My name is Karen Aldridge, I am 39 years old. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1981 when I was 11 years old. Back then celiac disease was considered an obscure disease, and was a last ditch effort to find out what was wrong with me. At the time, I was 4'11" and only weighed 45 pounds! Living with and learning about celiac was terribly difficult back then. I have spent my whole life educating people about, expanding my knowledge about, and promoting screening for celiac disease. I was the Colorado Facilitator for the Celiac Disease Foundation for a year and helped several people navigate the sometimes confusing waters of living gluten free. I currently write children's stories and poetry. I am working on my first novel. I would love the opportunity to help out the celiac community by writing for Celiac.com.