Carrie Rodgers

Hi!  Thank you for visiting our CaringBridge site!   I started this site in 2017 after a friend of a friend recommended it to me.  At the time I was new to  battling gastroparesis and digestive failure.   Gastroparesis  (gastro-stomach, paresis-paralyzed)  means, for me, that I am only able to drink water and I can tolerate herbal tea and coffee, sometimes but not all of the time.  There are times, quite often, that even if I drink water too fast I will get sick.   I survive on a feeding tube for nutrition and hydration. Most days my tube feeds take 20 hours of the day to complete.   I suffer with nausea, exhaustion, brain fog and kidney pain just to mention a few.   As a wife and mother of 2 active teenagers, this can make life difficult as you can imagine.   We do our best to keep things as 'normal' as possible whenever we can.   I miss running, I miss being active with my family and I miss working but by the God's grace we are finding blessings in this new normal most every day.  We have the most amazing support system and even the kindness of strangers has brought us comfort.  We pray for a miracle healing.  We pray for others who suffer from this illness and we pray for their support system as a support system is so very very important for the one who is sick and for those who help care for them. 
 A year and a half after my diagnosis of gastroparesis and about 6 months into the CaringBridge site I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After 2 surgeries and radioactive iodine treatment I am cancer free! Praise God!!  The lack of a thyroid and digestive failure have made for some additional challenges but I am thankful for clean scans and continue to follow the testing protocol to be sure that remission remains. 
We will post updates as changes happen.  We appreciate your concern, support and most of all your prayers!  Be well, my friends!!