Biopsy

[averyevansmom]

My son had his biopsy done today and although the results won't be in until next week, the doctor did mention some issues with the small intestine. There was inflammation and three white spots or patches. Has anyone had any mention of this? There were no other noticeable problems seen. I asked what those things could mean and she said it could be from allergy then I asked about celiac and she said yes, it could be that. My son was seen by an allergist last Friday and tested negative for everything tested for (dairy, soy, all nuts, wheat, fish, corn, citrus, and eggs) the usual stuff. We ran the RAST today for these and others as well per the allergist and the GI is running all the celiac tests again. Has anyone heard of this? My little guy is still sleeping off the anesthesia from this a.m. He was awake this afternoon and ate and now he's sound asleep. Poor guy. Just glad it's over. I'm planning to start the gluten-free diet as soon as I'm able to go food shopping and have my lists ready. Any sound advise? My kids are big on snacks. They love goldfish, pretzels, cheeze nips, they eat lots of pasta and bread. Whole foods here does not carry the Kinnikinnk(sp?) and the bread I tried is nasty. It's called Glutino and it's hard as a rock. I wouldn't feed it to my dogs. Yuck. My son loves his bread. How about a butter or spread without dairy or soy? So many questions, so little time.

Thanks.

Becky

[averyevansmom]

Anyone?

[bluelotus]

Enjoy life makes great bagels (even cinnamon raisin), cookies, and breakfast bars.....I don't have kids myself, so I am not sure how their little taste buds would react, but I think the products are tasty. They make bread too, but I haven't tried it. Enjoy life is free of all common allergens, even dairy and soy. Another brand to try is Ener-G, the bread is pretty bad, but they make good pretzels, though I am not sure if they are soy free. Both these brands have websites if your Whole Foods doesn't carry them (my Whole Foods does, but they don't carry the bagels ).

I also know that Cranraisins (not the trail mix) are gluten-free and so are Sunmaid raisins. I can't eat these b/c the extra fiber bothers me. I am not sure if your son is too young for these tiny foods, but maybe these will help.

Hmmm.....trying to think of more ideas. EnviroKids gluten-free cereal is good (by Nature's Path). Some (like Gorilla Munch and Panda Puffs) are likely large enough for your son to eat as finger food.

Nana's makes good gluten-free cookie bars. I like the banana kind. If you son likes banana bread, he should like those. They have a website too.

I am sure that others here can help you out with the more mainstream brands. I was having problems with some, so I try to avoid them and stick with the predominantly gluten-free brands. One mainstream product that I have had great luck with is Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter. Very yummy.....great kids snack with celery and raisins.

Hope these ideas help!

[katerinvon]

My son had his biopsy done today and although the results won't be in until next week, the doctor did mention some issues with the small intestine. There was inflammation and three white spots or patches. Has anyone had any mention of this? There were no other noticeable problems seen. I asked what those things could mean and she said it could be from allergy then I asked about celiac and she said yes, it could be that. My son was seen by an allergist last Friday and tested negative for everything tested for (dairy, soy, all nuts, wheat, fish, corn, citrus, and eggs) the usual stuff. We ran the RAST today for these and others as well per the allergist and the GI is running all the celiac tests again. Has anyone heard of this? My little guy is still sleeping off the anesthesia from this a.m. He was awake this afternoon and ate and now he's sound asleep. Poor guy. Just glad it's over. I'm planning to start the gluten-free diet as soon as I'm able to go food shopping and have my lists ready. Any sound advise? My kids are big on snacks. They love goldfish, pretzels, cheeze nips, they eat lots of pasta and bread. Whole foods here does not carry the Kinnikinnk(sp?) and the bread I tried is nasty. It's called Glutino and it's hard as a rock. I wouldn't feed it to my dogs. Yuck. My son loves his bread. How about a butter or spread without dairy or soy? So many questions, so little time.

Thanks.

Becky

I think pancakes are everyone's first effort at gluten free bread substitute. The can be made easily without gluten or dairy, and make great finger food sandwiches. Rice crispy treats can be gluten free. My daughter (age 2 today!) really likes rasins, papaya spears, crasins, rice crackers, rice based graham crackers, frozen peas, popcorn, bananas, chocolate, corn tortillas, french fries. All the peanut butters I have checked are gluten free, and jelly should be. There are rice noodles available. Cornstarch based sauses and gravies are OK. Plain meats, potatoes, rice, and vegies are already gluten free and can be prepared without making a lot of changes in routine. Watch out for processed prepackaged foods, many of them have gluten based fillers or sauses.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Karen S

[taweavmo3]

Regarding the inflammation, my daughter had that as well. So, I would definately say that could be a sign of celiac.

