My daughter who is 3, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in July 2004. Huh? Yeah I said the same thing. Apparently, she was born with the inability to digest gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, oats, and barley. It is used as a filler for most products. Even most medications contain gluten. Her diet consists of fresh meat, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. However, after doing some research, it has become easier to find foods she can eat. Most of them are found in health food stores for outragious prices. A loaf of gluten-free bread is 6 bucks. Crackers range from 4 to 6 bucks for a quantity of 10 to 20 in a package and don't get me started on the flavor of this crap. Need I say more?
The diagnoses was not easy. My daughter was hospitalized 4 times before the doctors could figure it out. Her first hospital stay was 3 weeks after her birth. The first 2 years of her life were very tramatic. Celiac is hard to diagnose because the symptons are like IBS. Only 1 out of 133 people have Celiac.
The result of eating Gluten in her case is like having a bad stomach ache for a week. Cramping, bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea are some symptons. If a Gluten-Free diet is not followed, the gluten will deteriorate the intestines which opens a whole new book of problems. We won't go there now.
There is no cure for Celiac. She must maintain this "special diet" for the rest of her life. Now here's the really bad part. Until a cure is found, she will not be able to enjoy pizza, cake, cookies, msot candy and so on. Nothing with wheat can she digest. Gluten is even found in food coloring and artificial flavorings. When she gets old enough to drink, beer and malt liquors are out of the question.
I try to do as much research as possible to stay updated. If you are familiar with this disease and can provide more information please post it. For now, all I can do is accommodate my princess with the right foods and hope for a cure.
