I want a beer! Awareness Week blog by Sarah McFeggan

My name is Sarah, I am 37 years old, and I was diagnosed with 
gastroparesis in the fall of 2008.   My stomach shut down on me about a 
few days after I stopped taking antibiotics for pneumonia in May of 
2008.  It seemed like it took FOREVER for my doctors to figure out what 
was going on.  I couldn't eat and I couldn't sleep due to horrible 
reflux, bloating, and nausea. I lost 15 pounds in two months and I 
carried liquid Maalox around with me everywhere.  I started to call it 
my "boyfriend".  I was finally put on an acid reducer and it helped with 
the reflux but I could still not eat a lot.   Then I had that fun 
stomach emptying test done and was told that I had gastroparesis.  I was 
also told to look it up online and that we could look into a stomach 
pacemaker......  What????  So, I went home and looked it up online.  The 
first website I found gave me some hope that I would get better.  The 
second website, not so much.  It scared the crap out of me!  How could 
there not be a pill that fixed this and how could doctors know so little 
about it??  Luckily, I found a couple of groups online started by others 
who have GP or other gastrointestinal issues.  I was shocked at how many 
people had been diagnosed with GP.  I had NEVER heard of it before I was 
diagnosed with it.  Through these groups I was able to find out more 
information and resources about diet and nutrition.  I had figured out 
through trial and error (lots of errors) what I could tolerate and what 
I could not.  The "could not" list was much longer.  I wasn't able to go 
out and socialize with my friends and family like I used to and going 
out to eat was torturous. Things have slowly gotten better but I'm still 
impacted by GP on a daily basis.  There is not a day that goes by since 
I was diagnosed where I don't think about when I can eat, what I can 
eat,  am I getting enough calories, am I starving myself, am I hungry, 
am I bloated, is my reflux worse.....  This has done WONDERS for my 
anxiety.  Which is what my doctor blamed it on initially (I'm rolling my 
eyes).   Thankfully, my close family and friends have been supportive 
and understanding. It breaks my heart to read about how others family 
and/or friends do not support them or believe them.  Hi- if we could 
eat- WE WOULD EAT!   I just want a beer, frankly...........  At least my 
friends let me smell theirs.  ;)