I had family over for our younger son's birthday recently. After people were done eating their cake, I was running around with the Clorox Everywhere and paper towels cleaning up any little spec that could represent a crumb. People were looking at me like I was CrAzY! Of course Andrew just sat their happy as punch eating his gluten free cheesecake unaware of my paranoid behavior.
It's such a pain to have to explain how dangerous 1 single little crumb can cause damage to your child's intestines. People find it unbelievable that one crumb can cause damage.
We were once at a restaurant where I told the waitress that I needed Andrew's food to be brought out separate from everyone else's. When the food arrived, it was sitting next to a cheeseburger. I was annoyed and asked her if the cheeseburger touched anything on his plate. She replied, "No". I had to then again go into the whole speech about how wheat crumbs CANNOT come in contact with his food. I'm hoping that I was able to inform her enough so she can be of help to the next celiac customer she might wait on.
I'm scared to let Andrew eat at other places besides ours and safe restaurants. What do you mothers of celiac kids do? Do you let them eat at grandma's house without taking food for them? Andrew has never had symptoms before his diagnosis, so I never know when he could be getting glutened.
AM I BEING PARANOID?
We bring our own food unless we are confident that the restaurant or host is "safe". If in doubt, we just don't eat it. But now Adele is in school and we're not there with her when she eats her lunch (she always brings her lunch and never eats at the cafeteria). She knows that she can't share her friend's lunch, but I'm sure hers must come into contact with crumbs sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOur pediatric endo told us that it is impossible to be 100% gluten-free and that her bloodwork indicates that she is doing fine, so we stopped obsessing about the "crumbs".
I guess what I'm saying is that we are very, very careful, but we also try to not let it become an obsession.
Hope this helps... and if you're even asking yourself these questions, you're already doing an awesome job.
Oh Nikki . . . I cannot imagine having to deal with celiac AND diabetes. I think you are one worn out Mama who needs a vacation!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo the CDE's also offer celiac nutrition counseling? Wouls calling the endo's office be helpful or a headache . . . . unfortunately it is often the latter.
PRaying for you!!!!
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. We've only been dong this for 2 months now, so I'm hoping that the bloodwork will come back showing lower antibodies.(fingers crossed)
Hi Amy,
After this week, I definitely need a spa vacation. I'm just getting over the HORRIBLE flu!
We did get one nutritional consult. The work really comes into the every day living of the diet. You have to become a detective with food labels which often results in calling companies to see if there are "hidden" glutens in their items. Things like natural seasonings can contain gluten. Restaurants are really hard because the choices become really restrictive. For example, steak might be the only option you can eat, but if they cook meats with gluten containing seasonings on the grill, it could cross contaminate. A lot of times they can cook Anrew's food on foil if there is a concern. It's just a royal pain in the butt sometimes!!! Thank you for the prayers!