Day 24 – Thankful for a diagnosis that gives validation

This morning I woke up still thankful and rejoicing over how the Lord smoothed our path on Thursday! (You can read about that here.)

As I sat down and finished the last two slices of my gluten-free bread (you can read about that here), for which I’m also still thankful, I was also thinking of something else for which I’m thankful.

With my daughter’s diagnosis the other day came an indirect diagnosis for myself that I assume I will have to follow through with to make it official.

I know a lot of people don’t like diagnoses of ill health, but having lived with all the unpleasant symptoms for all these years, I’m happy to have a name for the culprit!

If you’ve ever lived with unnamed chronic disease for a long time, you probably understand how marginalized it can make you feel. You understand how voiceless you feel, how unhelpful it feels to have a doctor blame what you’re experiencing on “stress” without digging deeper to see if there may be some other underlying problem. You understand when another doctor tells you he “doesn’t believe in” the malady you think you may have as you hunt and peck on your own, trying to figure it out.

Note, I’m not in any way saying that pain and suffering, neither my daughter’s nor my own, makes me happy, aside from the fact that it directs our hopes to the Lord, our Help in times of trouble.

Rather, since God has seen fit to give us this gene pool, and since He makes no mistakes, I am thankful to, at least, know what we’re dealing with here.

So yes, today I’m thankful for a diagnosis, unofficial though it may be,

  • for now I have a voice!

  • Now I have been heard!

  • Now I have been validated.

And my heart rejoices and overflows with thanksgiving to God for this special gift! 🙌❤

32 thoughts on “Day 24 – Thankful for a diagnosis that gives validation”

  1. I understand that feeling of waiting for a diagnosis, getting one that validates that one is not crazy but actually dealing with a chronic illness, and then realizing the need to trust Jesus with it.

    Prayed for you and your family.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. So true! It’s definitely hard when you don’t have a diagnosis. It took many years before my husband was finally diagnosed, and thankfully the Holy Spirit helped me to gather all the info I needed to get my diagnosis!

    It took my mom years before she was diagnosed probably because they don’t treat the thyroid until it’s way out of range. (At least here in Canada they don’t.) So you can be very hypo or hyper thyroid before you get a diagnosis. Thankfully, I knew to ask for a thyroid antibodies test when my doctor told me I was “normal.” When my antibodies came back elevated, she agreed to put me on thyroid medication. I was glad! It helped so much! Then I learned I was sensitive to gluten as well. So God has been good. We’re still struggling with our health issues, but He’s seeing us through. Thankfulness is so important, I guess that’s why everyone seems to be blogging about thankfulness right now. 😊

    Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m glad you all got your diagnoses, as well! I’m not sure what that thyroid antibodies test is. I’ve had my thyroid tested several times through the years because they think that what I’m describing may be thyroid related. Then they tell me that it’s within normal range and that’s that!
      I had worse myalgia and EXTREME chronic fatigue after the births of my last two children, and the Lord finally answered my prayer for help by showing me about eating gluten-free. He brought a junk mail ad to my house with a testimonial from some guy who had read this doctor’s encyclopedia that he was trying to sell. That’s the only involvement that any doctor had in my realization that I was gluten intolerant. By the time I went to be tested for that, I had been on the gluten-free diet for a year and no longer had any detectable gluten antibodies for the test to detect. So, I dropped it and just kept doing what worked.
      Yes, thankfulness brings us up out of the negativity that can sometimes drag us down. It helps us see that we are blessed and gives us reason to rejoice in spite of trials that may be going on in our lives. God’s continued blessing be on you, sister! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Wow! Your gluten story is similar to mine. Because I was experiencing a lot of depression I wanted to know if there was a connection between Hashimoto’s Disease and depression (Hashimoto’s is the autoimmune form of thyroid disease. Most people who have a thyroid problem have the autoimmune form of it. A thyroid antibodies test will show if you have an attack on your thyroid.)

