Convincing My Dad To Get Tested

[horsesjapan]

I talked to my mom last night and mentioned that she really ought to get my dad, who doesn't care for dr's much, tested for Celiac. His younger brother has it, and my siblings and I have been suffering GI/food issues for a long time. And after talking to him last night, I found out his grandmother and great-grandmother both had stomach cancer and also maybe intestinal cancer. That side of the family has a lot of Irish blood.

My dad has always blamed his reflux/GERD on different foods, and the "culprit" seemed to change every other month. Now he blames it on being too relaxed??? LOL

I think my mom can convince him to get a blood test (will send her the right info) because it sounded like she can just e-mail their doc with the symptoms/family history and maybe the doc will just order the lab work and my dad won't have to actually GO to the dr. Just don't know what'll happen if they want to scope him, mom says he is 3 years behind on when he should have had a colonoscopy done. I told her the endoscope goes in the other end lol, might make it not seem so bad.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? My dad has a skin condition (not sure if it is DH or not) but the dr told him it would go away w/Prozac, that he picks at it because it releases endorphins, I guess sort of like people who cut themselves or pull hair??? He doesn't like meds, so didn't take the Prozac. I'm not sure if he's ever been to a dermatologist to have his skin checked or not. And my parents mentioned my sister is having skin issues. I suggested my dad take up knitting to keep his hands busy when he is sitting in his lazy boy lol.

Boy this makes my family seem really a mess! My sister is also depressed/anxious, weighs next to nothing because she thinks so many different foods make her ill, what if it was just gluten?? I know her dh is concerned about her. Last time I saw her she looked almost anorexic. Some of her "staple" foods that she thinks she can eat are things like pizza and pasta. I don't know if she even has any sort of health insurance, but I thought if my dad was positive for celiac, that might make it easier for her to find a way to get tested.

[flourgirl]

It would be nice, in a way, if we could convince our family members without fuss or resistance, to do what is in their own best interest. You know what you've gone through, you see what they are going through, and it breaks your heart to see them suffer and continue to suffer. You know that the answer could be relatively simple.....BUT.....being human as they are....they can be stubborn, they can be in denial, they can drag their heels for whatever reason. All you can do is to present as much information as you can and hope that they will be receptive to what you have to say. That is the end of your responsibility (unless these are you minor children).

I have asked all of my immediate family to get tested. I have a large family and really thought most of them would. Some of them say....maybe later. Some don't reply to my request. Some say yes they will and then don't. You know how it is. I've mentioned it several times....and that's it. They don't HAVE to do what I think they should.

Hope this helps. I know it's probably not what you want to hear....but it's the truth as I know it to be. Good luck. Perhaps you could convince them to at least TRY the diet without testing. Ask them to give it 6 months just to see if there is any improvement. Maybe they'd be willing to do that, if they don't need to have the actual diagnosis.

[RiceGuy]

I'd think it would be easier for his wife to prepare gluten-free meals for him. The diet is the best test anyway, and since most doctors gets the diagnosis wrong (which apparently has already happened), it would be that much more difficult to convince him to try the diet or seek further testing, etc. But if the diet helps, that will be convincing, more so than anything else IMO. It's undeniable when you eat gluten on rare occasions, and each of those time is when you feel sick/worse than otherwise.

I also have relatives who I am certain are gluten intolerant at the very least, but they ain't listening either. Seems to me most of the members of this board would have relatives with problems from gluten, considering that gluten intolerance is genetic.