Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Life Goes On

Despite my celiac diagnosis, my life has to go on. So far, since I have gone gluten-free, I've only eaten out one time. Luckily, this restaurant had a gluten-free menu, so I didn't have to worry much about what I was going to eat.

Even finding things to eat in my house is sometimes difficult. I've already had a couple of nights where I have walked in my house and thought, "What the heck am I going to eat for dinner?!" I've been thinking about things like meal planning and left overs for lunches and stocking my pantry with non-gluten-y things.

Tomorrow, however, I head out for drinks with friends. To a restaurant that I have never been to and no nutritional information listed on the website. So I did it. I made "the call."
I had heard, from some online chatter, that this place has gluten-free hamburger buns. But I had questions regarding their waffle fries, and how their burgers are prepared.

I did all the things I've been told to do. I called around 3:30, when it is less busy. I asked to speak to a manager, who was very nice. I introduced myself and explained that I had celiac disease and was planning on coming to the establishment and that I had some questions. He was quite friendly and very knowledgeable. They do, in fact, have gluten free buns for their burgers. The waffle fries are out because they have a breaded onion and some breaded veggies that they fry in the same fryer. Mr. Manager answered a few other questions I had and I felt confident when I got off the phone with him.

Hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly and I will have no trouble with finding something I can have on the menu. As much as I HATE being the person who "bothers," I know I don't have a choice anymore. The choices I DO have are to stay at home and never eat out, or to do what has to be done to eat out without endangering my health. As much as I hate it, I WILL NOT let this disease (either disease) stop me from living my life.

It is going to make my life different. I'm going to be unsure and uncertain for a while. I'll mess up. I'll make mistakes. I'll learn new things. So even when my anxiety is at 1000% over what to eat and what to do, I'll keep on. I don't have another option. I won't stop living.


Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Today My World Changes

In spite of the title, this post is not about the election. Those thoughts, I will not post on my blog. Today was the day I finally had my biopsy via upper endoscopy, to medically confirm a diagnosis of celiac disease. I found out around two months ago, after bloodwork, that I most likely had celiac disease. Since that time, I've been learning as much as I can about celiac and what life will be like for me now.

Today, the procedure was short and sweet. I was under anesthesia, so I felt nothing. I woke up quickly. I was home quickly, and other than instructions not to drive for 24 hours, I am back to my normal self.

The BEST part about today was the fact that I have an amazing medical team. My new GI doctor is just starting up the Celiac clinic at the hospital/medical center that I have almost all of my doctors at. Another great thing is that the hospital/medical center that I use is a research hospital. One of the best in the nation. Sadly, it is VERY rare that this hospital has studies that focus on T1 diabetes. However, before my procedure today my GI doctor ask me if I wanted to be part of a study for celiac. I didn't even let her finish her sentence. I said yes.

I had to let her explain it to me, of course, but it was exciting, nonetheless. Basically, they just did one additional thing when they went in for my procedure. They are trying to find a way to check for celiac and healing of the small intestine without having to do a biopsy every time. That sounds AMAZING! They basically want to see if they can tell about healing from the density (how close together) the cells are. I don't know if it will work, but if I can help them find out, I am glad I did my part.

With my doctor's permission, I am starting my gluten free diet today, however, I'm going slow. I am going to learn to eat gluten free and slowly work my way up to worrying about cross contamination. Healing will start soon. I'll learn how to avoid cross contamination (to the best of my ability). And life will go on.

I have new goals and a new outlook on life. And that is okay.