        While searching for a link between Hashimoto’s and depression I came across an article that connected gluten sensitivity to Hashimoto’s Disease. It also said that testing for celiacs isn’t always accurate, so I decided to try going gluten-free. Life began to feel better as the depression started to lift.

        Years later a specialist tested me for celiacs, but like you I had been off gluten, so the test results came back negative for celiacs.

        Doctors won’t tell you anything about Hashimoto’s Disease. This is mostly because they think it doesn’t matter. They don’t know how to treat the disease, they can only replace the hormone that is low. And even that isn’t enough to aleveate all your symptoms. I still struggle with on going fatigue, but God is using it, so I’ll be thankful. I still have hope that He is working on it, while He works on me. God bless you too! ❤

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Thanks for explaining that for me!
          I wonder if the doctors would think it doesn’t matter if it were their own health or their child’s being affected?. I think some of the best doctors are the ones who were desperate to find answers either for themselves or for a loved one. So many illnesses can be made better by changing diet or using certain supplements that nourish the body.
          I was talking today to the admin assistant at my chiropractor. She has Hashimoto’s. She takes mega doses of vitamin B.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Yes, vitamin B can be depleted with Hashimoto’s. I’ve tried vitamin B before, and didn’t notice any difference, but I’m trying to take a number of different vitamins again. We’ll see how that goes. I’m also in perimenopause, which can also cause fatigue. Thanks for the mention. I will try taking more vitamin B. 😊

            Liked by 1 person

  3. It is well my sister. Happy New month

    On Saturday, November 2, 2019, plantedbylivingwater wrote:

    > Loved by the King of kings posted: “This morning I woke up still thankful > and rejoicing over how the Lord smoothed our path on Thursday! (You can > read about that here.) As I sat down and finished the last two slices of my > gluten-free bread (you can read about that here), for which I’m also” >

    Liked by 2 people

  4. I’m so thankful you have answers to guide you and your daughter to solutions. I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power. We all look forward to hearing about your new journey. I continue to pray it’s not the harsher disease. Amen.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, sweet sister! That makes sense that knowledge is power. God has gifted us with a specialist, an authority in her field, who affirms that this health problem is going on. Even if our doctors in the past haven’t paid us much heed, they will be more likely to listen to the specialist. Thank you, Lord!!

      Like

  5. Dear Ruth,
    I’ve been behind in my reading this last week, so I’m just now coming to these posts. Oh, dear friend, I understand that feeling of not being heard or acknowledged so well! I am so grateful that God has finally given you and your daughter a diagnosis. I know several people with that chronic illness. The Lord is surely a great Shepherd, leading and guiding through every step! May you feel so covered by His grace and mercy!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I understand somewhat how you feel. It wasn’t until dad was looking into what was making him so ill that he stumbled upon this. I knew I was hypermobile but I didn’t think I could actually dislocate something. I went through a short period of denial followed by feeling validated. I may not be diagnosed officially, but most people’s joints don’t behave like mine so I know something is different about me. Whether it is Ehlers Danlos or something different, I don’t know. But sure is nice to know why I feel the way I do on some level. And know that there are some things I have no business trying to do because I could hurt myself.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I think it’s important to know for a couple of other reasons as well. First, some of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes include more life-endangering elements like dissection of the aorta and aneurysms. And all of the symptoms are not the same for every family member. My daughter is the first to be diagnosed in our family, and this gives a voice not only to her, but also to other family members, including extended family and those who are not yet born who may end up having this same malady. Knowing what we’re looking at may help us have better connective “tissue” between family members (pardon the pun! lol 🙂 ).
      Also, with girls, who often grow up and have babies, there’s more. Pregnancy can be made more difficult and recovery may take longer after giving birth. It’s good for the husband and others in our lives to know these types of things so that they can be more understanding and supportive.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That makes perfect sense. 🙂 As far as I know, there hasn’t been anyone in my family who had aorta dissections or aneurysms. (I hope your daughter doesn’t have this?!!) Dad did warn me about that a while back. (And when my friends came in from different states to visit me, we climbed Pinnacle Mountain and I pushed myself physically and survived, so I hope that’s a good sign I don’t have those problems either.) The last time I went for a check up was when I was 6 months old. I was given a vaccine that I reacted negatively too, so dad never brought me back. I would like to be go, but I’m not sure when it would be possible.

