School Dinners?

[nikki-uk]

So I went in to my son's school today to speak to his class teacher about his diagnosis of celiac disease (on Fri)

I wanted to impress upon her how serious this diet is-how important it is he stays G.F.

I did lay it on a bit though - I think I scared her!!

I explained what celiac disease is ( immune response, flattened villi, malabsorption etc ) and told her the tiniest amount of gluten will harm him and cause damage to the bowel. I then went on to say my hubby nearly died of celiac disease ( which is true ) and if a coeliac is consistently 'glutened' it could lead to lymphoma.

This really got her attention - to which she said she didn't think it would be a good idea for my son to take a chance having a school dinner as although the school cook does try - mistakes might occur

She asked me what might happen if he accidently ingested gluten - I told her profuse diarrhoea that he couldn't control ( I don't know if he will react like that, but I thought I'd err on the side of caution!)

The teacher took lots of notes and seemed to take me seriously

She asked me to bring some biscuits in for him as sometimes the class has treats and to bring some flour in as they occasionally do some baking.

All in all the teacher made me feel comfortable they are doing all they can to help him.

When I later asked my son what he had for lunch he said he had rice and a burger (Oh no! )

Definitely packed lunch in the future!!

Although in the UK he is legally entitled to a G.F meal (due to disability discrimination laws) it's just not worth the risk (or the stress to me worrying about it!)

On a more positive note, I spoke to the lady that runs a club he goes to and she said it was a coincidence as she had had 3 parents ring her this week to tell her their child has got celiac disease!! but it wouldn't be a problem as her niece has celiac disease and she very knowledgable about the G.F diet!!

[AndreaB]

Good news about the club anyway.....

[CarlaB]

Chloe packs her lunch every day, too. I just try to buy her "fun" stuff to take so she doesn't regret not being able to buy her lunch.

Good news about the club!

[jerseyangel]

Nikki,

I would send his lunch in with him to be on the safe side. The school may want to provide a gluten-free meal, but the chance for CC would be high, I'm sure. As Alan eliminates the gluten and become more sensitive to it, it could very well cause the urgent D--how awful that would be to happen to him at school. And like you said, it will be so much less stressful for you.

That is good news about his club--another place (other than home with Dad) where he'll be in some like-company