melikamaui

Back when we used to eat out a lot (pre-celiac diagnoses) people would stop and gawk at my two boys, happily munching on loads of vegetables and salad. I have heard the question "How do you get them to eat that?" about 100 times. My answer is "I don't give them any alternatives." It sounds overly simple, but it's true. I gave in too much when they were little. If they didn't like it the first time I labelled that a food they didn't like and then left it off their menu. But over time I have found it takes way more than just a few tries to get a child to attempt to eat a new food. I read somewhere that there's an average of 21 tries before they will finally begin to like something new. I have found that to be true with my kids. When we're trying a new food, they MUST taste it. If they really hate it they don't have to eat it, but I will keep offering it again and again and I've noticed that over time they begin to really like the foods they initially hated. I would say keep at it. Keep trying to get him to eat the veggies. Offer them over and over. Maybe he'll warm up to it and you'll have a more varied menu to offer him.

I had a similar situation happen awhile ago. I posted an article about celiac disease to my facebook page and a friend wrote back questioning why so many people seemed to have the "disease of the day" now. At first I took great offense to her comment, but after thinking about it I decided it's actually a legitimate question and went in search of the answer. Why are so many people being diagnosed now? Why, after nearly 40 years of suffering, did I finally get diagnosed? I came to the conclusion that it is simply because more doctors are aware of it. They used to think it was an extremely rare disease and would therefore not know to look for it. Thanks to the great strides celiac disease has made in Europe I believe that American doctors are finally recognizing that celiac disease is much more common than first thought. This is what I explained to my friend. She genuinely thanked me, and agreed that my theory makes sense.

Congratulations! It's inspiring to hear that you are doing so well now. Thanks for sharing!!!

Ok, I have to ask. What is the little measuring cup for? Do I want to know?

And YAY for you!!! I have taken a few trips to Europe, but haven't ventured to Asia just yet. I'm working up to it. I'm freaked to go anywhere where I REALLY don't speak the language. Before we went to Italy last year I made sure I had the phrase "My sons and I have celiac disease. Do you have any gluten free foods?" down pat.

Big smile on my face as I read your post. I know that feeling very well! Welcome to "normal" aint' it great?!

The "biopsy as a gold standard" is just that. How the doctors make their gold. Even if all the other symptoms line up perfectly down a checklist, you have the genes, and a family history, unscrupulous GIs will hold off until you shell out for the endoscopy. Something many of us just aren't capable of or willing to do when we otherwise know what the issue is!

I love the way you phrased that! "How the doctors make their gold." I was shocked when a pediatric gastroenterologist wouldn't diagnosis my son after positive blood tests and a positive genetic test. He said the diet was "too hard" to do for the rest of his life and he would "only diagnosis with a positive endoscopy even though he was totally positive that my son had celiac disease." When I didn't show up for our next appointment he called to ask why and I told him that I found a doctor who didn't feel it was medically necessary to do an additional (and invasive) test when we already knew my son was celiac!

I agree with Wjp. Why not make your own super yummy gluten-free dinner and bring it? There are some fantastic recipes online. I made my first ever gluten-free thanksgiving last year and it was a huge success! My family agreed that some of the dishes were actually better than their gluten filled counterparts! Make everyone jealous with your mouth watering gluten-free meal.

I'm sorry for what you and your family are going through. It sounds like a nightmare and I hope your brother gets some relief ASAP. You sound like you really have a handle on taking care of your brother and keeping him as gluten-free as possible. I just wanted to add that you may want to make the entire household gluten-free right away. There are numerous threads here about how to go about it. That way you can be sure that he isn't getting cross contaminated.

We are a homeschool family and love every second of it! In fact, we just got back from a rather spur-of-the-moment camping trip in the middle of the week. (One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the free schedule. You can go whenever and wherever your education may take you!) My kids are very into astronomy, but we live in the city where it is hard to see the stars. An impromptu camping trip in the mountains allowed them to view the stars (we brought along our telescope too) unfettered by the city's light pollution. Then we hiked the nature trails, toured an Arboretum, and generally just had a great time!

There are countless advantages to homeschooling. You won't even realize them all until/unless you are doing it yourself. We began seven years ago and haven't looked back since. By the way, my husband wasn't on board with it at first either. I asked him to give me a year to try it out and he was sold just a few months into it! He is now one of homeschooling's biggest supporters.

Think of it this way. If you were the only one buying it, the stores would stop selling it. The more people that buy and eat gluten-free products all the better for us.

I would bring my own food, dishes and utensils. That way you can enjoy the day and still eat yummy stuff without getting sick.

Love this post!

Being celiac has given me a great many things. Good health first of all. After being sick for so many years, realizing that a diet change can make me feel good again is amazing. I also am very thankful for the early diagnosis for both of my children. They will never have to suffer like I did. And on a vain note, I've lost 30 pounds! I went from a size 12 to a size 2. I finally feel like ME again. My entire family eats SO much healthier now. I consider celiac disease a blessing in disguise.

You're absolutely doing the right thing. You could save your children years of pain and suffering by testing them now.

I'm with all the others. He really does have to stay gluten-free. And since he has relatives in Italy, maybe they could send him some of the AMAZING gluten-free food they have there? We just got back from a trip to Italy and it was gluten-free heaven. Every place we ate was better than the next! It was awesome. What was depressing was coming back to the states and the icky gluten-free food we have here. If he has Italian connections use them!

I was another list maker. My husband has teased me about it for 20 years. Now I find I don't need them anymore. However, I will say that dairy and sugar also act like gluten for me. I get foggy and forgetful when I have any of my "toxic three" as I like to call them.

Does anyone know where the memory portion of the brain is?