Anyone with Gastroparesis has been there.  The time when you start to come out of a flair and you realize just how “funky” you are.  (And I don’t mean funk in a good way, but in a smelly way!)  You wonder…how…on…earth…have I become this stinky.  What happened the last few days?  Did the GP Elves throw me into a pile of used gym clothes?  Did they spray me with “sweaty luxury” perfume?  Is this smell coming from me or the dog?  Can I pretend that it is the dog?  Did Pig Pen have Gastroparesis?  He sure exemplifies what we look  and feel like at the end of a flair!

It is AWFUL!  During a flair you have limited energy and there are certain things that just still have to be done.  This means that you don’t want to spend precious energy getting a shower.  You also know that if you attempt to get a shower that you might collapse from exhaustion at any moment.  Then you not only have an issue with a Gastroparesis flair up but also the issue of a cracked open head.  Hmmm…I wonder which is worse….hmmmm.  Okay, staying on target.  (The GPers out there, know just how difficult it is to stay on target at the end of a flair.)

Today, I FINALLY had enough energy to get a shower.  Although there was not enough energy left to dry my hair, so into the ponytail it went.  I think that I have somehow lost 5 pounds in pure “funk”.  My skin is rejoicing the fact that it can breath again!  You might think that I am exaggerating, but anyone with Gastroparesis will tell you that I am not.  You quite literally wake up one morning and think “was that all a weird dream”?  Did someone take over my life for a few days?  It is one of the most bizarre experiences that you can have.

It was amazing that once I washed the Gastroparesis funk off of me how productive I was today.  I was on a roll and smelling great!  I’m anxiously awaiting my first aqua-aerobics class with a friend tomorrow and I’m sure she will thank me for not having a ring of filth surrounding me in the pool.  Although I will make NO guarantees about my swimsuit and Gastroparesis belly combination!

~Millie