The Good Doctor

Yesterday I had my first visit with the naturopath. I had many hopes for this visit: that I would be heard, that I would be taken seriously, and that I would be offered at least the hope of healing from my condition. I dared myself to believe that I could go beyond mere pain management and find my way back to good health again. As the time for the visit drew nearer, I feared that once again my hopes might be a tad too high.

Dr. Wessels' office is in a big house in the historical district of town, a good distance away from the hospital and the rows of whitewashed doctor's offices. The door creaks, as do the dark hardwood floors. There is a vase of flowers and a bowl of red grapes at the office manager's desk when I walk in. I smell several herbs in the air, their scents muddled. I already feel better about this visit than all the others, and I haven't even seen the doctor yet.

It took little time after finishing the paperwork before I saw the doctor himself (there is no nurse to act as an intermediary). He is a tall, lean man about my dad's age, with black rimmed glasses and a small patch of facial hair below his bottom lip. His office is more of a cozy study; open journals and notebooks are spread on his wooden desk, curtains adorn the window, and volumes of books (not all health-related) line the bookshelves in the room. He invites me to pull up a cozy blue chair, as if I had been invited into his living room. He sits across from me and we simply begin to talk. I can feel the sun come in through the blinds and warm my cheek.

I tell him all that brought me in: my history of stomach issues, the pain of the last year, losing sixteen pounds (he is the first doctor I have seen who finds this even remotely alarming), and the frustration resulting from my most recent experience with the gastroenterologist. I told him about the several useless prescriptions tossed my way, and he chuckled about the most recent: an anti-depressant for stomach pain? Because if a young woman's stomach hurts, she must be depressed, he chuckles (finally, someone with a sense of humor. No one else I've seen has allowed an inch for humor). I tell him about the results of the endoscopy: the hernia and gastric mucosal atrophy, but later being told everything looks "perfectly normal & healthy" and promptly being sent on my way. He asks about other health items not directly relating to my stomach, such as concerns about my poor blood circulation. As we talk, he scribbles down notes, filling a whole page during our twenty-minute conversation.

It is only after this time that I am directed to the examining area. There is a small examination bed behind a folding partition. He checks my breathing, my blood pressure, and palpitates my belly.

We sit back down in our chairs and the discussion continues. He advises me that it is not the hernia that is causing me trouble; the hernia would likely only be an issue if I were obese and over 50 years old. He assures me that this kind of pain and weight loss is neither normal nor healthy in someone of my age and overall good health. He is concerned about the gastric mucosal atrophy; this is the primary cause of my discomfort. The atrophy tells me, he says, that your stomach lining has been severely damaged due to the mucous lining being chronically inflamed and it needs to be repaired (I am so glad he agrees!!).

He gives me an Intestinal Repair Complex that is comprised of herbs, amino acids, and enzymes that are specifically designed to restore a healthy mucosal lining. Unlike previous prescriptions that were only masking symptoms, this formula is specifically designed to promote healing and provide for factors essential to a healthy gastrointestinal tract.

I am also going to have extensive bloodwork done that will measure organ function, nutrient levels, and the levels of just about everything else that can be measured in a person's blood (the office manager advises me the report that comes back is 8-10 pages long). It is a fasting test, so I have to go in after having abstained from any food for 12 hours.

Additionally, as of Monday, I am on a 3-week Modified Elimination Diet. He tells me, I won't lie to you. Being on this diet stinks! "No" is the operative word in this diet, applying to the following: gluten, all sugars, caffeine, alcohol, red meat & pork, dairy, eggs, citrus fruits & strawberries, peanut products, or any foods containing any amounts of the items listed above (this covers more foods than I could possibly list; you should check out the link, just for kicks & giggles). Abstaining from these foods for this period of time will cleanse my body. Once these foods are reintroduced, we will learn if any of these foods are contributing to the damage done to the lining of my stomach. Some of these things are not going to be missed. With others, it will be difficult. Even the Gardenburger patties I love have gluten in them!

I will go back on April 30 to go over the results of the bloodwork and at that point, foods will slowly be reintroduced back into my diet.

My feelings following this appointment are completely the opposite of those I had following the appointment with the specialist just last week. For the first time since all this started, I feel like I am being heard and taken seriously. Instead of trying to numb me to the pain caused by having a damaged stomach lining, I am being given a supplement that will assist in its healing and restoration. For the first time, dietary factors are being addressed to see if any of these foods are contributing to the damage (because what is the use in healing the damage if you don't know what causes it in the first place?). Additionally, the bloodwork will give him a good view of my overall health and will possibly reveal other contributing factors to my condition.

In nearly a year of being in and out of doctor's offices, he is the first one to order any kind of bloodwork or to address the possibility that something in my diet could be causing the damage. It occurred to me yesterday how wildly experimental all that modern medicine was, giving me medicine after medicine for an unknown condition. I was offered pain relief; not a single doctor I saw attempted to pin down the source of all the trouble. My only regret is I didn't go to the naturopath any sooner! For once I feel hopeful, empowered, and like my future maybe, just maybe, will be one where I have a healthy and normally functioning digestive tract.

I am thankful to have the godly people in my life who encouraged me to pursue this alternate course of treatment. I want to thank those of you who have been slogging through all these posts for caring and for the prayers offered up on my behalf. Some of you have never even met me and yet, you pray for this wordy, ranting, curly-haired stranger from a far-off corner of the country. I cannot adequately express how humbled, encouraged, and loved I feel. The Body of Christ is at work, even through a blog. Amazing.

No one but God knows what the outcome of all this will be, but I have faith that the Lord will ultimately use this for good, as He often does with the things in our lives that we find unbearable while in the midst of them. Our God is great indeed.

Many thanks and many blessings.