December 2016 is here and Melissa is feeling something odd happening with her stomach. It doesn’t feel like the ‘normal’ GP flare, so could it be a cold or flu coming on? She had been in stores, around lots of sick people who where coughing up lungs. So maybe!
The days went on with the continued high nausea until one night where she was unable to leave the restroom. The next morning, afternoon and night were the same. By now she KNEW this was NOT her gastroparesis so it had to be a bug of some kind.
Before she had time to research the news came on with a school closer in town and the hospital not allowing visitors because of a very bad case of the Norovirus going round. What is it? Click HERE to read all about it keeping in mind Melissa ended up with almost everything it said….for TWO WEEKS! Yes she missed out on Christmas as she was so very sick and dehydrated at that point.
The virus seemed to last a good 4 weeks in total. Then out of nowhere Melissa was able to eat almost everything! What an amazing sense of freedom to be able to not think about how much fat or fiber is in what you have in your hand nor if you stomach can digest it or will reject it.
Taking this opportunity she wanted to give her system yogurt to introduce the good bacteria after the long lasting deep cleanse she just had for a few weeks non-stop. Now this is something that would normally make her very nauseated to eat, so monitoring symptoms she was very surprised to notice nothing happened after she ate it – nor the next day! Is this a miracle?! One way to find out….eat it again the next day and also eat other ‘bad’ foods she was never able to tolerate (such as a stake). YES, it was all being processed without much issue! Hallelujah
As with all good things, about 10 days of this blissful freedom came to a halt when one nigh the yogurt made her sick. Now she’d have to go back to what she became use to over the last 6 years of no-no foods to avoid and get herself back on track.
Fast forward 6 months and Melissa is still able to eat most fresh fruit and vegetables without much issue (nausea, pain, bloating), even some nuts. However that lovely steak remains an issue.
She still has her flare each month during hormonal changes for 3-4 days of pure nausea. Still has foods that she has to stay away from and recently discovered that Gluten has been an issue all along for her headaches, fatigue and inflammation. But to be able to tolerate once again a green salad for dinner or a piece of fruit from the tree is a BIG DEAL for her and anyone with gastroparesis who’s stomach’s can’t process the high fiber (if they are even able to eat solid foods).
So was the Norovirus a bless? I’m not sure we will ever know the true answer to that, but in the meantime Melissa’s liven’ it up with the no-no foods!
Melissa's GP Fight - Gastroparesis 