It it DEFINITELY the Thought That Counts!

Skinny Girl popcorn, gluten free Chex mix, gift card to Trader Joe's, and gluten free pasta!  What do they all have in common?  They were all thoughtful gifts I received this year for Christmas!  It is amazing how many people are starting to become educated about my Celiac Disease and more aware of what it means for me to be gluten free.  They have discussed with me the ups and downs of my disease and then have, one way or another, thought about how they can make my life easier!  For example, they buy gluten free noodles just in case I win their recipe at the staff party or they research gluten free recipes and then bake me gluten free snacks instead of giving me their normal gluten filled homemade goodies!  I cannot express how much joy this gives me!  When I receive a gluten free present, it definitely puts a new meaning to the idea that "it is the thought that counts"! Thank you to all who have at some time or another thought of a way to show your understanding and support of my disease and gluten free diet!  I will forever be grateful and remember your effort and kindness!

My Unexpected Christmas Present

So I am laying on the coach tonight, Christmas Day.  The presents have been unwrapped, the day was spent with my family, and I have a big smile on my face! However, I do not feel good.  My stomach is twisted in pain, I feel like I want to throw up, and my neck/shoulders ache like no other!  It seems that I received one additional present this year for Christmas...gluten!  This is the frustrating thing about having Celiac Disease!  You try to do everything you can to enjoy the holidays and prevent cross contamination, but yet it sneaks in somewhere.  My family can tell you that before Christmas, I suggested to everyone how they could make their dishes gluten free.  (Definitely hard to do without overwhelming the family members and causing them extra worry).  Today, I made sure to be the first in line, so I could use non-contaminated utensils.  (While practically running over a family member to beat him to the table of food).  I also only ate and drank things that contained only gluten free ingredients.  (Trust me, I asked every single person what was in their dishes before eating them).  However, as the day wore on, I became tired.  I chalked that up as just part of the holidays.  Then my pants became tight.  Yep, must have eaten too much I thought.  Then the stomach pains and nausea set in and I knew I was in trouble!  My body began to ache and I am now fully miserable!  I have a heating pad on my neck, my stretchy pants on, and I get sick at just the thought of food.  I know that I will just have to sleep it off and wait for it to get out of my system but it makes me frustrated!  Why can't I just enjoy a holiday without all of the food planning, worry about cross contamination, unwanted attention I have to draw to myself in order to ensure I am safe, and the horrible side effects?  I know that it could be worse with this disease...I have experienced it and thank goodness this was just a small exposure to gluten.  I write this in hopes that you think about the people at your family holidays and get togethers that have food allergies or other health issues.  Try to educate yourself, ask questions about what they are going through, and most of all, help make them feel comfortable when they have to stand up for themselves to ensure that they can enjoy the holidays as much as you.  Just your support and understanding will mean the world to them!  If you are unsure where to start, then ask me.  I am willing to answer any questions you have...

Wedding + a GF Cookie = a HAPPY Single Lady!

Weddings!  I love to attend them...usually!  The joy of the wedding couple, the fun I have dancing, and the time I get to spend hanging out with people I cherish make it it a fun event!  I will admit though that there is one ritual that gives me a slightly awkward feeling...The moment when they call out all of the single ladies (usually all 20 somethings or younger...and then there is little ole me who is happy being 35 and single) to throw the bouquet.  It is like those games we played when we were younger, you know, where you chose the one thing that doesn't belong...me!  To be honest, I have really thought about doing something different when I get married.  I am thinking that I might make all of the married ladies come out onto the dance floor, so I can throw a baby rattle to see who will be the next to have a baby!  Lol!

Oh wait!  That is me getting off subject again...Anyways, I have to say that it is a good thing that I love weddings because I have 3 on my calendar this fall!  Over the last year and half, weddings have become a little harder to maneuver for me.  First of all, most of them are at dinner time and last for at least 4 hours or more.  Secondly, sometimes you have no idea what will be on the dinner menu, so it is difficult to plan ahead.  However, the worst part is that generally you are at a public place with a lot of people you know.  This means that if you are starving and you take a chance and accidentally eat gluten, then there are a lot of people who are likely to witness you experiencing an embarrassing moment that will including gas, a trip to the bathroom, or BOTH!  Not a great way to keep friends!!!