        Oh wow! The first! Haha, if I were to be diagnosed, I’d be first too.

        Yeah, that’s the only thing I’d be a little nervous about. Contacting family. I don’t know a lot of people on my grandma’s side of the family. It wouldn’t just be better connective tissue (XD I laughed at that pun) it would be making a connection in the first place.

        Oh yes, dad also talked about me having children in the future and I don’t plan to have any for this reason. Also don’t have a husband (or boyfriend) so I guess that isn’t an issue yet.

        It is hard sometimes for people to understand and I can’t say for certain what it is because I’m not diagnosed. All many people see is a girl who is young. Therefore I should be independent and should be able to do whatever I want.

        Thanks for the long reply! ❤

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I didn’t know that anybody in our family had aneurysms either until I called my sister who lives in a different state. The only reason my sister knows she had aneurysms is because she has a slow-growing brain tumor, and they found the aneurysms during one of the scans.
          We don’t know for my daughter. They did genetic testing for known genetic aneurysm whatchamacallits. Lol yeah, I can’t think of what they called it. Anyway, she tested negative for the known, but there is still so much unknown, so it is still a possibility. The thing about Ehlers-Danlos is that collagen is not doing its thing, so, even if it mostly affects your joints, it can also affect (aka weaken or cause to become brittle or lose elasticity) blood vessels, skin, bones, ligaments, tendons, and teeth. This can cause all kinds of problems. Perhaps you should keep a log/spreadsheet/or list of symptoms you have along with dates they occurred so that when you finally get to go get it checked out, you’ll have it all documented. Include everything even if it all seems unrelated.
          Speaking of related, lol, if you think you have the same thing as your dad, you may not have to call other family. You could just document the things he is able to tell you about family members.
          Yeah, people. It seems to be the human condition to judge a book by its cover. Fortunately, we have a Friend in Christ who knows and understands it all. Sometimes we just have to give people the freedom to not understand and let God bring into our lives those that He planned all along for us to be connected to! 😂😂

          Liked by 1 person

          1. If it’s okay, I’ll answer parts of this in more detail in an email because this is going to be quite long for a comment, most likely. ❤

            Oh my, I'm sorry about your sister. And wow.

            I'm glad she tested negative for the known. That must be a bit of a relief even if there are still unknowns.

            I think I'll do that. It'll be a lot and I may not remember some of the past dates but I can get close.

            Well, we are fairly certain that whatever collagen genetic thing is going on came from his side, through my grandma. She also told stories of her great grandfather having a double set of teeth. And when he bit into an apple, it looked like a rose. 😳 I don't know if she witnessed it or if the story was blown out of proportion over the years but dad and I both have extra teeth // crowded teeth so…

            I'm hesitant to say that Ehlers Danlos is what it is because no one that I'm aware of in the family is diagnosed. But there is something that can be traced back.

            I should document the things dad tells me alongside weird stuff I go through.

            AMEN! ❤ What a friend we have in Jesus!

            "Sometimes we just have to give people the freedom to not understand and let God bring into our lives those that He planned all along for us to be connected to! 😂😂"
            Yes! And I'm glad we connected. 🙂

            Liked by 1 person

  9. I agree with having to name the culprit! When my daughter was diagnosed as being on the spectrum, I was distraught because of the label. Then a friend of mine quickly said “finally you have a name, now you can address that in prayer!” So when I go to God I specifically use Autism.
    I enjoyed the read!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, I understand that “label” feeling, too, that fear of being looked down on or considered less than. But it can go the other way, too, since sometimes people will have more grace if they understand why the child is responding differently than they would have expected. It certainly helps me understand my daughter better now and helps her feel more free to tell me how she feels. It brings better communication and understanding.

      Liked by 1 person

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