New Way of Life... as a Celiac.

I have been writing... re-writing this post for a couple months.

On May 7th I was officially diagnosed by my doctor with Celiac Disease. Up to my diagnosis I had pretty much figured out what was making me sick... so in layman terms - I can't eat Gluten, but it goes so much deeper than that.

I had been doing really good but this post is finally getting put up after Eric and I went out to eat last night and I let my guard down, and didn't ask 100 questions. Low and behold... I spent the rest of the night on the couch with a belly ache, and woke this morning with a gluten hangover.

The scary part of it is that the waitress we had was really knowledgeable and seemed to be very careful about helping me pick out items. I literally leave my livelihood in someone elses hands every time I eat outside of my own home.

Going to grocery stores, restaurants, happy hours, and friends houses just got so much harder.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and malt. It's most obviously in breads and pasta, but it's also hidden in the sneakiest places, like, Soy Sauce, imitation crab, and (some) Brown Sugars amongst many other places.

I have to read labels on EVERYTHING. The bright side, is the FDA makes you disclose EVERYTHING you put in food, the downside is... restaurants and waiters/waitresses don't always know what's in their food or what their chef's use.  So when I order something and ask for "Gluten Free" the person serving me may or may not be educated regarding the food they're putting in front of me.

I complain every once in a while, but mostly I have adjusted to my new way of life.

My Gallbladder is coming out on the 28th, which gives me several OTHER challenges in the way of life and digestion. But it will not take Celiac away.

Celiac Disease is an auto immune disease, a problem in my body that cannot be corrected, but only maintained with a Gluten Free Diet. So here's to life... and eating lots of protein and veggies!