School holidays and other stuff
We're nearly halfway through the school holidays. We haven't really done a lot. Monday was a public holiday so we did venture out to Borders Bookstore and the Pancake Parlour.
While we were at Borders, I grabbed a Gluten Free cookbook as we are about to undergo some major life changes in our household. Mary has been suffering from a sore tummy for a long, long, long time. We initially went to the doctor last year sometime, maybe even the year before. Then it was put down to her being a little stressball, which she is. But it continued and started getting worse. So in April this year we started tests. First it was fingerpricks, then blood tests, then more bloodtests, then ultrasounds. Nothing, absolutely nothing. Then it was mentioned that perhaps it was psychological. Well that's a blow to my ego that I could be turning my 7 year old into a little fruitcake, lol.
All the while, I'm thinking that she was hungry, or not hungry, or constipated, or nervous etc etc. Then one day a catalogue arrived in the mail and mentions coeliac disease and lists the symptoms. Mary didn't have all of the symptoms, but a lot of them. So I call the doctor to see if she had been tested for it, and believe it or not - she hadn't?! So off we trek again, but this time he tries to tell us she is constipated so give her prunes every day *sigh*. I nearly begged, and he gave in and we got the tests done. Two weeks later, not sure why it took that long, but they called us. The receptionist calls us "the doctor wants to see you", "but why", "I'm not at liberty to say". Are you serious?! Anyway, yes her blood levels are hugely positive for coeliac disease, but we can't change her diet just yet, we now need to have a bowel biopsy done. More waiting lists....
It's very, very hard to make a sandwich or give your child a biscuit when you know that it is basically poisoning them :(
But good news is, we now have her diagnosed and it's treatable through diet and not medication. So once that biopsy is done, I have to learn to read food labels and change the way we cook.
While we were at Borders, I grabbed a Gluten Free cookbook as we are about to undergo some major life changes in our household. Mary has been suffering from a sore tummy for a long, long, long time. We initially went to the doctor last year sometime, maybe even the year before. Then it was put down to her being a little stressball, which she is. But it continued and started getting worse. So in April this year we started tests. First it was fingerpricks, then blood tests, then more bloodtests, then ultrasounds. Nothing, absolutely nothing. Then it was mentioned that perhaps it was psychological. Well that's a blow to my ego that I could be turning my 7 year old into a little fruitcake, lol.
All the while, I'm thinking that she was hungry, or not hungry, or constipated, or nervous etc etc. Then one day a catalogue arrived in the mail and mentions coeliac disease and lists the symptoms. Mary didn't have all of the symptoms, but a lot of them. So I call the doctor to see if she had been tested for it, and believe it or not - she hadn't?! So off we trek again, but this time he tries to tell us she is constipated so give her prunes every day *sigh*. I nearly begged, and he gave in and we got the tests done. Two weeks later, not sure why it took that long, but they called us. The receptionist calls us "the doctor wants to see you", "but why", "I'm not at liberty to say". Are you serious?! Anyway, yes her blood levels are hugely positive for coeliac disease, but we can't change her diet just yet, we now need to have a bowel biopsy done. More waiting lists....
It's very, very hard to make a sandwich or give your child a biscuit when you know that it is basically poisoning them :(
But good news is, we now have her diagnosed and it's treatable through diet and not medication. So once that biopsy is done, I have to learn to read food labels and change the way we cook.
posted by Philippa at 7:46 AM
4 Comments:
Man, how difficult gluten free is going to be! I am happy though that you finally have found out what is wrong. Totally treatable! I wouldnt know where to turn though since my two live on toast, crackers and muffins!!
Hope the transition is not too stressful and that mary feels better soon.
hope all goes well with the new diet - she'll be a new little girl when you get rid of the 'bad' foods. two of my girlfriends have kids with this 'problem' - have you ever heard of banana pancakes!! just banana, nothing else!
M
I'm so glad you finally found an answer - congrats on being a great advocate for Mary in this! My Dad had to go gluten free a few years ago, he misses good old-fashioned sandwiches, but the good news is there are so many gluten free breads, pastas, cake mixes etc. on the regular supermarket shelves now it's not too horrifying to alter your diet around gluten. The trick is taste testing and finding the products that Mary will actually enjoy - some of them are not at all palatable, others are wonderful. Good luck with the transition!
LOVE the ATCs that came in the mail today! Thanks heaps.
M
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