Ignorant Comments

[babysteps]

I've gotten similar. When hearing of my food allergies, people would say stuff like, "I would just die!" Or, "If I couldn't eat that, I would just KILL myself!" To which I love to reply, "Wow! Sucks to be you!"

And the thing is... I used to think that way too. But when I realized how much better I felt by stopping the eating of those allergens, there is no way I would go back.

I think a lot of people don't think about what they say before they say it - whether about diet, or a friend's intelligence, or almost anything. Not blaming, just describing.

So I don't take it too seriously when folks react with such horror - although I guess I do assume the speaker might be a touch narcicistic (okay, I can't spell that) - I do say "actually, I feel so much better without wheat/gluten that it's a good thing" or words to that effect.

[Breila]

I think a lot of people don't think about what they say before they say it - whether about diet, or a friend's intelligence, or almost anything. Not blaming, just describing.

So I don't take it too seriously when folks react with such horror - although I guess I do assume the speaker might be a touch narcicistic (okay, I can't spell that) - I do say "actually, I feel so much better without wheat/gluten that it's a good thing" or words to that effect.

I agree. My sister was diagnosed with cancer that she knew would most likely be terminal in 2003. Some time later we were at a gathering with friends and one lady made an awful complaint about getting old. My sister responded with, "It's better than the alternative". I've never seen someone shut her mouth so fast once it sunk in.

[darlindeb25]

Sorry Mom23boys

The kitchen staff may bring the stuff but the nurses tell them what to bring!

You're wrong about this--the kitchen staff brings the food, but the nurse does not order it. The nurse may write down what you say, on the chart, but it's the dieticians job to read that chart and see what you need to have. I know this is a fact, my sister is a dietcian! She/he goes to the patients and finds out what they need! It is never a nurse's job to order your food! Besides that, it's not the nurse's job to determine your diet, it's up to the doctor.

[Phyllis28]

Sorry Mom23boys

You're wrong about this--the kitchen staff brings the food, but the nurse does not order it. The nurse may write down what you say, on the chart, but it's the dieticians job to read that chart and see what you need to have. I know this is a fact, my sister is a dietcian! She/he goes to the patients and finds out what they need! It is never a nurse's job to order your food! Besides that, it's not the nurse's job to determine your diet, it's up to the doctor.

When I was in the hospital for one day in August there was a menu. All I had to do was call and order off the menu. I had most of my food with me but I did order whole fruit, milk, an empty bowl and a spoon. I liked this arrangement because I could decide what to eat and not someone else.

[Juliebove]

I do blame the nurses!!

Every time I have been in the hospital and told them that I am milk ALLERGIC (and I go into a long speech about it, not just a passing statement) they write on the chart lactose INTOLERANT. Then the kitchen staff brings all these modified milk products. Products with modified sugars will not help me when I have an issue with the protein.

The kitchen staff may bring the stuff but the nurses tell them what to bring!

Yep. The dietician I just saw kept recommending all these lactose free things that still have milk in them. I have a milk allergy.

[Juliebove]

Sorry Mom23boys

You're wrong about this--the kitchen staff brings the food, but the nurse does not order it. The nurse may write down what you say, on the chart, but it's the dieticians job to read that chart and see what you need to have. I know this is a fact, my sister is a dietcian! She/he goes to the patients and finds out what they need! It is never a nurse's job to order your food! Besides that, it's not the nurse's job to determine your diet, it's up to the doctor.

Might depend on the hospital. When I had my baby, I requested vegetarian meals and I never got them. Breakfast was the only meal where they gave me a choice of things. Even though I never requested coffee, milk, juice and sugar, I got them every morning, along with the eggs and toast I also didn't request.

When my husband was recently in the hospital, his Dr. approved him to go from a liquid diet to regular, but somehow the word didn't get out. The nurse had to straighten it out.

[Mom23boys]

Sorry Mom23boys

You're wrong about this--the kitchen staff brings the food, but the nurse does not order it. The nurse may write down what you say, on the chart, but it's the dieticians job to read that chart and see what you need to have. I know this is a fact, my sister is a dietcian! She/he goes to the patients and finds out what they need! It is never a nurse's job to order your food! Besides that, it's not the nurse's job to determine your diet, it's up to the doctor.

