May 2025

I feel like I need to address my health openly with you all. I understand you can see the physical changes I have undergone, and I feel full transparency is helpful, so you know what is happening now and going forward.

Last year I was experiencing a great deal of stomach distress. Eating was made difficult because of the repercussions. I would either reject anything I ate, or it would stay in for too long. Either way, it was a problem.

I went to Rockford Gastroenterology and was diagnosed with Dumping Syndrome. That just means that the muscles and nerves in my stomach no longer work.  So, food doesn’t stay in my stomach. It passes directly to my intestines. This is a repercussion of a stomach surgery I had in 2008.

So, what that means for me dietary wise is that I have to eat foods that are slow to digest…vegetables and meats. It has been a learning curve for me to figure out how to eat now going forward. Eating in public is always a risk because I don’t know how my stomach will react. But I am doing better and stabilizing my weight loss.

Secondly, I have begun to experience arthritis in my back and left hip. This is in addition to my torn rotator cuff and frozen shoulder on my left side. Getting help has been slow. But I have been informed that I need a hip replacement. 

When I did the pre-testing, I failed the cardiology portion of the tests. I now have a cardiology appointment in July. I had been on blood pressure medication for two decades. But after losing weight, I no longer need them. So, my doctor took me off of them. That is a blessing. But we believe that is what caused me to fail the cardiology test.

But now I have to wait for July to retest and show that my heart is OK now that I’m off of the blood pressure medication. That has made me feel better already! But a hip replacement looms in my future.

So that is what is happening with me. If you see me losing weight, I’m just trying to balance my diet. If you see me limping, I’m just trying to manage my arthritis. Otherwise, I feel great and have started walking outside to get my body stronger for what is ahead.

God has taught me endurance, patience, and strength through this journey. And while it has been difficult, it is not without blessings! Getting weight off has been a great start to healing my other body problems. God is good!  All the time!  Thanks for reading and I’d appreciate your prayers going forward!  Peace.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5