With all of this being said, I recently attended my cousin's wedding in Charlotte and I am extremely grateful for the time and effort my aunt and cousin put into making the wedding weekend relaxing and embarrassment free!  First of all, as I was leaving for the rehearsal dinner, a basket of snacks arrived at my hotel room...full of gluten free treats!!!  Panic attack due to lack of gluten free foods avoided!  A few minutes after I arrived at the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, I quickly became touched and surprised!  My aunt and uncle were late to the rehearsal dinner because they left the rehearsal and went to another restaurant to get me and my dad gluten free hamburgers so that we could eat a safe meal that was like everyone else's!!!  No words can ever express what that meant to me!  Then the next day at the wedding, my aunt and cousin made sure that my dad and I had a gluten free meal.  The best part was the box of goodies that arrived on our table after the meal!  Even though there were gluten free cupcakes on the dessert bar, my dad and I were given a sampling of the gluten free desserts (with the BEST gluten free chocolate chip cookie I have ever tasted) in a box so that cross contamination would not occur!  Yet again I could not believe it!  My aunt and cousin were celebrating one of the most important weekends of their lives...but were still thinking of me and my father and trying to make us feel comfortable and safe!  When you have Celiac Disease you begin to appreciate when people educate themselves and go out of their way to accommodate you...especially when you don't ask them to do it!!!  So on a final note...Thank you Myranda and Jill!  You will never understand how appreciative I am for that delicious, worry-free wedding weekend!

Panic Attacks and Joyful Surprises

When you find out you have an allergy to a certain type of food, you start to panic over things that seem small to others but major for you.  For example, this morning I ran out the door without my lunch.  Any normal assistant principal would say, "oh well, I will just grab something from the cafeteria", but not me!  I went into full panic mode!  What am I going to eat?  I will starve all day because I can't leave work until 7:30 pm tonight!  You see, when you can eat anything you unconsciously take for grant that food will always be available.  I mean how many miles until another McDonald's?  You can almost walk from one to the other.  However, with a food allergy, it is not as simple as just grabbing something.  You worry as to whether or not you will find that one item without gluten that you can eat.  Thank goodness today the cafeteria was able to make me a salad...and I had a check to pay for it since I was also out of cash!

With all that being said, you also find joy in the smallest things.  For example, this weekend my family went to Blowing Rock/Boone.  I was in charge of determining where we were going to eat for every meal.  (Which I will admit sometimes get very annoying but I have to accept it because I do have limited options.)  I went to my "Find Me Gluten Free" app and looked for reviews on gluten free restaurants in Boone/Blowing Rock.  I noticed that one restaurant had at least 32 reviews and they were all good, so this is where we headed for supper one night.  After we were seated in this little restaurant called Coyote Kitchen, I began my ritual of asking all of the crazy questions I have to ask (which are extremely embarrassing for myself and sometimes the people with me).  However, after my first question, I went into shock!  I told the waitress that my father and I had Celiac disease and then asked what on the menu was gluten free.  Her response...EVERYTHING!  I was thinking "yeah right" and was full of doubt.  Then the waitress started telling me about their dedicated gluten free fryer and how all of their breading on their foods were gluten free!  It hit me then that she knew what she was talking about!  She even knew the difference between a person with gluten intolerance and a person with Celiac disease!!!  She started telling me that since we had Celiac disease then one person would prep our meal to prevent cross-contamination.  I say this with all sincerity...I wanted to cry right then and there and hug her!  This meant that I could have French fries, casseroles, burgers (with a bun), and even pumpkin spice cake if I wanted!  Some of you may not understand why this was amazing so let me try to explain.  If you knew me before I found out I had Celiac disease, then you know that I lived off of cheese fries with bacon and ranch!  That was my stress food!  Since cutting out all gluten a year and a half ago, I have only had Chick-fil-a fries (dedicated fryer) and cafeteria smiley fries (a picture is below).  Those fries are nowhere close to cheese fries!  I ended up ordering fries with everything they could put on it!  I was in heaven!  I also ate a casserole with all kinds of delicious ingredients...and the best part was that I never got sick!  Finally I had options that tasted delicious and that I could count on to keep me out of the bathroom all night!  I had choices and the convenience that someone else was making my meal!  To be honest, I wanted to eat there for every meal but I knew that my mother (non-Celiac) would get tired of the same food every day!  Thank you Coyote Kitchen for giving me one night of happiness and allowing me to feel the joy of eating that I rarely get with Celiac disease!!!  Most importantly though, it goes to show that a little education on Celiac disease and other food allergies can really make a difference by providing people with the security they need to enjoy a meal with lots of options and free of worries of what side effects they will encounter later on that night after their meal!

