Sorry for being away for a few days. I’ve been mired down with getting to the bottom of my year long health saga. At long last I finally know what has been going on. I’ve got Eosinophilic gastroenteritis. I don’t think any big foundations or walks have been built around this rare disease, but I’ve always gone for the unique.

What is this disease. Well, I’ll give you WebMD’s take on it. The explanation is very short, because this is a rare disorder.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare digestive disease characterized by the presence of a particular type of white blood cell (eosinophils) in one or more of the three layers that make up the lining of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This includes the stomach, small intestines, and large intestines.

In short, it’s extremely painful. For the past year I’ve had 3 seperate physicians ignore my complaints about abdominal pain, ignore my high white, red, and eosinophil counts (telling me maybe I just have higher counts), and push me in the direction of believing my issues were caused by anxiety, something I’ve never had. However, after being sick so long, I did become anxious. I had terrible pain, dizzy spells, naseua, and it scared me.

After switching to Dartmouth Hitchcock I found a doctor who listened to me, and didn’t immediately label me. Instead he offered a CT scan. That showed severe inflammation, and blockage in my colon. A colonoscopy was performed, and endoscopy. That’s how I was diagnosed. It could have been identified a year ago!

If you’re unhappy with your medical care, question the physicians your with, don’t wait! I spent a year in regular pain questioning myself, thinking I created this problem.

Tonight I found another web site of a person who has been suffering with this disease. He went through similar trouble getting someone’s attention, and was told it was anxiety too. Rather than investigating it seems some physicians would prefer to write things up to anxiety. Watch out for that folks.

Here’s the link. The site is interesting reading, and really tells the story of what Eosinophilic gastroenteritis can do to a person. Fortunately it is rare. http://www.wedgeworld.com/EG.html

I’m very grateful to the site host for sharing his story. It’s helped me learn a great deal about what I’m facing. And yes, I’ll be dealing with it while traveling, no doubt! As I learn more and experience more I’ll share here as well.