Mis Diagnosed For Ten Years!

Ten years ago - 2015 - I had some blood tests done, which came back saying I had Coeliac Disease.

I didn't know much about CD, but I have a close relative that has it, and I knew if she ate "normal" bread that had gluten in it,  she could become very unwell. 

I came home the day I was diagnose and cleaned  out all food in my pantry, fridge, freezer etc that contained gluten. It was a lot of food thrown out, which amounted to many dollars worth of food.

I went on a gluten free diet, and I lost several kgs in weight. I was not overweight to begin with, I am a very petite person who had no extra weight to lose.

Six months later I had to go back to see the dietician who had diagnosed me. She got angry with me because I had lost too much weight and was now under-weight. She gave me a booklet and told me I  had to learn to read food labels so I knew what food was gluten free (GF). I found it very hard to understand and had trouble reading the tiny print on the labels. I did my best and failed miserably to stay on a GF diet. I hated the taste of GF bread, to me it tasted like eating cardboard. I was always hungry due to not being able to find GF food. I stopped the GF diet and went back to eating "normal" food. Ove the years I tried going back to a GF diet, but always stopped after a month or so because I was always hungry and wasn't able to buy GF food as easily as I could buy "normal" food.

Some of you who have been following my blog may recal a few posts I did about being Coeliac.

I had several more blood tests for gluten and strangely enough they come back negative for gluten. (This is how we here in NZ test for gluten intolerance/Coeliac Disease. The next step to check 100% is a biopsy.

Fast forward to 2022 the doctors said I need to have a biopsy. They put a tube down your throat into you stomach and take a small piece of your intestine, which they then do a biopsy to see if you really do have Coeliac Disease.

I wasn't happy to consent to a biopsy, stating that having Addison's Disease (an autoimmune Disease) I would not be able to tolerate having it done because of how stress affects me, and that I could easily go into an Adrenal Crisis. I said I would have it done if they could  do it under a general anesthetic. They said they cannot do it under general anesthetic.

Every time  I was in hospital they always insisted on giving me GF food. (The GF toast they gave me was so hard that if I had thrown it at the window I am sure it would have smashed the window. They also kept pushing me to have the biopsy. I always said 'no'. I was even bullied by 2 of the Doctors, who snapped at me and said, "obviously you don't care about your health, we'll take you off the waiting list and give the appointment (for the biopsy I hadn't consented to) to someone who does care about their health', and they marched off out of room and left. I swore I would never see both those Doctors again. Little did I know I would see one of them again, 12 weeks ago when I was last in hospital. She was still talking about me having a biopsy! She is also the Doctor who said I had a twisted bowel and needed urgent surgery and would be taken off to another hospital that night to fix it or I would die! An x-ray showed there was no twisted bowel...

Okay (sorry this is a lengthy post) so last week I had and appointment to see a Gastroenterologist at the local hospital.

Fast forward again to March 2026, a few days ago, when I recently had an appointment with a Gastro Doctor at the hospital. He had read through my files, which are quite extensive, and said to me...I had been mis-diagnosed in 2015 and I did NOT have Coeliac Disease!! They had got it wrong back in 2015, and there was absolutely NO need for me to eat a gluten free diet. I was stunned. For ten years I have been harassed, bullied, and tormented by the threat of becoming very unwell and doing untold damage to my gut because of not eating GF food. 

He had checked my blood tests I'd had done since 2015, and NONE of them came back positive for gluten. Once he said I had been mis-diagnosed, I asked him to remove the diagnosis of Coeliac Disease from my files to make sure that any time I am in hospital that I am given NORMAL food. The amount of times I have told them I am NOT Coeliac, and can they please give me normal food. I never believed for a second that I had CD. I was right...

Ok so I have hand my rant for the day - thanks for sticking with it and reading this to the end! 

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Just Dropping By!

 I haven't got anything to post because I haven't done any crafting lately. My health is good, and I haven't been in hospital for almost 12 weeks, which is great! My only 'health' issue I have at the moment is, a very painful left hip. Nine years ago I had a THJR - total hip joint replacement, on that hip. A few days ago that hip joint became very painful to the point I couldn't sleep because of the pain. Today, Saturday, it is still very painful, and has kept me off my feet for the last 3 days. I am hoping that the joint is just bruised and time and rest will heal it. In all honesty I should have gone to hospital to have an x-ray done to make sure things are ok. But I wasn't keen on having to  go back to the hospital having been there so many times before. Fingers crossed that the pain settles soon!

