reason for my failing health.

Moreover, I thought my life as I knew it was over when I was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. Going out to dinner was an enjoyable evening for me. Grabbing lunch on the go made life easier too. However, thanks to a great community of gluten free and allergy free friends on Twitter, I now know there is life after food allergies. In fact, my health is so good now that I feel like I have can actually live a full life again. No longer a walking zombie!

It was a horrible transition, but I made it through. Now it’s time to live life again.

NOTE: The photo is in my garden. Last year I couldn’t work in the garden at all. This year, although I can’t do heavy lifting yet, I have been out in the garden almost every day….and I love it.

Moreover, you would not believe how allergy friendly Orlando is.  In fact, I went to Wolfgang Puck’s Cafe in Downtown Disney and before the waiter even took our orders, he asked if we had any allergies he should know about!!!  The local grocery store, Publix, had an entire isle of food dedicated to those with special dietary needs.  All of my brown rice pasta, safe cookies, and even frozen Amy’s foods were there!

Gluten free this, and dairy free that. Egg free here and wheat free there. All over Orlando. Actually, it seems to me that Orlando is more allergy friendly than my own city.

But vacation is over and I am back to the grind. Which means I will start blogging more.  I have some great news to share.

This coming Monday will mark the 8th week of being allergy free. This is when I am suppose to visit my allergist and start to re-introduce various allergens back into my diet to see if I can tolerate them or not. I have decided to put this off for now. I may even go all summer without the foods to which I am primarily allergic – eggs, milk, gluten and wheat.

I just found out about the Irritable Bowel Syndrome last week and I’m just now feeling normal again (although normal feels alien to me now). I have decided I want my stomach to heal up completely before I start eating foods that might make me sick again.

Although I thought my new beginning was 8 weeks ago, it feels like it was actually this week instead. Man am I glad there is a new beginning at all.  I’ll be even more happy when normal feels like normal again.

I will also be serving gluten free and dairy free hot dogs from Hebrew National. A big thanks to www.surefoodsliving.com for pointing me in the right direction for allergen free hot dogs. I would never have guessed I could find hot dogs to eat.

However, I will not be eating those hot dogs on buns. I am still searching for bread that is palatable and contains not wheat, gluten or eggs. I am going to experiment with a recipe for flat bread today. The recipe seems a bit complicated just to have bread, but if I like the outcome I can make a lot and freeze them for later.

The medications for the Irritable Bowel Syndrome have officially kicked in and I am feeling 1000% better than last week. So yes, I will be having a Happy Memorial Day. Maybe I can even go on our family vacation after all. Moreover, maybe I can actually have fun too.

Maybe tomorrow I can think of something else besides my health. 

I would have good days and I would have bad ones. Some days were really bad. On top of all of that, I was having stomach pains and nausea. So I go back to the doctor and she tells me that I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. That was yesterday. I went home and slept. I went to sleep at 6 pm and finally got up for the day at about 10:45 this morning.

I ate lunch, but went running to the restroom within minutes – even with the meds. I feel weak, but not hopeless. A funny thing happened to me to force me into wanting to rally at this point. I have been so bad off that I have been thinking it would be better if someone shot me in my head and put me out of my misery. I know, drastic, but sometimes this whole thing is so overwhelming. 

Then during my doctor visit, the nurse gave me an Advanced Directive packet – to let them know what to should I get to a point where I cannot function mentally anymore. I lost it. This is exactly how I have been feeling and now my one hope – the doctor – seemed to be giving up too. When the doctor walked in I was sobbing. Poor doc.

She calmed me down and told me that even though things look very bad right now, there is a way to get me healthy again. She did say it won’t be easy, but it is doable. I went home and slept.

Today I have the will to fight for my health again. I’ve decided I do want to live and that my life is worth the fight. But like the doc said, it won’t be easy. My food allergies require that I do all of my own cooking – and I just do not have the strength every day to cook. My husband is a great guy and he’s very supportive, but he cannot cook worth a lick and eating out is still too iffy. Somehow food has become my enemy and yet I need it to live.

I guess that old saying really applies here. I have to take this one day at a time. Actually, I guess it more like one meal at a time.

I could write my own book called Stellargy’s Series of Unfortunate Events.

As a patient with food allergies, YOU must be actively involved in your treatment. The most important parts of your treatment YOU will do, not your doctor. Food allergy is a very individual problem, and you know your body better than anyone else does. It may be difficult to take action because of your health, but if you want to get well, YOU must take responsibility for yourself. YOU must make the necessary changes in your lifestyle. YOU must become a well-informed, active participant in your own health care. Then YOU will be the one to enjoy the benefits of improved health.

I have the support of my doctor and allergist, as well as my family and friends. They have all been wonderful while I’m trying to readjust my life. My husband has done so much. He has gone shopping with me because the whole thing was so overwhelming for me. He is there for me when I break down in tears from frustration or because I am physically weak.

There is a wonderful group of people on the Internet who offer support. The Gluten Free bloggers and twitterers are so organized and have it together. But in addition to gluten, I have three more allergies, so when I come across recipes for wonderful Gluten Free bread (I love bread) and it has eggs, I am left with that alone taste in my mouth again. I attended a Food Allergy twitter party last week. I had a great time talking to others who understood my situation, but most of them had children with Food Allergies. There were very few who had to deal with Adult Onset Food Allergies.

In the long run, the statement above is right. Regardless of how difficult it has been because I have not felt healthy enough to take on such a life-changing task, I am the sole person responsible for my health.

I glanced at each sample handler long enough to see what they were handing out and then I kept walking. I cannot eat brownies (no wheat flour, no dairy) and I cannot eat bread (no wheat). I do not know what was on the bread, but chances are very high that it contains one of the four things to which I am allergic.

I used to love getting these sample treats as I shopped. Now I weigh the joy of these fun treats against the fact that as soon as it hits my stomach, my body thinks it is a toxin and immediately produces a histamine to cleanse the offending food out of my system.

Yes, I want that sample treat. No, I do not want to send my body into alarm mode. I walked away and went to the next section, which was fruits and veggies, to buy some green peppers, rosemary, limes and potatoes.

I really am committed to living healthy and eating only what my body can handle, but it is so difficult to change forty years of habits. I wonder if it ever gets easier?