Mindfullness and taking a break

As the holiday break draws near I am happy to know that I can relax for at least a little while.  That break is always good for me. 

We had a day all about mindfulness yesterday and the myriad ways that you can bring mindfulness into your life.  It was an amazing day for all involved.  I had the opportunity to share with groups of students how I distress and get into my own groove through crocheting.  I think I may have even brought a few kids over to the yarn side.  I think many of the kids were surprised to see that their teachers need to power down as much as they do and that we have many ways of doing just that.  We all learned about meditation from an expert and for me it was wonderful. 

This is the link for the wonderful woman who taught us about meditation: http://www.innerresourcesproject.com/ .  If you have a moment take a look at her website. 

Enjoy this time of year whether there is a holiday that you celebrate or not.  Remember to relax and have fun.  Live in the moment. 
                                                           Blessings,
                                                           Fibromama

Gastroparesis and Botox

What happens when your gastroparesis gets to the point where nothing is really helping but you're not one of those who throws up all the time or ends up in the hospital (mostly I don't go since most people aren't educated about gastroparesis)?  Well, you end up getting Botox injections in the pylorus valve.  Huh, you say.  What is that?  It's the valve that lets food go from your stomach to your small intestine.  Sometimes it doesn't let food go at the rate it should, thus causing a slow emptying rate.  Now you may ask, how on earth do they give you injections there??  Well, that's not so easy either.  I had an endoscope or EGD done the other day.  I had a few not so pretty spots biopsied and while the doctor was in there he gave me the injections.

Let me back up a bit.  When I went to see the doctor a few weeks ago and we discussed the possibility of this procedure he warned me that it's only a 50% chance of it working.  Not only that but the injection would only work for 3-6 months.  Oh yeah, there are only so many of these injections that I can get.  Hmmm... I still opted for the procedure since some chance is better than no chance and being nauseous 24/7 and having stomach pain is really getting to be more than I can handle on top of all the other things I have.

Back to now...I had the procedure done on Friday.  Let me tell you, it was not pleasant.  My stomach hurt.  I don't know if it was the biopsies or the injections that hurt but something did.  Since then the pain from that has dialed back a bit but, the nausea and pain when I eat or drink is the same if not worse than before.  I think the Botox may take a while to kick in but I feel like someone punched me in the stomach.  As of now I don't think this is helping but I'll give it until I call for my biopsy results.  At that point I think I will have given it enough time to raise the question with the doctor of whether or not this has failed me. If it hasn't worked where do I go from here?? I don't know.  I just know that I don't like feeling this way.  I don't mind that I'm back to eating only a few tablespoons of food at a time since that might make some of this excess (yes, even people with this disease gain weight) weight go away but, that seems to be my only silver lining.

We'll see what the future holds.  Blessings to you my friends.
                                               Much love,
                                               Fibromama