I didn’t’ realize how many people had gastoparesis till I went on Facebook and found the gastorparesis awareness page.  I then came in contact with three other people in my state that have gastorparesis. I did not feel so alone anymore and I realized some with the same condition are far worse off than me.  I learned a great deal about the disorder and how other people handle their symptoms. Some have lifelong feeding tubes for nutrients and some have died from complications of this disease.  Dealing with gastorparesis and eating has been stressful on my body and mind. I hope that one day there is a cure.  I would like to have a normal stomach and be able to eat when I get hungry without any complications.  At this point my doctor can do no more for me.  I have purchased a few books from the author who has gastroparesis herself.  One book has recipes that she has had success with herself.   I was diagnosed with syncope about the same time as my gastroparesis diagnosis.  I was referred to a heart doctor because I had passed out a few times.  I had to have my heart checked and a tilt table test done. I had an echocardiogram and an ekg to check my heart which was fine. I then had a tilt table test that confirmed my syncope. I had to go to the hospital for the tilt table test.  I was met by a nurse who prepared me for the test. The nurse strapped me on to a table.  She then explained that she would raise the table while monitoring my blood pressure and the time. I was to stand up for thirty minutes. My doctor came in shortly after and the test began.  We were all chatting and having a good laugh.  I was standing for almost a full thirty minutes when the nurse asked if I was ok.  I told her I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach.  She said, “Your blood pressure is dropping.”  She then tilted the table back done and unstrapped me.  The doctor gave a prescription to help with the symptoms of the syncope. He was not sure how I got it and told me that it could go away on its own. Here I am seven years later and I still have the syncope. I believe it is somehow related to the gastroparesis. I believe both of these things are because of either the previous radiation or chemo I had in the past. I have come to realize in my own experience this is how things work. I had one disease and was given two different medical treatments to cure it, only to end up with something else. I was not told by my oncologist about getting the syncope or gastroparesis from my previous treatment.  He did however tell me that woman who have had radiation to the chest area, are more likely to get breast cancer. He said, “I would need to have a mammogram starting now and every year because, I am at risk." At age thirty five I had my first mammogram and have been getting them ever since.