I don't know where your sister works but that is not how it works in the hospitals I/the kids have been in. I never saw anyone that resembled a dietitian - even upon request. Everything went through the nurse. The only input the dr had was related to the reasons for being there. Even the dr directed me to the nurse when I brought up my allergy needs. Even when the kids were in the hospital and I had the ability to run around and talk to everyone, it was always the nurse who handled the diet.

[frec]

When my gfdf mother was ill she was in two hospitals. One was so bad that I had to supply her with food for an entire weekend before the dietician could get things figured out--and then they were usually wrong. The other did fairly well feeding her, but had practically nothing to feed me when I was basically living at the hospital. I didn't have time to pack my own meals. Everything there was so pre-made that you couldn't get food without the sauce/noodles/melted cheese or whatever on top. I had rice and peas for Christmas dinner. I lost five pounds in two weeks.

[parla]

I've generally had good luck with airlines except for the salad dressing. I started being wheat free only and ordered the gluten free meals to be sure that I wouldn't get noodles or bread. One time I got a packet of salad dressing with Starch listed as the fourth ingredient. At least it was separate and I could just put it aside but the dietitians at the airlines should have caught that.

My mom is pretty good with realizing what I can't eat, but it's funny cause she thinks out loud. She'll say, "What would you like for dinner? You can have chicken marsala with noodl...wait..bread....wait...rice!" Like I mentioned earlier, my mom always cooks from scratch. So she doesn't have a problem to make my chicken in a separate pan without the bread crumbs and use cornstarch to thicken the sauce instead but her mental inventory of side dishes cracks me up! It's like she has a separate list in her brain for me with a whole bunch of things crossed out.

[MDRB]

Sorry Mom23boys

You're wrong about this--the kitchen staff brings the food, but the nurse does not order it. The nurse may write down what you say, on the chart, but it's the dieticians job to read that chart and see what you need to have. I know this is a fact, my sister is a dietcian! She/he goes to the patients and finds out what they need! It is never a nurse's job to order your food! Besides that, it's not the nurse's job to determine your diet, it's up to the doctor.

At the hospital where I work we give the patients menu slips to choose from. It is the nurses job to inform the kitchen if they have someone with a food issue and also to stamp a large 'GLUTEN FREE' or 'DAIRY FREE' or 'DIABETIC' if the patient requires special foods.

[darlindeb25]

I just returned from my yearly vacation to Michigan, and finally, I think my mom understands. My sister and father also are gluten free. I, on the other hand also have many other intolerance's that they do not have to worry about. For a very long time, my mother seemed to refuse to understand that fact. She would say to me, "Soy is not a gluten, YOU CAN EAT SOY!" or, "Potatoes can't hurt you, you can eat them, stop acting like that!" This time, I took my own pan for chicken. I explained, once again to her that I react badly, even to spices. I explained that spices tend to cling to the little cracks in pans, and just that little amount makes me ill, so I brought my own pan along for my chicken. I finally said to her, "Mom, most people live to eat!" Finally she says, "And you eat to live!" By golly, I think she gots it!!!! Just as someone else just stated, I would hear my mom talking out loud about a meal, then say, but Deb can't have that, or maybe Deb could have this, and I would tell her to not worry about me, that I just wanted to be there with everyone, the food didn't matter to me. She understands gluten free cooking, yet because the others do not have other intolerance's, it's very difficult for her to understand my needs--I often say I wish I was a "normal" celiac! , my life would be so much easier!!!

