Pitfalls Of Self-diagnosis

[TestyTommy]

Those of you calling celiac a 'choice' are using a ridiculously broad definition of 'choice'. Sure, we all have a choice of what we put in our mouths. No one follows me around and tasers me if I eat gluten. And there are morons out there who would rather have their intestines destroyed than give up cookies.

If I eat gluten I get sick. That's not a choice.

[darlindeb25]

Choice, alternative, option, preference all suggest the power of choosing between things. Choice implies the opportunity to choose: a choice of evils. Alternative suggests that one has a choice between only two possibilities. It is often used with a negative to mean that there is no second possibility: to have no alternative. Option emphasizes free right or privilege of choosing: to exercise one's option. Definition from a dictionary!

Yes, choosing to be gluten-free is up to us, the lesser of 2 evils. Those of you calling celiac a 'choice' are using a ridiculously broad definition of 'choice'. Call it whatever you want Tom, I made the choice to go gluten free and I chose to live this lifestyle for the rest of my life. When you are faced with a disease, you must choose to live or give up, I choose to live my life to the fullest I am able.

I did not choose to be celiac, yet I do know in having this disease, the person I am has changed. I am much more understanding with people who hurt, I now know that pain doesn't have to be visible to others. I am always willing to help another with their problems, always ready to give the best advice I am able to give. I choose to live this lifestyle and not be angry that I have a disease. It is what it is and I choose to be thankful that I found out what was wrong with me.

[Jestgar]

Nicely put.

[TestyTommy]

I don't follow how calling celiac a disease rather than a choice is equated with giving up or being angry. I haven't knowingly consumed gluten since I found out that I'm a celiac. Obviously, having a disease like this is going to change anyone afflicted with it. But if I truly had a choice, I could eat pizza and drink beer. I can't.

Maybe what we're really talking about is acceptance vs. denial.

[Kaycee]

But if I truly had a choice, I could eat pizza and drink beer.

And you chose not to eat the pizza and drink the beer.

Cathy

[darlindeb25]

Thank you Cathy and Jestgar.

Yes Tom, you choose not to eat pizza and beer, no one is forcing you, it is a choice you make. I never said celiac is a choice, not a disease. I said, I have celiac disease and i choose to change my lifestyle to accomodate my needs. I am not twisting the meaning, you are. It is the difference between acceptance and denial. I have accepted the fact that I am celiac and will be for the rest of my life AND, I have made a lifestyle choice in living the best gluten-free life I can. Not eating pizza and beer is not the end of your world. You can still have pizza, my daughter loved my gluten-free pizza, and you can still have gluten-free beer. I can't. I can't have grains, any of them, I can't have any alcohol, it all makes me ill. I have had to give up so many of my favorites and it will always be my decision, my choice as to how healthy I can be--it's up to me to take care of me and make the best choices for me.

None of us want a disease, yet it is our choice as to how we handle the fact that we do have one or more. It's up to us to make that choice.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I don't know why you all can't just agree that there are different ways to look at things. Some of us feel that we have a choice; some of us feel that we have no choice. (And I feel both ways, though not usually simultaneously.)

Can those of you who feel like you have a choice please stop beating up those who do not or cannot see it that way? Just because it works for you doesn't mean it works for everyone. Please CHOOSE to accept that others may function and/or experience things differently from you.

[Jestgar]

Fiddle-Faddle,

Sorry you're feeling a little ganged up on right now, but I don't think it's meant that way. My point, and I think Deb's, is that you get what life gives you, but how you choose to react to it is up to you.

[darlindeb25]

Exactly Jestgar, exactly.

[Kaycee]

Fiddle Faddle

We do not have a choice with the disease, I agree.

I will never ever choose, let alone think to have a slice of bread again. I made that choice when I was diagnosed, as I said to myself "well I have had my last sandwich!" I think now that my choice has been made and I do not have to think about that anymore, it is a done deal. Maybe that is what it is, the choice has been made by me, so no more choices ever to be made on that particular subject.

But then I am still faced daily or weekly with choices of whether to have that potato crisp or the spread that may have been manufactured on the same machinery that might have processed gluten. But that is being pedantic, everybody has a choice of what they eat whether they are gluten free or not. It is just our choices are less. I would rather be faced with less choice, than too many as I would eat everything.

Cathy