The Early Years

When I was growing up, I had a pretty good childhood. I would travel quite a bit. I had a little bit of difficulties in school due to some learning disabilities. Despite all that I graduated from high school and went to college. During the summer after my first year in collage the unthinkable happened. My father was diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer.

None of the treatments worked and he died. I was 19. I was at a loss. I was taking classes at a local community collage, Cabrillo, during this time. I got into drinking and smoking pot, no heavy drugs, but I did not want to feel the pain of this great loss. I ended up graduating from SJSU in 2011, with a BA degree in Libral Studies. Since then I have struggled to keep my finances a float, going from job to job, and feeling like shit the whole time. It was not until recently that I got a stable, a stable relationship, stable finances, and stable health.

Just within these past six months I have felt a lot better. I went to see my second specialist and he saw that my blood pressure was super high. I was trying to tell people that I was sick. My Dr. believed me and wanted to investigate what the cause was. I had my first endoscopy, they put a tube with a camera down your throat, and found that I had some inflammation in my stomach, and a hiatal hernia. Now I take an over the counter pill, Zantc, to help with acid re-flux. Due to the inflammation I gave up gluten, altogether. So now I am dairy free and gluten free. I had another colonoscopy as well as blood tests, both showed nothing.

Today I feel great! I swim two miles four days a week sometimes its more. I don’t drive still because of some past issues from my childhood with my learning disabilities. I am working on that. I take the bus home from the pool which takes about thirty minutes. Then I hake 2.3 miles home, and hike about three miles to work. The reason I come home is to be with our dog for a bit before I work. I also watch what I eat, and my boyfriend, Chris, supports with my diet.

Together we plan our food for the week, so we only really buy what we need, and we make sure that our meals are simple and flavorful. I can eat Indian, Mexican, Italian, French, basically anything I was as long as its low FODMAP, dairy, and gluten free. I can also eat some foods that are not considered low FODMAP because I have eliminated foods and tried foods to see how they effect me. For instance I only eat onions and garlic at restaurants, not at home, but I am always dairy and gluten free.

Having a strong support system is crucial, not just for this diet, but for all aspects of life. I feel like I am living my life the way I want to, and I feel absolutely amazing.