Celiac Disease

Celiac-Sprue, also called Celiac Disease, is a rare wheat and gluten intolerance that can lead to stunted growth, being overly skinny or obese, and in some cases, death. In a person with Celiac, the small hairs that everyone has in their small intestine, called "villi" curl up and are unable to absorb the nutrients the body needs. Because of this intolerance, a person with Celiac cannot eat wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, and anything else that contains gluten. Gluten is the natural substance that all wheat-derived breads contain. A Celiac's diet is very limited, and it makes eating out particularly diffucult. My sister, at 11 years old, was only 4'2" and 50 pounds, where although i was only two years older than her, I was 5'2" and weighed twice what she did. She was constantly picked on, called skinny, shrimp, tiny, and little. Eventually, we took her to the doctors, where they did a biopsy, and on January 1st, 2005, she was diagnosed with Celiac.

It was hard to get used to at first; we had to clean out our fridge for anything that was harmful to her. In a big black bag went the flour, cookies, Doritos, bread, all the jams and butters that we had used, frozen waffles, frozen dinners, everything that was labeled as containing wheat. We had to bleach our fridge and freezer, clean out the cabinets, and replace all our plastic utensils and tupperware bowls. (Plastics hold the gluten in). Everything we cooked in had to be cleaned at least nine times to get rid of all the gluten or wheat that was left in them. When we went grocery shopping for the first time, it took us almost three hours. Every ingredient on every packaged food product had to be read and re-read. Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores became our best friends, labeling what was gluten-free, giving gluten-free store tours. The worst thing to do was test everything, and it was hard on my sister, who would have to eat like this for the rest of her life. The breads were awful, gritty-tasting and easy to break if they weren't handled carefully enough. Every bread we tried my sister seemed to hate, and the daily school lunches she had to pack contained just a plastic bag of sandwich meat, a cheesestick, a bag of Cheetos (a safe brand of chips for Celiacs) and a Capri Sun drink.

Every time she spent the night at a friend's house, she packed enough food to last her through the night and the next day. It eventually got easier, her friend's parents would buy special foods for her to eat when she came over, and when they came over they automatically knew not to expect a pizza from anywhere but a gluten-free store, and not to expect their favorite brands of snacks, but new, healthier (and still just as good) foods. Fresh fruit became one of the main parts of our diet, and we began taking vitamins so we didn't miss out on any of the nutrients we needed from breads. Now, three years later, we can have gluten-free foods in the house and some regular food for my mom and me. We learned how to contain everything and clean up after ourselves so my sister didn't get sick. Many of the restaurants we go to have gluten-free menus, and fast food restaurants are willing to accomodate burgers with no bun, and a side salad or baked potato instead of french fries fried in the same oils as chicken strips. We don't have to read ingredients as much as we used to, because we know what products are safe for her to eat. I found a passion for cooking gluten-free foods and inventing new recipes, and as a result, have decided my profession after high school will be a career in culinary arts, and opening a gluten-free restaurant.

Wow Lana.
I know someone with this too, and she started a gluten free cookie company.
it's a really hard disease to live with. *hugs*
i'm glad that it's gotten easier for you guys though. ^.^

Yeah, its hard. im not sure how my sisters gonna deal with it because shes not very talkative... she might just end up being one of those people who NEVER leaves their house.