GASTROPARESIS MARCH ON WASHINGTON

The Gastroparesis community will host an awareness rally on June 24, 2019, from 2:30-5:30 PM ET at Union Square (behind the Capitol Reflecting Pond) on the Capitol Grounds of Washington, DC.  Please join us as we shed light on our illness and promote better understanding and proper care.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates 5 million or more people live with gastroparesis, but, despite the numbers, gastroparesis is considered an “orphan” disease due to the lack of resources, support, and attention it garners.  Gastroparesis is little-known to the public and often misunderstood by healthcare professionals, researchers, legislators, and others who impact our care.  And, so, it is imperative that we, as a community, lift our voices in a united front to raise awareness and bring about much-needed change.

Gastroparesis, or “paralysis of the stomach,” is a gastrointestinal motility disorder in which the stomach muscles fail to contract and move food through from the stomach to the intestines at the proper rate.  It is a slowing of the stomach-emptying process marked by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, GERD (or acid reflux), early satiety, extreme weight fluctuations, bloating, and stomach/abdominal pain, and it often results in debilitating and sometimes life-threatening complications such as malnourishment, dehydration, esophageal damage, erratic blood sugars, and digestive tract blockages. 

The most common known cause of this condition is diabetes, which accounts for about one-third of the cases.  Other known causes of gastroparesis include neurologic disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease, connective tissue disorders, complications resulting from surgeries, various medications (such as some narcotics and antidepressants), and direct damage to the Vagus nerve.  Most cases of gastroparesis, however, are labeled “idiopathic,” meaning there is no known cause. 

Currently, there is no consistently safe, reliable, and effective treatment for gastroparesis – and there is no cure.   Available treatment options include often ineffective surgeries; medications which carry the risk of serious side effects; feeding tubes or total parenteral nutrition (TPN); and dietary changes (liquids or soft foods), which often do not provide relief. 

For additional information regarding gastroparesis, please contact the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) at www.iffgd.org or the Association of Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders (AGMD) at www.agmd-gimotility.org.

Register at https://bit.ly/2SXhaSs.  For additional details and inquiries regarding the “Gastroparesis March on Washington” rally, please contact Melissa Adams VanHouten at gpmarchondc@gmail.com. 

SHADOWLAND

We are not among the living,

But we are neither among the dead,

Hovering somewhere in-between,

Where all souls fear to tread.

Blinded by the sparkling light,

They are oblivious to our pain,

They have banished us to the shadows,

And it is here we must now remain.

We reach out toward the warmth,

Of our long-abandoned lives,

But our ice-cold touch is rebuffed,

And sweet mercy is denied.

We can no longer feel the sun,

Though its light lingers just behind,

We can no longer grasp the morning,

So, to the darkness, we are resigned.

Relegated to this bleak blackness,

This punishment for what crime?

Exiled to this barren wasteland,

Sentenced without reason or rhyme.

Oh, to be among the Others!

To again taste life’s tender embrace,

To openly dance in the sunlight,

To feel it shine upon our face!

To turn our downward glance upward,

To bask in the glorious glow,

To spin in the radiant rays,

To relish it long and slow.

Mere memories long-remembered,

Shades of what might have been,

Bitter, punishing reminders,

Of that which was taken by the wind.

Set apart from what once mattered,

We are on the outside looking in,

Outcasts, outsiders, pariahs,

Ever-longing to begin life again.

When we think we have our fate mastered,

The ever-looming clouds appear once more,

Announcing their ominous presence,

And their wretchedness down again pours.

Weary of feeling worthless and hollow,

Of longing for what is long gone,

No matter how vehemently we deny it,

To our past lives, we are roused and are drawn.

We cry out in torment to the Others,

“Please, hearken and bend to our pleas!”

But we are met with indifference and silence,

Our sorrows but words in their breeze.

For while worshipping in their sunlight,

They have neglected to glance our way,

We are silhouettes too dim to matter,

As they dance through their merry days.

We brush up against their coattails,

Meager whispers in their deaf ears,

They have forgotten the sounds of us,

Mere specters who now fill them with fear.

We are ghosts which serve to haunt them,

Flickering phantoms, ethereal and pale,

Forgotten, ignored, tossed aside,

We are hidden behind the veil.

For if they acknowledged our presence,

Peered into the shadows and gazed,

Perhaps they’d see regrets and transgressions,

Or be forced to face the forms they might take.

Yet, we cannot wholly blame the Others,

For their world was once likely our own,

We, too, looked away from the darkness,

Neglected the unfortunate forgotten souls.

But now that we are at once among them,

How we long to feel the light of day,

To awaken from this endless cruel nightmare,

Is this a dream which is too far away?

Are we forever by the chasm separated?

Are we indeed past the point of no return?

Are the matters which divide and conquer,

So vast we cannot breach them, cannot learn?

Our hope, our glimmer, and our passion:

From their stupor, they’ll someday awake,

And with no second thoughts or backward glances,

They will rescue us from our dark fate.

Save us from this desert, this Shadowland,

Where we are something just shy of whole,

Envelop us with their gentleness and grace,

Bring light to our anguished, daunted souls.