Diagnosis
January 30, 2018
“Sarah has a condition called Celiac Disease,” explained Dr. Kennedy.
The Kerbers had spent hours waiting for Sarah to get up, to get back the lab results, to finally hear the news they had been waiting for. Jane was in a state of shock. Just hours before, they had been told by the doctor “everything looks good on my end.” She did not classify her daughter having a life changing disease as “good”. The feelings of confusion that Sarah had just woken up with returned.
“[Dr. Kennedy] had diagrams of what my intestines looked like and what they should look like,” Sarah said. “I remember feeling lost and thinking ‘what does this mean for me? Is this a serious disease?’”
It was good to get a resolution so we knew what we were dealing with. It was also frustrating and I think also shocking to think ‘How are we going to do this going forward? How is she going to eat? How am I going to cook?’
— Sarah Kerber
With every meal, Sarah was providing the autoantibodies in her intestines with more ammunition. The bumps on her face, they learned, was a symptom of Celiac Disease, not just acne. Naturally, the solution would be to completely eliminate gluten from her diet as there was no medicine available as a cure.
‘Oh my gosh, I don’t get to eat pizza?’ Sarah worried to herself as her mother unloaded her own concerned questions on the doctor.
“The day of the endoscopy was a double edged sword,” explained Jane. “It was good to get a resolution so we knew what we were dealing with. It was also frustrating and I think also shocking to think ‘How are we going to do this going forward? How is she going to eat? How am I going to cook?’”
As she had suspected in her worst fears, Sarah walked back out the doors of the clinic with a life completely flipped on its head. One sample from her intestine had restricted how she lived for the rest of her life. Gone were the days she could eat foods without checking all of the labels first. Gone were the days she could go to a birthday party without feeling like an inconvenience by having to order in a special pizza for herself. Gone were the days she could go to a restaurant without the threat of cross-contamination on her mind.
Gone were the days Sarah would let this battle inside of her continue to rage on. She was going to end her suffering and take back control.
Sarah fired her first shots back.