My laptop is doing weird things and keeps telling me it has a virus:-( I will hopefully get that sorted out today. It says I had gone to a dangerous and illegal website...at the time I was watching a funny cats video on You Tube! I don't think that was a dangerous and illegal video so I have no idea what's going on.

I am waiting (not so patiently) for a stamp and die set from Whimsy Stamps in USA to arrive. I paid for it Feb 24th, and it has only just (2 days ago) been sent. I am really disappointed it is taking so long. I was unable to track it as it said 'incorrect tracking number', so sent an email to Whimsy asking them where the items were. They replied that it had been sent. (It hadn't) Yesterday I checked and it had finally left USA. I have no idea when the items will arrive but it seems to be taking a long time. 

Anyway I am still here, and just wanted to check in with you! 

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Make Your Own Embossing Paste!

 

I mixed some acrylic paint in a small container, added some Baking Soda and mixed well. I spread the mixture over a stencil, then left it to dry. This is the result. Next time I use this technique I will sieve the Baking Soda so the mixture is more smooth. Lots of fun!

These are the little (cardboard) containers I mixed the paint and BS in. I get them from the hospital each time I am in. They bring my medications to me in them. I have dozens of them and they are very handy for all kinds of craft stuff!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Quirky Creatures Rubber Stamps.

 

I'm looking for these rubber stamps. The photo is not good quality because I took it off the internet. At first I thought they might be some of Tim Holtz's stamps, but having searched the 'net I cannot find them. Does anyone know whose stamps they are? I really like them and would love to make some cards using them!

I know my friend Robyn D from Queensland has some similar stamps, so if you are reading this Robyn, please let me know whose stamps/brand they are! Thank you!

I'm in the process of making some Halloween cards at the moment. I will post them here once they're finished. I don't usually celebrate Halloween, and these cards, plus the Christmas ones in the post before this, are all going to be donated to the my local Vet free for anyone who wants a card. So far they have loved the cards I've given them. Ok I will end this here as I am a little tired and am running out of energy. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

New Christmas Cards!

I made all these cards using Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlit dies 

666330. I've had a lot of fun creating these and deciding what colour cardstock to use. This is the first crafting I have done for over a month. I've had a lot of health issues to deal with, plus helping 2 close friends with  health challenges. 

It's very hot and humid here right now, and it drains what little energy  have. 

On some of the cards, such as these two, above and below, I have glued a strip of glittery card behind the words. It's the smooth glitter card, not the chunky/rough one. I bought a pad of it some time ago for only $2. 

These next two cards (there's a double up) both have a die cut snowflake (another TH Sizzix Thinlit die set) behind the J and the N. I used some vellum paper for those. 

Below is the first card I made using this die set. I have to say, I am so pleased I have the Bigshot Switch and not the old one I had where you had to crank the handle manually. The Switch is so much easier and quicker, especially when die cutting multiple dies. 

I was disappointed with the Postal service this Christmas, cards I had made did not arrive at their destination. Very disappointing, especially as some had hand made bookmarks inside. I have no idea where thy went to, but I do know the recipients did not get them.

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!

Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Some More Whimsical Birds!

I'm enjoying making these Whimsical Birds! These 3 are stuck to some white cards around the size of a Business card. I used foam tape to stick them to the white cards. So much fun to create, and as have said before, I really didn't overthink what I was doing. They are not supposed to look 'perfect'. The look I went for is 'messy'! I think I achieved that!

The mini Lamps are about 3 3/4 inches in height, so that sort of tells you the size of the white cards and Birds. I used small scraps of DSP to make the Birds. A good way to use up those small scraps we often end up with, and feel guilty throwing away!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Happy Christmas!

These are the Whimsical Birds I made the other day. I've made them into cards. I just need to find some words to stamp on them. I'm thinking of using some of the Snarky Cats words. 

We're supposed to have hot weather today, so I think I will stay inside out of the heat and maybe make some mor Whimsical Birds. We'll see!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!