Smiley fries like I get to eat in the cafeteria!  Warning - must use lots of ranch to make them taste good!

My Plot to Take Food From a Child!!!

So I haven't posted lately but all of you that know me understand that I have been very sick.  Hopefully, I am on the mend now!

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of an event that will forever be ingrained in my memory.  As you know, I am an assistant principal at an elementary school and one part of my job is buses.  Each month, two students from each bus are elected as Bus Riders of the Month and are treated to a free breakfast at McDonalds with me.  (Although each time when we pull into Food
Lion to park, I tell the kids we have a change of plans and will be eating at Food Lion rather than McDonalds.)  McDonalds is also kind enough to buy my breakfast and the bus drivers' breakfast too. Well for a year, I looked forward to this day each month where I could eat a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and drink a Coke (at the end of the month right before payday when I am broke).  Last year though, my first trip to McDonalds (after discovering that I have Celiac's) with the students was really hard.  You have to remember that more than anything else, I crave bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits (even to this day) so this trip was my first time going into McDonalds after cutting out gluten.  I knew that the only option for me was a yogurt parfait (with no granola) and I am sorry but that is nothing compared to a biscuit!!!  I thought for the most part I handled it fine...until I noticed that this one kid had a crumb of biscuit on his almost empty wrapper.  I am not kidding you...That crumb started haunting me.  Was he really just going to throw it away???   Have you ever seen the commercials where you see the person who is obsessed by something?  That was me!  I envisioned taking that small biscuit crumb...OFF OF A CHILD'S PLATE mind you... And eating it!  I have never wanted a biscuit so bad in all of my life!  I mean my mouth was drooling!  Thank goodness, I knew the consequences outweighed the biscuit crumb, but I will admit that it took every bit of my will power not to grab it and eat it.  I made it through the breakfast (with the bus driver being the only person that understood that this small trip was hard for me) and many more after that, but the best news was that I made it through a tough internal battle and did not break down and eat the crumb.   At this time last year, I conquered my greatest weakness, but I must admit that every day is a struggle!  Who likes to pass up all of that gluten in sugary, salty, and fried bites of goodness?  Not I...but I have no choice!

And the Award for the Worst Dinner Date Goes to...

Did you know that just 24 to 30 milligrams of gluten (about 1/145th of a slice of bread or a crumb) can cause the small intestines of a person with Celiac Disease to become inflamed?  Neither did I!  That is why those crazy people in the books I read to learn more about Celiac Disease were going to extreme measures to prevent accidentally ingesting gluten!  So what does this mean for me?  Well for one thing it means that eating out is extremely difficult.  I have learned that even though it embarrasses me to make a big deal to other people about what I eat, I have to do it for my safety and health.  So a typical meal out with me goes like this...

