Our new way of life

This summer EB was diagnosed with Celiac's disease. She had been having stomach aches for 2 years, really since after her surgery to remove the tumor on her head. The GI MD was treating her for reflux which never quite made too much sense to me, only because the area of stomach pain was right at her belly button. When you have reflux, you typically have pain in the chest area as it burns when food comes back up the esophagus. Anyways, she was on 3 different meds for reflux and this spring was still complaining of stomach aches. I made another GI appointment and told the MD we needed to find out what the problem was. I was tired of her being on 3 different meds and still complaining of stomach pain. We did a blood test that day and it came back positive for Celiacs. We then scheduled an endoscopy for Aug. 1 which confirmed that she had Celiacs. Since then I have been researching the internet for all I can find on Celiacs. What foods are safe and which are not. It has been a challenging thing to do. We are pasta and bread people!! She cannot have anything with wheat, barley, or rye and should stay away from oats as well. So....no waffles, pancakes, muffins, cookies, cakes, pasta, bread, pizza, etc.....much to my surprise, there still is a lot of foods she can eat without problems. She can have all fruits, vegetables, and meats. Nothing breaded. The most difficult thing I have found so far is eating out. It has really cut down on our eating out, that is for sure! We probably had fast food at least 2x a week and ate at a restaurant probably an average of 1x a week. We can still eat out, it just takes careful planning. I am so proud of EB through all this. She understands what she can and cannot have and why. It still, as a mother, breaks my heart that she can't have some of the really tasty things she likes. Like last night we were at some friends house and for dessert all there was were brownies, cake and cookies. All the other kids got to eat all the yummy stuff and she couldn't have any. It will give her a bad stomach ache if she had some. She asked if she could have a brownie and said she didn't care if she got a stomach ache that it was worth it. I just couldn't do it. As her mother, I have to do what is right for her. I told her no. That we have been working too hard on this new way of eating to go and ruin it. I told her we would stop and get her a frosty from Wendys on the way home, just for her. That made her ok with it. It makes me so happy that she has not been having stomach aches, and that her skin is so baby soft instead of rough and itchy. This new way of life is worth it if it means her health is better. I have decided that this house will be gluten free. We will all eat this way the best we can. I am learning that we can still eat the yummy stuff, it is just finding the right yummy things to eat. I have found a muffin mix that is really good. I have made it about 3 times now, each time changing some of the recipe to make it better. Chris had some for breakfast this morning and really enjoyed them. I have made homemade chocolate chip cookies from a toll house recipe just using a gluten free flour. They turned out pretty good too. I have yet to find a good bread recipe, so we eat lunchmeat with no bread, or on a corn tortilla. You have to become pretty creative with the food you can eat and you have to develop a taste for new things. When EB was diagnosed, Chris decided that he, too, wanted to go gluten free. If EB had to do it, he would do it too. CAB, also, only wants gluten free foods. In my research, I found that when you use flour in your kitchen, that the flour may linger in the air for hours. Also, that we needed separate toasters and utinsils for cooking. Already being gluten free is challenging enough in itself, let alone making sure that I am not cross contaminating any of her foods. So, gluten free will be our new way of life.