About WipGirl

Hi there! I’m a mortgage broker by day, and a blogger by night. I was born with a mild case of UN-diagnosed gastroparesis. I spent my whole life dealing with digestive issues and never really knowing what the heck was wrong with me. In 2012, a life threatening flare-up forced the doctors to drill down, test like crazy, and FINALLY figure out what was killing me. Verdict: gastroparesis.

Ah-hah. Now we have answers! Everything changes after you receive a diagnosis. Typically, things get worse for a bit as you struggle to find footing and get your symptoms under control. If this is happening to you don’t worry! The disease will get more active as you learn more and more about it. You start focusing on your symptoms in a bigger way trying to understand. And this makes it seem like things are getting worse…fast.

There’s a way through this mess! It may not be quick, and it may not be easy…but if you’re committed to living…really living, you will start to gather the right kinds of information that will make a difference in your life. Try not to be too disappointed in your doctors, you may find them to be very little help. After they throw the standard meds at you for GP, often with little success, they run out of ideas.

Once I realized, it was UP TO ME to figure this out. I had to find the solution, make the changes, try stuff, try more stuff, new behaviors, foods that seemed odd and strange…did ya’ll know I used to be a total weeny when it came to trying different foods. Ugh…NOOOO Waaaay. You’re not putting that in MY MOUTH.

Slowly, I found my way through the disease.

I made outrageous decisions about what was important in my life – which brought on creative changes. Each decision I made – brought more positive energy into my adventure of getting well. I am now healthy, and back to work in the crazy, super high stress environment of mortgage finance…but I’m doing it different this time around.

There IS such a thing as living with gastroparesis! In the beginning GP takes your full attention, I mean geez…eating is rather important to living, right?

When your belly shuts down, there’s not much else to focus on.

• Something isn’t right. Hello! I don’t have the flu. I don’t have food poisoning. I’m in trouble.
• Did I mention something isn’t right? Why is my heart beating out of my chest? I think I might pass out. I’m not joking here folks, this is a…bad situation.
• I’m sweating profusely, is this supposed to be happening?
• I can’t sleep, I vomit over and over, sometimes all night long…why is this happening?
• When I wake up, first thing in the morning, I am sicker than sick…how do I fix this?
• “No, I can’t go with you. Just thinking of going somewhere makes me want to throw up. I’m SO sick I don’t know what to do with myself.”
• My anxiety is through the roof – when I get this nasty anxiety, it makes me feel even sicker. Now I’m on the floor of the bathroom, oh my gosh this is awful.
• …I could make lists by the hundreds that resemble the points above.

…if this sounds familiar…

You have landed in the right place.

I’ve been through this. It took me years to find my way. I have now been back to work since August of 2019, and I’m doing great. If you’re doing the math, yes, it took me 7 years to get through this.

I lost everything. My job, my husband, even my home in the divorce. I think the biggest surprise was, I lost my personality. How the heck does that happen? Oh trust me gastroparesis can rob you of everything, until you know how to handle your symptoms and ultimately get on top of your health.

Do I have moments where I need to slow down and take care of myself…you bet. I just remind myself that now, I’m smart enough to listen. Previously, I would push myself until I broke. Not understanding how GP works, I just kept doing what I had always done. …and yes, like all the famous people have stated…I kept getting all the same results and symptoms.

There’s life before gastroparesis, and there’s life after gastroparesis. At times you may feel like you’re going down the rabbit hole of digestive hell. Everyone’s story of gastroparesis is slightly different. We all have symptoms and deal with issues that are unique – which is why often the name idiopathic gastroparesis is so fitting. It can feel like we have a giant idiot running our digestive system.

I hope my blogging can help you see GP life through a different perspective. Maybe you find answers? Maybe you’ll find inspiration? My hope is you feel a bit better after you experience parts of my journey and start asking yourself some new questions.

With new questions, comes new thinking…in order to beat this disease, we have to think differently.

I’m thrilled you’re here. Leave me a comment or ask a question. I’m here to serve.

Remember, it’s not what you do next week that matters. It’s what you do in the next hour that can change your life.

-WipGirl