Tables Are Turning
I met an amazing woman yesterday who completely changed the course of my ongoing health journey. She is a older sister missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who occasionally helps conduct a meeting that I attend, but prior to being called as a missionary, she had devoted herself to helping people with undiagnosed autoimmune diseases.
After I mentioned that I was currently going through the process of trying to receive a diagnosis for an autoimmune disease, we talked for a good half hour about symptoms and doctors and health plans and books and studies. For the first time ever, I received actual confirmation from a living human being that my plethora of symptoms actually mean something and are linked. I have never had someone tell me—medical professional or otherwise—that my abdominal pain and food issues are connected to my other symptoms. For years now, I have tried diets upon diets, meal plans for everything from Crohns to Celiac to IBS to lactose intolerance, and now someone has finally told me that yes, it actually is part of autoimmune disorders. She gave me the name of Dr. Tracy Frech, a doctor she has seen for years who specializes in Scleroderma at the University of Utah, specifically focusing on diagnosing the "undiagnosable" or beginning-stage patients, with a huge system of clinical trials and treatment plans. Even with her 2-3 month waiting list, I called first thing this morning to get everything squared away to start seeing her as my new rheumatologist.
The sister missionary also told me about a book called "The Autoimmune Solution" by Dr. Amy Myers. She went on about how completely this book changed her life and how essential it had been to her recovery and treatment. You can only imagine the tears of joy that came as I wrote down every word she said about how she is now able to exercise for 40 minutes a day without pain, and how certain lesser-known changes in her lifestyle completely changed her quality of life. She said the book contains not only information about the diseases themselves, but details a step-by-step treatment plan based on your symptoms, focusing primarily on diet, supplements, and exercises. I ordered it on Amazon an hour after leaving our meeting, and I plan to follow it to a T. Even if it tells me to eat fish...
At this point, having a plan and a timeline are the biggest blessings I have ever received! Dr. Myers not only published the book, but has an entire website (amymyersmd.com) with detailed plans including grocery lists, recipe books, recorded interviews with other professionals, stress management tools, and just so many solutions that I never thought were possible.
This is the most hope I have felt since a year ago when my confounding symptoms began worsening. I've finally met a person who knows and understands and has information about the things I am experiencing. Sister Jenks was quite literally an answer to my desperate prayers.
