On The Bright Side

I realized that I made Celiac disease sound like a horrible thing in my first post.  Give me some slack, it does suck a lot of the time.  I wanted to give you an idea of what I was going through BEFORE I was diagnosed.  Just so maybe, if anybody is having a similar experience, then they can go get checked out.  Keep in mind, that Celiac disease can manifest itself in SO many different ways (abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, rash, weight loss, vitamin deficiency, or no symptoms).

On the bright side (yes, there is a tiny bright side), now that I know the source of my symptoms, I can prevent them.  Some days I want to say screw it, bring on the pain and bring on the rolls (or bread, pastry, cake, pie, poptart, Mini Wheats, Oreos, fake crab meat, bread pudding, bagel bites, pizza rolls, Ritz Crackers, Hot Pockets, anything made with cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, blueberry skone from Starbucks, or much, much more).  Wait, I was talking about the bright side?  Oh yeah, so on Most days I am thankful for the knowledge of how to prevent my symptoms.  After all, I can still have plenty of yummy things.

Yummy Things I CAN Have:

• Any meat (just be careful with seasonings/sauces)
• Any vegetable
• Any fruit
• Rice
• Potatoes (this deserves its own category, because they are just about my favorite thing)
• Snickers
• Butterfingers
• A LOT of Blue Bell Ice Cream flavors (I will post the complete list one day)
• Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce (one of the main sauces I use)
• Heinz Ketchup (my husband would die if I couldn't have this)
• Peanut Butter
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I use this in a lot of meats)
• Among other things that my pregnant brain has forgotten at the moment

Michael and I also eat out a lot (does a medical student and a nurse practitioner student/nurse have time to cook (especially when all meals are pretty much made from scratch)? Not a lot of the time.  So, we eat out, too much.  Luckily, I have found a few places around us that offer gluten-free options.  I will dedicate a whole post on places to eat out later (hopefully).

Another positive thing is that my wonderful husband helps me A LOT!  All of the meals that we cook are completely gluten-free.  In fact, almost everything in our house is gluten-free (except some ranch and honey mustard we got by mistake, thinking they were gluten-free).  He refuses to buy bread or snacks or anything that I can't eat.  I promise, I did not ask (or force) him to do any of this!  Now, he still enjoys his gluten laden meals when I am not arround or when we are eating out.  But, he deserves major credit for giving me a gluten-free home!

The hardest part of Celiac, for me, is getting invited places or going to parties or people's houses (even my family) and not wanting to be rude.  I was always raised to eat whatever is served at another's house no matter how much I hate it, because that is the polite thing to do.  Thankfully, my friends and family have been so understanding and tried very hard to always provide food that I can eat.  I just hate feeling like I am making somebody go out of their way for me.  I guess this is just something I will need to get used to.