Gluten freedom.

Why gluten free?

First of all...before I get into the whys on my gluten free diet...I have a major praise report!  If the miraculous conception, pregnancy, and birth of my son were not  enough evidence, I have just acquired more...

In 2007, I was diagnosed with severe osteopenia.  Osteopenia is the precursor to osteoporosis...they are diagnosed according to a bell curve.  A score of 0 is the average bone density of a 30-year-old.  A score of -2.5 or greater is osteoporosis...anything between -1.0 and -2.5 is considered osteopenia.  In 2007, my score was -2.2.  I was 25 years old at the time.

I was devastated by this.  The suggestion from the doctor was to have a baby because I'd have to carry around his/her extra weight all the time.  Nice.  I was seeing him for infertility.  I've definitely had my fair share of insensitive doctor visits.

Flash forward to almost three years gluten free and thousands of ius a day of D3...I am thrilled to report that my score is now -1.5!!  It's still osteopenia, but it's a huge improvement!  One my doctor contributes to my gluten free diet.  

For years and years, I wasn't absorbing nutrients.  So, how did I discover gluten free was the way to go?  Here's my (lengthy), but compelling story as I explained it 2009.  If you know me, you'll know that my mourning turned to gladness a little less than a year later (more on that later!) :: 

The only reason I have any story worth telling is because ten years ago today (12.31.09), the Lord opened my blind eyes and softened my stony heart to accept His glorious Gospel.  What I want to share tonight, I hope will give God the glory for the story He's writing.

My health issues go back about 13 years now.  I would have bouts of horrific pain and gastrointestinal distress, which usually ended with me passing out.  This happened with increasing frequency for the next 6 yrs.  I was told that I had acid reflux, then irritable bowel syndrome, and that I was just stressed out.  I was told to relax and eat a bland diet.

My life became increasingly miserable and I was unsure whether to make any plans because I knew there was a slim chance that I would ever be there.  I had eliminated so many foods from my diet and was scared that if I ate that I would get sick.  My diet consisted of mostly white bread, potatoes, oatmeal, and unseasoned boiled chicken.  I lost a lot of weight in the process and as a ballet dancer and fashion major, my heart started to really like that side effect. 

Then shortly after I started attending Lakeview Christian Center in 2003, there was an altar call after a service.  I had just that week pulled my car over to the side of the road and then passed out.  I was so frustrated with my situation and with God!!  I can't remember what the sermon was even about, but I felt very clearly that the Lord was telling me to start eating whatever I wanted and give up my diet of white bread.

 I actually started to have many more good days than bad ones.  I was able to go through our engagement and wedding without fear that I wouldn't be physically able to be there.  This was huge for me after missing so many important events in college.  Married life was amazing, but I wasn’t able to get pregnant and, even though I was no longer passing out in my car, knew that my health was still putting serious restraints on my life.

Then, in 2006 my mom read an article about Celiac disease.  All of the symptoms fit everything I had been experiencing.  Since the article described the condition as an allergy/intolerance to wheat, I made an appointment with an allergist/immunologist.  Though he told me upfront that he did not test for Celiac, we decided to do allergy testing.  I tested off the charts for almost every food that was a staple of my “bland” diet.  So I was then on a strict diet again and felt a little relief, but still had serious health restraints and still could not get pregnant.

So, by the beginning of 2008, I was still feeling pretty terribly.  Through some friends at church, I found two amazing doctors that I was very hopeful could give me some answers.  They discovered so many issues to treat, it was very overwhelming.  Then one doctor suggested that I get the test for gluten intolerance/Celiac disease that my mom and I had read about a few years back.  I was apprehensive because it was an expensive out-of-pocket test.  I ran it by my other doctor, who couldn’t encourage it enough, so I went ahead with ordering it and shortly received a confirmation email.  This is where the really bizarre part starts. The email following the order confirmation was entitled "Are You Gluten Sensitive? (The Answer Might Surprise You)"...from a newsletter I received on any number of health topics that comes maybe once every three months.  I knew that the Lord was up to something!

Just days later, a friend of a my boss, who happens to be a doctor, suggested bringing me some leftover gumbo that they were cooking, but she said she wasn't so sure what I could and couldn't eat, so he was curious as to why.  Well, after her 30 sec. synopsis of my medical history, his reply was, "Sounds to me like she has Celiac disease."  I was starting to get the hint!  Then, the next night, as I was forming the words to  tell Aaron this story, I was also flipping through the Time Picayune...when, low and behold, in the Money section of the paper there was an article about the influx of gluten free products on the market!!  I was comforted by the fact that the Lord was obviously trying to tell me something, but I was also scared that I would be horribly disappointed and confused if the test came back negative.

I was trying to bide my time until the results came back and had our covenant group pray on Thursday night that my heart would be prepared for what the Lord had.  Well...on Friday night, I was home, not finding much on television and I stopped on a medical drama midway through an episode.  I was only half paying attention, when in the last few minutes of the show, they diagnosed the mother and son patients, one ravaged with stomach cancer and the other deceased, with Celiac disease.  I was shocked and really scared.  Then on Sunday, Pastor Keith had the altar call for all with illness.  I was desperate for the Lord to continue to prepare my heart and light my path to the next step for me.  It was a much needed time for me.

On Tuesday night, January 13, I received the email that the test was positive.  I instantly began the gluten free diet (so much for my all white bread diet when I was so horribly sick!) and have seen improvements already.  As the Lord moved the heavens and earth to make clear this path for me, I desperately hoped that this diagnosis would dramatically change my health and allow us to have a baby.  And as the months of 2009 have gone by, I have easily forgotten the intimate care the Lord showed me. 

I have wrestled with whether He has forgotten me.  I have wrestled through many dark days when I longed for a glimmer of encouragement, only to no longer be able see His face.  I have read Psalm 127: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward,” only to feel cursed.  But, as I take the time to write this testimony of His intricate workings in my life, I can’t help but praise His wonderful name.  He has rescued me, given me a husband far better than I ever deserve, an incredible mother and sister, a miraculous job, and a church family that has far exceeded my all of limited imagination.  He has freed me from the trappings of vainly desiring to be thin, from tremendous pride and begun to humble me.  Though in January of 2009, my hope was in standing here tonight with a rounded belly and a testimony of God’s miraculous healing power in my body,  I instead stand here wrestling to place my hope not in God will do, but in who He is.  In knowing that the ultimate prize in life is not becoming a mother or having perfect health, but in knowing Him. 

-Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever Psalms 73:25-26

-- But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I  have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and  the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may  attain the resurrection from the dead.  12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own  Phil 3:7-12

 So...that's the story of how something as mundane as wheat changed my life.  If you're interested in getting tested, I finally got my diagnosis from Enterolab.  You don't need a doctor to order the test, but I highly recommend working with a doctor to help to recover from the ravages of a gluten-filled diet.  Definitely money well spent.