For all you with problems with hospitals, I do feel bad. I know it doesn't work the way it "should" in so many hospitals. The hospital where my sister is the dietician, it is the way it "should" be! When I had surgery, the hospital I was in didn't work that way either, and I was very stressed. With my intolerance's, which I listed, a dietician should have ran to m y room to discuss my food with me, and no one ever did, not only that, but I was never send a menu to choose my own food, they sent me whatever they wanted. I was to only be there overnight, surgery on Wednesday morning, home on Thursday morning, but it didn't work out that way--no one told me anything, my doctor never came in to tell me why I wasn't going home, the nurses couldn't tell me why I wasn't leaving, that was for the doctor to tell me--I was so stressed. They had lost my glasses, so I could not read the ingredients on any of the foods that actually did have ingredients, so I refused to eat. I did have a few ricecakes with me and my peanut butter, so I did eat that when they were not looking! I totally understand bad hospital stays. When I went home on Friday, later that day, I broke out in hives, a terrible case, which lasted for days. We will never know if it was a reaction to something they used, or if it was from the stress they put me under. The hives bothered me more than the actual surgery, and I had a total hysterectomy. The reason I had not been sent home on time was because I was running a low grade fever, and no one bothered to tell me that either. Now, why was that a secret??? And why did my doctor never come to check on me???

[Asillem4]

I'm so brand new that my blood tests haven't even come back yet. I'm classic for DH and celiac disease by symptoms over the past 35 years (that I can remember).

I IM'd my mom right after the doctor (God bless him. He was the 7th I'd been to for the rash) said, "Classic Sprue. Let's get you a blood test to confirm."

Mom said, "I don't know where you could have gotten it."

"Mom, you get mystery rashes all the time," I said.

"Well yeah but..." she said.

"And Dad was a gas-bag," I added.

"But he was only really gassy when he drank beer," she said.

"Beer is made from fermented grains, Mom," I said.

No answer.

He also got terrible diarrhea on a regular basis. In fact, his whole family has digestive issues.

I did grow up reading labels because of my brother's food allergies. It was odd at the time (mid 70's) but we never bought without reading labels. We made lots of things from scratch. We also raised our own fruits, vegetables, and meat. We fished regularly in the ocean and fresh water lakes and streams.

I always knew about the birds & the bees, what my foods were made of, and where milk and eggs came from.

I feel blessed. Our society is truly full of ignorance and it's killing us.

Oh, my first experience with fast food (which I hate but we were desperate). Carl's Jr.

"Are your soft taco shells flour tortillas?"

"No they're all corn!" smiled the sweet girl at the register.

"Really? Corn?? That's unusual for a soft taco."

"All of our tortillas are corn," she assured me.

I got my two soft tacos. Two flour tortillas. I took them back. "Maybe I should try the hard shell tortillas. Are they corn?"

Yelled to the cook, "Are our fried taco shells corn?"

"Yeah."

I got two fried flour tortillas. The funnies part is, another cashier said, "Oh are you a celiac? That's really hard. It's so important to not eat any wheat."

She walked over to the table and said, "How are they?"

"They're flour."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she said.

"It's ok. I'll deal." *I'll also never eat at Carl's Jr again*

I was on my third day of trying to eat gluten free. I broke out in a rash on my left wrist within hours and by that night my right wrist was starting to burn. The next morning both wrists and my lower back were broken out. My face started to burn. Thankfully no rash on my face.

[darlindeb25]

Asillem4--I love your line--Do I look like a Celiac???? That is the one line 2 different doctors used on 2 of my sons. When they asked their doctors to be tested for celiac disease at my request, both of their doctors looked at them and said, "You don't need to be tested, you don't look celiac!!!" I just looked at my sons and said, "What, do your Aunt Judy and I have 2 heads or what???" One of those doctors even told one of my sons that he didn't look like a diabetic either! I told both boys to find new doctors. What kind of a doctor would say something so stupid???? You can't tell by looking at a person.

[Calicoe]

Your sons should have asked the question: "what does a bad doctor look like?"

For me, the mainstream medical profession has been the biggest obstacle to my health so far. Thank the universe I was able to figure it out on my own. But, when I return (to a doctor under health insurance), instead of making their jobs easier by asking for narrowing down specific tests on 4 related conditions (celiac disease, hypothyroidism, giardia parasite continuance, and endometreosis), I'll be dismissed and/or branded a hypochondriac and they'll probably try to prescribe something stupid for PMS like antidepressants.

Anyone want to wager a bet? Just for fun, I'm going to order up a couple of lab tests from EnteroLab first and not tell them the results right away. The experience will be fascinating.

[JNBunnie1]

Your sons should have asked the question: "what does a bad doctor look like?"

