A Day In The Life Of Me...

Original Post By www.MelissaGPfight.wordpress.com On May 14, 2014

A Day In The Life Of Me…

You have read my gastroparesis story and struggle (HERE), but for those of you that don’t keep up with my activities via Facebook posts, I wanted to take the opportunity to show you a snap shot of what 2 recent days were like for me:

• Taking new pictures of my store items to upload them on the Store tab on this website.
• Editing the pictures for the website and other social media pages.
• Answering questions for the T-Shirt For Gastroparesis Awareness and Research Fundraiser that runs until the end of May and helping those that are not in the USA obtain a shirt.
• Packaging up a couple orders to go out (GP Fight Store).  After 1 of them was sealed with postage on it, I sent off the tracking number in an email.   About 2 hours later I have a request to change the order, which luckily I was able to do as it was not dropped off at the Post Office yet.
• Finishing up a new logo for a GP Sister to use on her new website and snowballing other ideas for her.
• Helping a long time non-GP with setting up his new business website.
• Partnering up with a business to swap advertisement info.  This will open up more exposure for GP Awareness!  Go Me :)  More info will be released later.

Then add the 2 days a week I work, going to the store for food, cooking dinner and the many other household chores of life, to finish out a week in my shoes.   This does not begin to reflect punching through nausea to complete the chores, sleeping at odd hours to get things done and making sure I pick the right food (and amount) to consume.  Gastroparesis is truly a juggling act.

I know there are a lot of people out there that can only do about 1/4 of what my normal daily life is like with a chronic illness, that is if they are not running to the ER or are in the hospital.  I count myself very fortunate that I am in a good place with my GP to allow me to do all of this -for all of you who can’t!   However, there are weeks that I am only able to get out of bed and to the couch, but we all have to take the good with the bad.

Just because you might not be able to do things right now doesn’t mean that in the future you still can’t.   A few years ago I didn’t think I would be able to do all of this -maybe in my dreams.  So I will count myself lucky that I can do this, even if it’s not every day.

How Comfortable Are You?

Original Post By www.MelissaGPfight.wordpress.com On May 13, 2014

This blog contains reference to vomiting, so if you are sensitive, please read a different blog post, check out our store or even look at the resource tab.

Here we go… no turning back now…

For years I have read many stories that seem similar and it just hit me that all the following events have the same psychological and physical traits.
What started this was my GP Sister, Emily.  She went to Disney World and of course got sick while in a park.  Did she go back to the hotel?  No.  Did she seek out the medical staff?  No.   She kept walking!

Some nights I don’t go to bed right away, so I need to sneak in and try not to wake my husband when it’s my bed time.  I’m sure most of us have done this at some point or will in the future.  But what amazes me is that I can crawl into bed and my husband in his sound sleep will roll over to hold me… in the same position that we normally start out together in.

So what do these two events have in common?  This is what I was thinking:

• Repetitive – to be able to vomit in public and keep walking shows that a person has done this a million times and it is just second nature.  Rolling over in bed to hold your spouse several hours after you fell asleep shows that your body knows the other person is there and remembers what the original sleeping position is -through repetition.
• Secure – you would have to be secure with your self to not let sickness in public bother you, to simply keep going.  In a relationship you build trust (or should -haha) and fall into mutual security (again -or should), that trickles subconsciously to roll your body over in bed.  Okay, that may be a long shot.

This brings me to reading other cases of gastroparesis plagued people vomiting in: stores, on the street, at a school desk, out side a car in traffic and even me on my wedding day.   Each one of us wiped out chin (literally) and continued on with what we were doing.  Yes, I did get married that day!

I invite you to take a look at Emily’s blog (here) and for those of you that are on Facebook, to join Emily’s Stomach (here).   If you want to find me on the different social media sites, click HERE for a list (Emily’s links are there as well as some other GPer’s).


Obviously this wasn’t me.  Mine was in a trash can that my mother was holding for me, while my groom awaited me wondering if the wedding was going to happen.  After a delay -for the bride- I walked down the isle and nothing else mattered.   If I wasn’t sick, I could have enjoyed the reception more, but I was there, we danced and in the end it could have been a lot worse!  15 years with my guy and we are still going strong … so don’t let GP get you down.  You are much stronger than you know, just keep going!

Avoid A Sunburn -- Check Your Medication

Original Post By MelissaGPfight.wordpress.com On May 10, 2014

 

Avoid A Sunbun – Check Your Medication

It’s only May and people are reporting sunburns!   So we feel this is a good time to remind you to check your medications for side effects of sun exposure.  

There are two types of reactions to people who consume sun-sensitizing drugs: 

Photoallergy  – A rash that will appear on the body that is exposed and not exposed to sunlight, up to a few days after being in the sun.

Phototoxicity – Increased sensitivity to sunlight, effecting skin and eyes.  Sunburn can happen within minutes of exposure resulting in the typical red painful burn to the skin as well as blisters.

For more information on photoallergy and phototoxicity we have found that WebMD has summarized it perfectly, click HERE.

For legal reasons we can not tell you if the medication you are taking falls into these classifications.  But we can generalize a few known types of common medications that are typically known to cause these problems, which individuals with gastroparesis may take:

• NSAIDs (Ibuprofen)
  
• Antidepressants
  
• Antibiotics
  
• Essential Body Oils (popular scents: orange, lemon, lime and ginger)
  

Even if you go outside for a few minutes, say to go to a store, get the mail, take the trash out or head to an appointment you are still AT RISK for these conditions.  This is something that you can avoid, just by calling your doctor, pharmacist or reading the information that came with your prescription.

 

Here is a cute reminder that we created for you.  Feel free to copy, download and share!

Here is your chance to donate towards gastroparesis awareness and research

COPY FROM WWW.MELISSAGPFIGHT.COM  5/3/2014
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For those of you familiar with The GP Fight Store, you may have seen a snail shirt we have sold there.  Recently we clearanced the shirts and people wanted more.  Due to the complicated matter of guess what sizes to keep in stock, we decided to find a different route to get them to those that wanted them.   Also, people had been emailing the store that they wanted us to carry green shirts so that they could wear them on Gastroparesis Awareness Friday.  You can find the store here: http://www.gpfight.bigcartel.com

We created a Gastroparesis Awareness Fundraiser where you can donate $20 and receive the snail t-shirt OR simply donate any amount.  Either way, the funds we receive at the end of the fundraiser will be used for Gastroparesis Awareness and a portion of the funds will be donated to http://www.IFFGD.org for Gastroparesis Research.  If you make a donation and want your funds to be used for research only, leave a note when you donate and we will be sure to honor your request!   Research is important to us as well!

Following is the link to the fundraiser; which will be run for the month of May.  At the end of may the campaign will close.  About 2 weeks after that, you will receive your shirt(s).  The place that makes the shirts will send them to you, so be sure you have your correct mailing address.

https://www.booster.com/melissagpfight?share=861399157608612