PTSD Live Talk

Last month I shared an update on my return to TPN, IV nutrition, due to severe weight loss, despite making huge strides in food intake and what we thought was a life beyond GP. Not only did this feel like a big, fat blow to my confidence and hope, but a physical and emotional roller coaster of once again accepting that my body does not function properly. Followed by hospital visits, procedures and once again managing daily medical intervention has been challenging to say the least. Enough to cause random panic attacks out of nowhere, fear of what might go wrong next and confusion about how to plan for the future. 

Why is this happening?
How did I get here? 
What can I possibly do?

When Eating is Not Enough - Hanging On and Letting Go

Are you familiar with John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars? If not I highly recommend a number of his books including this one as well as his newest, Turtles All the Way Down. The latter was a pretty good story but what I love most is his ability to put complex feelings, that can seem so impossible to describe at times, into a mere few sentences. Like the part below which helps me to share my most current state of mind and body:

"That sounds really scary," he said. I just nodded. "Do you feel like you're getting better?" Everyone wanted me to feed them that story--darkness to light, weakness to strength, broken to whole. I wanted it, too.
"Maybe," I said. "Honestly, I feel really fragile. I feel like I've been taped back together."

6th Annual A-Wear-Ness Walk for GP - Tees

It's that time again and we have chosen the colors for this year's Awareness Walk for Gastroparesis and Digestive Health. The event will take place on Saturday, September 9th here in Bellingham, WA, down the trail along the bay that connects the downtown farmer's market and Boulevard Park, with its beautiful island views. 

13 Reasons Why I Can

Ok, so I probably should have shared this when I started the #13reasonswhyIcan, but you know how life gets so here I am on day 14...after the fact. Better late than never!

If you read the book 13 Reasons Why, written back in 2007 by Jay Asher, or watched the recent Netflix series adaptation, you will get the reference here. I had only heard of the story and didn't catch on until a few months back when I binge-watched the series like a bad train wreck; I could not stop despite how painful and heartbreaking each episode became. While there is a lot of controversy happening over the story of the 13 recorded confessions (and ultimate decision to take her own life) shared by the protagonist, Hannah, her teenage experiences are not uncommon. In fact, it took me a couple weeks to really recover from the raw reality of this show.

What Does Healing Truly Mean?

“It is better to believe than to disbelieve; in so doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility.” 

-Albert Einstein 

I've been sharing quite a bit lately about "healing" in reference to gastroparesis. It honestly feels like a double-edged sword at times, using these terms together. Your reaction may be one of hope and excitement. Or you might feel that healing is impossible and want to laugh at the idea of that word used with the awfulness of what you are dealing with. That's totally understandable. It's all very confusing, I know. So I'm going to shed some light on what healing truly means and how this has impacted my own life, when dealing with nearly a decade of living with a pretty severe case of gastroparesis and health challenges.

Book Review: The Gastroparesis Healing Diet

A few months ago I was curious what else was out there on the topic of "healing gastroparesis." As some of you know, I've been writing for the Healing Gastroparesis Naturally website for some time and working on the book this past year (to be released end of May!). To my surprise, the image for The Gastroparesis Healing Diet came up with its upcoming release date in March. I could not be happier to see we were not alone when it came to using the word healing. Not to mention the cover looked so delicious and inviting! 

I contacted the author Tammy Chang, a nutrition coach and cook living in the San Francisco Bay area. While she does not have GP herself she has knowledge of how the gut functions and experience with creating nourishing meals to help heal the body, having worked one-on-one with clients and wrote her first book, The Nourished Belly Diet. She admitted this was not an easy task, finding GP to be the complicated disorder that many of us know firsthand. But she shared in her book that she "found the GP community, along with it's taking in people's harder days, is also extremely loving, supportive, and strong." Between the medical research plus interviewing and talking with those who live with GP (some of whose stories you will find in the book), she was able to get a good understanding of how to create ideas for a healing diet. 

Recording Available: Top 5 Foods to Heal GP

Our first webinar, Top 5 Foods to Heal Gastroparesis, is now available to view!

Presenting this meant more to me than I could possibly explain because of the difference I've seen with my own healing as well as the many, many others I've talked to this past year.  In fact, my hands were actually sweating at 10:59, one minute prior to beginning haha. I just wanted it to go well and with technology, you just never know when something may decide to not work properly!

Nervousness aside, the talk went good, the knowledge and experience Chalyce shares are just priceless and I am so grateful to have her on my "dream team" for the absolute best quality of life while living with the challenges GP can present. 

I hope you find it beneficial as well and please send us a question or comment if you have any. 

We would like to offer you a discount, which you will also hear about towards the end of the webinar, on the 6-week program we are SO excited to get started with on February 21st. This will be available through midnight on Wednesday, February 1st. For details, you can visit this link, and again, feel free to send us questions if you have any. 

Click below to listen to the webinar and hope you enjoy!

Top 5 Foods to Heal Gastroparesis