First of all, I determine where the group goes.  This is difficult sometimes because I don't want to always have to make the decisions, but unfortunately at least until they get an idea of where I can eat, I have to decide.  Next, I spend time on the Internet looking up the menu of the restaurant.  Some restaurants have a gluten free menu, but I have to watch because even restaurants don't always understand Celiac Disease, so they put fried items on their menu or mix together flour and corn in their tortillas.  Finally, if I am able to determine something I can eat, then off we go to the restaurant   When we get to the restaurant, I have to be very open about what I need.  For example, at any buffet or a place like Moe's or Chipotle, I have to ask the servers to wash their hands and change their gloves.  Sometimes I even have to ask for new serving utensils.  The servers are generally either extremely understanding or they roll their eyes and act like I am an extreme pain.  (Hence why I really dislike having to make a big deal out of it.)  Now you may be wondering why they have to change their gloves and/or utensils.  Someone with Celiac Disease can get sick with just a bread crumb.  So what if the server had bread crumbs on his/hand and then fixed my meal and it fell in?  Or what if they used the same utensil to pick up the breaded chicken (which may have left a crumb on the utensil) and then picked up my grilled chicken with the same utensil?  Crazy, huh!  Now if we go to a sit down restaurant, then I have to explain to the waiter/waitress what I need.  For example, one meal I have ordered is "I would like the Mahi Mahi tacos but since I can't have the tacos, I need you to put it in a salad.  Oh and please do not put croutons on the salad.  And since the side is fried french fries, then I need you to switch that out with a side of fruit."  (FYI...since most things that are fried are breaded with flour, I can't order anything fried unless I am 100% sure that it will be cooked in a fryer dedicated to only gluten free items.)  After the food arrives, I have to re-ask about what is on my plate and how it was prepared to ensure that it was prepared properly.  When I have finally finished the meal and I get the check, usually my pocketbook suffers.  Many restaurants charge $3 to $10 per entree/appetizer more to order something gluten free.  (So after reading this, when do you want to go out to eat with me?  Lol!)

You think eating out makes for a sticky situation, just imagine what it is like when I go to an event when food is provided like a meeting or party...

What Exactly is Celiac Disease?

So what is Celiac Disease?  Of course, by now you know that it means a gluten free diet, but why?  The easiest way to describe it (without scientific terms) is to say that your small intestines have "fingers" on them that grab the nutrients in food as it is digested and then sends these nutrients to your body.  Unfortunately, gluten has worn down these "fingers" in people with untreated Celiac Disease and there is nothing left to grab the nutrients.  So essentially, no matter how much a person with untreated Celiac Disease eats, they are still malnourished.  When you don't get the nutrients, then other parts of your body begin to be effected.  For example, people with Celiac Disease often also have issues with infertility, migraine headaches, osteoporosis, type 1 diabetes, thyroid disease, and lose of tooth enamel.  My dad, for example, was extremely anemic and his skin was a gray color when he was diagnosed.  The crazy thing is that some people can feel perfectly fine while eating gluten and still not know that they actually have Celiac Disease until these other health issues start to clue the doctors into the fact that something is wrong.

So how do you cure Celiac Disease?  Well, the easiest answer to that is a life long diet without gluten. As a person with Celiac Disease stops eating gluten, gradually their small intestines begin to heal and the "fingers" grow back.  It is amazing how many comments my dad and I started to receive about our outward appearances after we went on a gluten free diet.  People told us both how our skin was glowing and looked healthier.  I have also noticed over the last year that my teeth are much better.  This week for the first time in years, I was told that my teeth and gum looked great and I had no cavities at my 6 month dentist check-up.  (This was a big accomplishment because I always have to come back for a filling.  One time, in high school, the dentist told me I had 9 cavities!). Celiac Disease can do a lot of damage to your body before you even realize that you have it...

Some interesting facts from the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness:

• Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.
• An estimated 1 in 133 Americans, or about 1% of the population, has celiac disease.
• Celiac disease can affect men and women across all ages and races.
• It is estimated that 83% of Americans who have celiac disease are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.
• 6-10 years is the average time a person waits to be correctly diagnosed. (Source: Daniel Leffler, MD, MS, The Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center)
• 5-22% of celiac patients have an immediate family member (1st degree relative) who also has celiac.
• Celiac disease can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases.
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• Over a four-year period, people with undiagnosed celiac disease cost an average of $3,964 more than healthy individuals.  (Source: Long et al, 2010)
• There are NO pharmaceutical cures for celiac disease.
• A 100% gluten-free diet is the only existing treatment for celiac today.
• A positive attitude, 100% of the time, helps celiacs create a gluten-free lifestyle for themselves and their affected family members.
• The celiac disease diagnosis rate may reach 50-60% by 2019, thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of celiac disease. (Source: Datamonitor Group, 2009)
• Gluten-free sales reached more than $2.6 billion by the end of 2010 and are now expected to exceed more than $5 billion by 2015. (Source: Packaged Facts, 2011)