I'm here! Still intact, as far as my gallbladder is concerned- the surgeon wouldn't operate- I ended up going through even more tests (another endoscopy) to verify that I didn't have Celiac's Disease. Though the biopsy (from the endoscopy) didn't return positive as having Celiacs, I implemented a gluten free lifestyle for about 6 months and got MUCH better. However, in November, my beloved Grandmother passed away @ the age of 95 (on my birthday) and that event, coupled with an extremely mentally/verbally/emotionally abusive job caused a great deal of depression for me, enough to where I was hospitalized for 48 hours w/ "passive suicidal" behaviors (as in, I wouldn't do anything directly to cause my death, but I wouldn't have minded if a piano fell on my head or something like that). During this time, I didn't adhere to the gluten free lifestyle- I just didn't care what happened. After a couple of months in counseling, I realized that a lot of my health issues stemmed from the job. I quit my job in February and was released by my psychologist and psychiatrist... PLUS, for the most part, my health is MUCH better. I've also realized that all of that, for me, was probably a stress-related vicious circle (as in, I was stressed and got ill but it wouldn't go away, so I stressed more about it and in turn caused it to escalate, then having inconclusive test results caused more stress, etc. etc. etc.) Perhaps the gluten free was just a cure for my brain for the moment... who knows?
Regardless... I'm doing MUCH better, but I hate it that other people are suffering like I did. It really stinks.
ETA- I also got diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia. I also, w/ the consent of all my specialists, had life-changing gastric bypass on 6/25- I've truly never been happier, and I feel that getting rid of all this excess weight (I had 157 lbs to lose to be "normal" in BMI range) will help me with how I feel... and I'm almost down 60! Life is grand! [Disclaimer: I am NOT opening up a debate about having weight loss surgery, nor am I implying that it would help anyone else- it's helped me personally.]