Now, in terms of the diet.......I have a few ideas for ya! If you don't have a big selection at your Whole Foods, you may have to do some buying online. I've been extremely lucky in that I have a great selection at stores around me, so we've been able to try lots of different things. The only brand of bread my kids will touch is Kinnikinnick. Another one you may try is Gluten Free Pantry white sandwich bread mix. I haven't tried this yet, but I have loved everything else from them so far.

For Pancakes, our favorite BY FAR has been Gluten Free Pantry Muffin and Scone mix (can't remember if it's dairy free or not, but I know you mix it with OJ instead of milk, and it's delicious). A close second is the Kinnikinnick pancake mix. We don't like Pamela's all that much, but I know others do. It just wasn't sweet enough for us. Can you tell I don't make anything from scratch??? Lol, there are just so many good mixes available, and I know they will turn out!

Snacks I would say are the biggest challenge for us too. My kids used to eat goldfish and all that stuff by the truckload, so it was an adjustment for them in the beginning. But, there is still plenty to choose from. For snacks, Emmie loves the whole line of Envirokidz foods....they make cereal, snack bars (kind of like rice crispie treats) and animal crackers. She also eats fruit w/peanut butter, rice cakes, marshmallows, Craisins (yummy), chips, Midel cookies, and carrots with ranch dip or hummus.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but I know others will have ideas for ya. I try to stick to mainstream products to cut down on cost, but when I splurge I usually stick with Kinnikinnick or Gluten Free Pantry, since those are two brands I can trust that their products will taste pretty good! Nothing sucks more than spending nearly $10 on something that no one will touch. Have fun shopping, and we're here if you need any help!

[Guest nini]

I would highly reccommend trying to order the Kinnickinick sandwich bread, as most of the others out there are just nasty. I keep the extra loaves in the freezer and the loaf I am using in the fridge... for sandwiches I nuke the slices for about 30 seconds or toast them... My daughter won't eat any other kind of gluten-free bread.

EnerG has good pretzels and crackers as well as Glutino Brand... Enjoy Life Foods has lots of snacks that are yummy, MiDel Gluten free cookies are also good kid snacks, Fruit snacks (check w/ mfr.) are a good option, fresh fruit, fresh veggies and a dip (like a yummy salad dressing he likes)... I gotta go get ready for work, I'll try to post more ideas later.

[debbiewil]

For snacks, you can use some regular ones that they might already be used to. Lays Stax chips are gluten free (not the regular Lays - some of the regular ones may be cross contaminated, and some of the regual flavored chips may contain gluten). Some of the corn chips and rice cakes are gluten free. My little neice loves to dip food. We get gluten-free ranch dressing, peanut butter, salsa, etc. and put it on a plate with some fresh veggies, fruit, and gluten-free chips and she's happy.

Debbie

[key]

My son loves crunchy cheetos(we use these in place of crackers). They are messy though. We also like Envirokids gluten-free vanilla animal cookies. We keep brown rice cooked and spaghetti noodles from Tinkyada. It helps to have stuff cooked on hand. I also like the personal pizza's made by Kinnikinnick. HE likes these alot. Also cheese sticks if he can have those.

My son also eats quite a bit of yogurt.

Good luck.

Monica

[averyevansmom]

bluelotus,katerinvon,taweavmo3,nini,debbiwil and key

Thanks so much for the information. My son is 3 and can eat pretty much anything at this point. He doesn't like much meat though. I expect most kids his age don't. I've been trying to find as much info as possible on the regular foods that I can for him. We are all going gluten free even before the results come in. I just want to see if there is any change in him. I assume it will take a little time to see the change. He's such a good little guy. He is such a spaz today, really goofy and giggly. Not the norm for him at all, he's usually quite mellow and laid back except when he's in pain or having some sort of reaction to something. I don't mean to repeat myself but has anyone heard of seeing the white patches in the small bowel as well as the inflammation? I'm wondering if they go hand in hand with celiac. I just received Dangerous Grains from the library and started to read it last night. I was exhausted so didn't get through much.

Again, thanks to everyone.

Going to Trader Joes tonight to see if they have a better selection than Whole Foods. The only problem is TJ's is about 45-50 min as opposed to WF's which is 15-20 min. Oh, well, when it comes to the kiddies, parents will go to the ends of the earth.

Becky

[chrissy]

becky, before we were even suspecting celiac in our kids, one of my twins had an endo with biopsies because she also has reflux. her intestines were fine (no damage, no inflamation) but her esophagus was covered with white patches. the ped gi told me it was either food allergies or a fungal infection. it turned out she had esophageal thrush.

christine