I had lost a lot of weight from not being able to eat very much through the whole 3-month fiasco. I was slowly starting to gain some of it back, until all of my symptoms turned the corner AGAIN.

I had no appetite, I was feeling full too quickly, having sharp upper left abdominal pain, nausea, and began having this excruciating pain in my rib cage from laying down that persisted every day.

On July 10th, 2020, I called my GI specialist and explained that my symptoms had all returned after finishing my 2-week medication treatment and I began to cry on the phone. It was quite an uncomfortable phone call as I was told by my doctor that I was being dramatic, and that H. Pylori wasn’t a big deal. I explained that I was no longer comfortable having them as my specialist and switched to a new GI specialist at a different doctor’s office.

I had a virtual visit with the new GI specialist, and we determined that we wanted to do an endoscopy to do a biopsy to check for H. Pylori and a biopsy to test for celiacs.

July 20th, 2020, I rolled my knee scooter into the endoscopy center and had to go in alone-again, because of COVID protocols. I filled out so many forms and was asked if I had a power of attorney or a living will since I would be going under anesthesia. No one in my family had anesthesia before so this was a bizarre question to have to think about at the age of 18.

So then there I was with my bite block in my mouth (they use it to prop your mouth open so they can put the camera down into your stomach) and as they started injecting the anesthesia through my IV, I asked myself in my head, “Huh, I wonder how long it’ll take until I-“

I woke up feeling super tired and very groggy. Since the knee scooter was considered “machinery” I was not allowed to operate it and was wheeled out in a wheelchair. My mom had said that everyone after their procedures came walking out but I was so anesthetized that I was falling asleep in the wheelchair.

Fast forward to more weeks in bed awaiting results (once again the limbo…) and we finally got the results on the phone. I was diagnosed with a small Hiatal Hernia, chronic gastritis, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and another weak positive for celiacs. The H. Pylori biopsy came back clean, and my new GI doctor asked how it was tested originally. It was then that we learned that I might’ve never had H. Pylori since it was diagnosed only using a blood test before, and my symptoms were bad again after treatment.

I was told to avoid all things gluten and to follow a GERD diet and watch how great I would feel. This was actually partially true!

So then began the trials of trying to stick to 2 new diets after never having food restrictions in my life. I learned that I could eat less and less because certain foods would cause a spike in my symptoms.

I even had an instance where I ate a gluten free chocolate chip cookie and many hours later had a bizarre reaction. I was woken up from sleep and headed on my knee scooter into the bathroom since I was feeling weird. I went pee and suddenly my hearing went muffled, as if I was underwater. I stood up to walk back to my bed when suddenly I looked at my face in the mirror and it went pale white. My ears felt like they were on fire. My blood pressure dropped, and I started getting dizzy, nauseous, and had an increase in my upper left abdominal pain and fell to the floor dry heaving. I called my parents for help and after a few hours the symptoms went away.

Things were weird when it came to food from that point on, so I tried to keep my diet as simple as possible in order to not rock the boat.

Sticking to this diet did make things return to a sort of “new normal” and I clung to it tightly as I was about to leave for college.

It was a week before flying out that I realized I couldn’t take the knee scooter with me. I began relearning how to walk with my CAM Boot at home so I could at least make it through the airport. My legs overall had lost a lot of muscle because I was in bed since April (it was now the end of August).

I realized I needed to find a shoe that would be similar to the CAM Boot for when I would be able to transition out of it, that could be worn for show blacks and with any of my clothes. I then purchased my first pair of Doc Martens.

Off on a plane I went in my CAM Boot feeling ready to start college, only with a lingering feeling in the back of my mind that the stomach journey wasn’t over yet…