Canadian Spring found in Singapore

Finally. A doctor with some answers.  I'm not sure how much Celiac knowledge she has, but at this point it's the symptoms that I'm interested in improving, and I like having answers.  Last week a friend and I went to see an "Age Management" doctor, one who specializes in, well, aging.  Something we're all doing but some of us need more help than others. We bought our plane tickets online, packed our bags (a medium one for 5 days...very proud of myself on that one), and flew to Singapore.  Thankfully, my friend has a friend who was heading to Australia, and her house was free for us to use.  This wasn't just any old house; we shared what is equivalent to a five-star hotel room, complete with a marshmallow bed.  I was thinking that it's a really good thing that depression isn't an issue for me, because once I got into that incredibly comfortable bed I may never have wanted to leave.  We even had cable tv.  With all the channels.

 After fasting breakfast the day after our arrival, I had a blood test, and then later had a bone density test and a few other things done.  There came a point in our morning when, after weighing in and finding out I'd lost 2 more kilos, hunger starting to poke at my stomach, and being downtown without access to cook my own gluten-free, dairy-free meal, I lost it.  My friend J took me to a coffee shop to try and get some breakfast in me, and upon reading the menu and realizing that there was nothing there for me to eat, I broke into tears.  Not loud ones, just big ones.  Racing each other down my face.Graciously, J hauled me out of the shop and we went to a grocery store, where I bought 2 slices of turkey for $5 (get OUT of here!), a plum, carrot juice, and a can of beans. We sat in McDonald's and proceeded to eat my very strange breakfast with people watching me, blatantly staring at the obvious bag lady who couldn't even afford McDonald's and had to eat out of a can instead.

That was the only negative part of the trip.  Results said mostly what I thought they would, with the little twist that I am low in cholesterol.  Bummer that I can't go to Burger King and remedy that with a weekly splurge of burger, fries and a chocolate topped vanilla cone.  Guess I'm deep frying everything at home, and gravy on all my red meat!  I also found out that I am halfway between average bone density and osteoporosis (osteoporetic??) and so calcium, vitamin D and lots of intentional bone-building exercises are in my future.  My big news, very exciting, is that two weeks after the Celiac diagnosis (yet completely unrelated),  I was told I had polyps in my body and would have to have them removed.  I told God that I don't have the faith to ask Him to take away the Celiac just yet (although if others want to stand in that gap, I'm willing!) but would He mind getting rid of the polyps, please?  I wasn't really ready to take that on.  I believe He honoured that prayer and even if they "disappeared on their own," I still give the glory to Him.

Lots of good things happened while in Singapore, and I enjoyed my time away.  My friend J had to leave Saturday morning while I stayed on to talk results with the doctor on Monday, and so I had 2 more nights on my own.  During those days I had some great visits with a few different ladies I hadn't known before, and was very thankful that they were part of my weekend.  On the day I was to return home, I donned my back pack, slipped on my Naots (Birkenstock-like sandals) and headed to Orchard road for my results.  After talking to the doctor I had a few hours to kill, and so I had a snack on a bench for about 30 minutes, just watching people walk by.  In that time, not ONCE did I see any other person dressed even remotely like me.  Definitely no ladies wearing backpacks, that's for sure, and the only pair of Birkenstocks I saw had diamonds glued to them, I'm sure of it!  Funny, because if I was in British Columbia, Canada, no one would look twice at the Granola sitting on the bench.

Now I'm home again, and it's like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.  I have those things I thought I might (decreasing bone density, need to eat more protein/carbs/fat, more vitamins, specific exercises), yet it's the knowing, having things confirmed by a medical doctor that makes it seem like it's not such a big deal, that I can do this.  So, 1/4 of the way into 2011, and I'm feeling like a Canadian spring is happening in my life.   The snow is melting and little shoots of new life are coming up out of the hard ground.  I'll be tilling that ground for a while, probably adding some 'manure of life' now and then, but the results to come are worth it.

Thanks for reading.