Hats Off to Orange Marmalade!

I love toast. I love it slathered with butter and raspberry jam. Raspberry jam is my favorite toast-topper. It's comfort food from my childhood. It's all-American! I love toast so much that I have even collected antique and vintage toasters.

What is breakfast without toast? It's a tool for sopping up extra egg-yoke or a delivery system for bits of bacon. The day is perfect when it starts with a slice of toasted delight.

Since my diagnosis of Celiac Disease 20 years ago, toast of any kind has been eradicated from my life.  Oh, the grieving! I even tossed the toaster, as there was no decent bread to be found. Gluten-free bread was crumbly or the texture and weight of a load of bricks.

Well, times have changed! Manufacturers have realized there is profit to be made by making a decent gluten-free product that has the texture and taste of our most staple of breakfast ingredients.  Hurray for the innovation of tasty bread that doesn't kill me!

In my home, some of us are gluten-free, some are not. We have a 4-slice toaster. Two of the slots are for toasting regular gut-busting bread, the other two slots are for my gluten-free bread. After toasting my bread in my designated slots, I butter my slice with the end of the butter that hasn't been used yet, the side without crumbs from other users.

It's all about NO CONTAMINATION!! 

Now for the jam, raspberry jam. I have my special jar. Alas, I find it's everyone else's special jar, too. There are crumbs of wheat bread, lurking in the jar, lying in wait to give me a hellish 5-day bout of diarrhea, gas,  bloating and pain.

I have learned that my family hates Orange Marmalade jam.

They don't go near it. It has bits of orange rind! I have learned to love it, because I don't have to hide the jam and it's mine, all mine. I can have my toast and eat it too!

Hat's off to Orange Marmalade! 

Why Won't Doctors Listen?

by Norman Rockwell

I recently took my 8 year old, Megan, to the Dr. because she had a very bad cough. The Doctor diagnosed Megan with bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics. Doctor and the Doll by Norman Rockwell

During the exam, the Dr. noticed Megan's DH (Dermatitis Herpetaformis) all over her legs, arms and the back of her neck.

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  Caring Doctor.: "Oh my, she seems to have broken out from the virus."


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  Me: "Oh no, that's just the DH from her Celiac Disease. She recently got into the wrong butter dish at home and ate wheat bread crumbs."


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  Caring Doctor.: (obviously, not listening) "I can give you a prescription for the excema. Perhaps I'll give you a topical antibiotic as it looks like this may get a staph infection."
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  Me: "Well now, see, she's been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and her rash has been diagnosed as DH."
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  Caring Doctor.: "Does your excema itch, Dear?" (talking to Megan)
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  Me: "Have you ever heard of DH? It's a rash specific to Celiac Disease." (I said politely)


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  Caring Doctor.: "Oh, I see this rash all the time. I have some stuff that will clear it right up." (she says as she writes illegibly on a pad)


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  Me: ~~~sigh~~~

The interesting thing about that visit is, I came away with 4 prescriptions and once I got to the pharmacy, only 2 of them were Gluten-Free. The pharmacist was able to check online for me.

Before the Shot by Norman Rockwell

In defense of this caring doctor, we live in a small rural town and she knows very little about Celiac Disease or it's complications. Three years ago, I lived in a major city and the doctors there didn't know anything either!

The frustrating thing is that they won't be taught, especially by a mother of a sick kid. I am NO doctor, but I have had to deal with the effects of this disease ALL my life. My ten children and I were diagnosed 15 years ago and I have done a tremendous amount of study; of the disease itself and the complications, not to mention the diet. I am NOT an expert in any other medical condition EXCEPT THIS!

You can see that I wish I could have said all this to her. When will the medical community take this disease seriously? When will they work to find a cure, relief from the symptoms and lobby for food that is correctly labeled?

School Lunches

I have 5 grown kids who deal with their diet and disease on their own. My two married daughters are amazingly resourceful. My son is in pre-med and I know he struggles with a horrendous school/work schedule and trying to find food-on-the-run that is gluten free.
This is my family.

My fourth child, Nicole, is also in college and has even blogged about her frustration with finding anything within her reach, that is gluten-free. See her blog entry here.

All my children have determined that they would sometimes rather live with the symptoms than deal with the diet, especially socially. Sometimes, the Celiac has to just simply choose not to eat at parties, picnics or restaurants. That is difficult. The food looks and smells so good! The Celiac has to prepare ahead, by eating BEFORE the social gathering, so that hunger doesn't overtake the moment and they don't do a face-plant into the nearest German chocolate cake.

Thus the challenge. At home, we provide GF meals for everyone and it is relatively easy. It's the school lunches that are frustrating. Megan takes a lunch everyday, usually leftovers from the dinner the night before.

There are only so many choices for hauling lunches from home for her. The best option is to send her with leftovers from our supper the night before. The problem is that most of her food has to be reheated, once at school.

At first the elementary school told me that they couldn't provide a microwave for her lunches. I then, reluctantly, reminded them that the public school system was bound by law to provide for special needs. Not only is their food NOT gluten-free, but it's sometimes not really nutritious. The kids at school describe their school lunches, humorously, as "greasy sodium"!

After reminding the school of the law, it was stunning how a microwave was immediately scrounged up. Megan now takes a lunch from home, like last night's GF Lasagne, and then she can choose fresh fruit or vegetables from the school lunch menu. This is great because she feels more like her classmates. The school lunch lady charges her a preportionate cost for only the items she chooses.

The moral is that parents should press-on for the needs of their children. I have found that the schools really DO care but they don't understand the disease or diet and just need to be educated.