My celiac journey

It's been about 15 months ago now that I found out I have celiac disease and that followed 4 months of blood tests and finally a colonoscopy and endoscopy ordered by my very dedicated doctor, Andrea Weed, DO, in Carson City.

I first visited Dr. Weed to take care of a needed biopsy of one of my breast (negative) that I had left Elko knowing about. After running initial blood work on me, she sat me down and told me right off the bat that I had a genetic marker for stroke/heart attacks called lipoprotein-a but she told me we could work on that. At that time, she was more concerned about the sad shape of my red blood cells and what could be causing this.

I told her that I had suffered from anemia since I was in my teens and that I had been tested for leukemia and lymphoma because of it. The last time I had a doctor worry about it was about 4 years ago in Elko and she just put me on a daily iron pill and we forgot about it.

After my initial blood work, I was sent to a hemotologist who really didn't do anything but check my iron level every month until May. It never improved. They were discussing doing a transfusion but wanted to wait until I had the colonoscopy/endoscopy performed. Dr. Weed was worried that I had celiac disease or some other genetic blood disease, the name slips my mind.

After my tests result came back, I was told I probably had celiac disease because of the condition of my small intestines, the vili were flattened. The blood test I had taken to determine if I had celiac disease came back negative. I was handed a brochure for the Sierra Nevada Celiac Group and another one about what foods to stay away from and that was basically it. I left the GI Consultants office feeling overwhelmed. It was only gradually that I became grateful to have learned why I had been feeling like crap most of my life.

Over the past year, I've done alot of online reading and research on my own to learn about what I can and can't eat and why. It hasn't been easy. I have yet to make a Sierra Nevada Celiac Disease Group meeting and I hope to soon because I would love to learn more about where I can and can't eat in the Reno area. I also really want to meet someone with celiac disease face to face to talk about how they survive it.

As I have read and learned more about celiac disease, I realized that I had been dealing with years of stomach discomfort, migraines, allergies, anemia, skin rashes and other problems that were all related to the lack of vitamin and mineral absorption caused by this disease.


One of the biggest issues most likely connected in my case is the osteoarthritis I had developed in my right hip. The damage was so bad that I had a total hip replacement on Monday. I had needed it for about 10 years but somehow I felt that 40 was too young to have surgery like that. Today I am recovering and feeling pretty good so now I am wishing I had taken care of it sooner! My orthopedic surgeon is Dr. Shonnard. That's me four days after my hip surgery!

I will keep blogging as I learn more about where to shop to buy good food and where to eat out in the Reno area. I look forward to eventually meeting people here with celiac disease. I will keep learning!