Andrea Brinkman, celiac disease – and grieving gluten
It is a tale, passed on across generations since the 18th century, a great princess had been quoted to have said about her peasants – “Let them eat cake!” – (because they were even too poor to buy bread).
Whether it be cake – or bread – people with celiac disease have to pass on eating either.
A newbie recently diagnosed with celiac disease is Andrea Brinkman of Mountain Lake. Brinkman is the vocal instructor at Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS). She is married to another MLPS teacher, Nate Brinkman, and the family has three children, Mace, Annika and Julia.
First step on a circuitous route
Four-and-a-half years ago I woke up one day and decided to go to the doctor (again).
Well, when I was there, the nurse came in to do what they do – check pulse, blood pressure, etc.
As she checked my pulse she asked, “Are you feeling alright?” I stated, “No. I never do . . . why?” She said, “Well, your pulse is 28 beats per minute.” (Apparently your heart should beat somewhere between 60-100 beats per minute.
She left the room, and came back with a machine that I later learned was an EKG instrument to monitor my heart.
The clinic sent me on to the local hospital to get more tests. “Bradycardia” was the diagnosis.
Over the course of the next two months, Andrea was seen extensively by two cardiologists in the Sanford Health System in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
They scratched their heads many times as it appeared that my heart was strong and healthy after I rocked two stress tests, but my heart was erratic, and slow most of the time, and I was living in a fog.
Physicians determined that she needed a pacemaker.
An appointment was made to schedule surgery when Dewey (Andrea’s father) stepped in.
So, the family set out to seek a second opinion from Mayo Clinic in Rochester. They would have to wait two months to get in, but the decision was made that the wait was worth it.
But . . .
During that time period, I kind of had a little heart attack at school.
I’ll never forget: It was a two-hour late-start at school due to snowy conditions. I was sitting at my desk, sweating profusely and not feeling well. My colleague (Mountain Lake Public School Instrumental Director Kurt Jahnke) came into my classroom – took one look at me, told me my lips were blue, and then proceeded to tell me that I needed to go in and get checked. He then left the room . . .
A few minutes later he came back with my principal. (Mountain Lake Public High School Principal Pamela Anderson). She told me I needed to seek medical attention. I told her I thought I could get through the day. She refused to listen to me. She told me either my husband needed to take me in – or she was calling 911.
So, off to the emergency room went Andrea and Nate. They chose to go to a Mayo Health System-affiliated hospital in order for there to be documentation for her upcoming appointments at Mayo. Andrea remembers watching her heart monitor drop to 20 beats per minute, and then skyrocket to 200.
Rochester came early. She was transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester where she had a battery of tests. Initial diagnosis mirrored the Sanford physicians – pacemaker. Surgery was scheduled for the next day.
However, the next morning, two cardiologists, after a meeting with their patient, decided to run more tests. After running that gauntlet of probing and poking and processing, it was determined she had a leaky heart valve. It was determined not to be a serious condition – AND – that it was not causing her initial problem.
So . . . the heart was not the problem – but SOMETHING in her body was attacking her heart.
‘Pacemaker to probiotics’
Virus? Hormones? Deficiency?
It was back to square one for Andrea and her doctor entourage.
More blood work found she was extremely low on vitamin D, a diagnosis that made sense because deficiencies can cause the heart to act erratically.
A pill prescription prevailed – for awhile.
In the next round of appointments and exams, an autoimmune disease was discovered to be the bumpy burp affecting her body.
My body attacks my body.
The latest attack is in the form of celiac disease – which I will have for the rest of my life.
Celiac disease is a serious genetic autoimmune disease. It is triggered by consuming a protein called gluten. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the finger-like villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment.
Left untreated, people with celiac disease are at-risk for serious health consequences, like other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, depression and even certain cancers.
The vitamin D deficiency happened because my body cannot absorb nutrients, (non-functioning small intestine/leaky gut) and hasn’t been able to for a long while. This caused the domino effect on my heart, my brain, my sanity, etc.
The problem with the medical world is that no one specializes in autoimmune disorders.
There are tons of specialists, yes, but none that focus solely on the crux of autoimmune disorders, because with autoimmune issues, they can manifest themselves in so many different ways.
It’s really hard to pinpoint that what is going on with someone is just that: an autoimmune disorder.
So now I’m on a probiotic (amongst many other gut-healing supplements) and I still take a mega-dose of vitamin D.
However, since I’ve been gluten-free, my heart has not acted up once. I think I finally know the culprit that has been assaulting my heart for the last four years – gluten.
In my case, it has taken over 30 years.
Grief over a no-gluten lifestyle
Now, Brinkman has turned her “R. I. P. Gluten” life stories, observations and words of wisdom into a blog about her continuing journey – a sojourn being taken while perched on a balance beam between diet and work and stress and family. She began this public publication about her private pilgrimage at the beginning of June.
Her blog is a compelling read in her own words covering the facts, providing insight and raw emotion – and pulling into it all, humor – a necessity for this adventurous walk called life.
Find Andrea’s blog at http://grievinggluten.weebly.com/.