For me, the mainstream medical profession has been the biggest obstacle to my health so far. Thank the universe I was able to figure it out on my own. But, when I return (to a doctor under health insurance), instead of making their jobs easier by asking for narrowing down specific tests on 4 related conditions (celiac disease, hypothyroidism, giardia parasite continuance, and endometreosis), I'll be dismissed and/or branded a hypochondriac and they'll probably try to prescribe something stupid for PMS like antidepressants.

Anyone want to wager a bet? Just for fun, I'm going to order up a couple of lab tests from EnteroLab first and not tell them the results right away. The experience will be fascinating.

You're diabolical. I like it.

I'm in for ten bucks says the doctor's a beephead and tells you you're hormonal.

[Calicoe]

You're on. I bet you antidepressant is a code word for "hormonal". Although, I think it's just the modern way of telling women with bad periods that we're still crazy.

[huevo-no-bueno]

Here's a few:

"You can have sprouted bread, can't you?"

"Oh yeah, gluten intolerance. Do you eat chicken and fish?"

"You can use egg beaters instead."

I'll just pick the croutons off.

"I'll just pick the egg off."

(At a buffet where the choices were: meatballs, bread slices, and cheese plate)

"You can't just live on cheese!"

"You don't eat carbs, that's why you're so skinny."

[MDRB]

I called my local pharmacy yesterday to ask about some antibiotics.

i was put straight onto the pharmacist, I told him that I was gluten intolerant and needed to know if the antibiotics have any gluten in them. After about five minutes of him umm-ing and ahh-ing he said

'oh yes, I'm afraid they DO have gelatin in them'

'Ummmm that doesn't really help me, I need to know about GLUTEN' (I proceeded to spell it for him)

'Aren't they the same thing?' (This from a pharmacist!!!)

'No,they are not at all the same thing' (as calmly as possible)

He then went and got another pharmacist (with more experience?) who assured me that the antibiotics I had bought were gluten free.

*Sigh*

[linuxprincess]

"You don't eat carbs, that's why you're so skinny."

I get that one a lot too. Recently at my sisters wedding my mother, who hadn't seen me in a few years, walked up to me and grabbed my arm and kind of held it out and shook it a little while she said, "You're so skinny you need eat more baby!".

The funniest thing I've heard was from a waiter at Johnny Carino's at 5601 Brodie Ln in Austin, Tx ( Which I don't recommend for GFers ). We were escorted to our table and I asked for a gluten-free menu. He looked at me for a moment and said, "Gluten? ... That's lactose, right?" I politely replied it was not lactose, but gluten or wheat. Again, he looked at me and said, " Lactose?". I said no, I have a food allergy to wheat and wanted to know if there were any items available for me. He told me he would get the manager to help me along the buffet, but he never showed up. Not really surprised after the intelligence of the waiter that didn't help us.

I have been getting funny comments on food as I've been a vegetarian longer than a GFer. People ask, "What do you eat if you don't eat gluten or meat?" quite a bit now where it used to be, "No meat, what do you eat?". The list goes on. I'm glad that I get a laugh out of it though. The boyfriend who is also a vegetarian but not a GFer was told one time that he would die with out meat. Apparently, the man sounded quite frantic and the woman he was in chirped in and saved him, but it was funny and I still chuckle about this story.

[Jestgar]

The boyfriend who is also a vegetarian but not a GFer was told one time that he would die with out meat.

Well, he will, of course.

It just may take 60 or 70 years...

[debmidge]

Oh, and that first neighbor was the one that suggested "Wonder Bread" when I told her that my daughter could no longer eat wheat bread.

"Wonder" - as if it's another species of grain. Gluten free means you cannot eat these grains: wheat, oat, rye, barley and Wonder.

[huevo-no-bueno]

Asillem4--I love your line--Do I look like a Celiac???? That is the one line 2 different doctors used on 2 of my sons. When they asked their doctors to be tested for celiac disease at my request, both of their doctors looked at them and said, "You don't need to be tested, you don't look celiac!!!" I just looked at my sons and said, "What, do your Aunt Judy and I have 2 heads or what???" One of those doctors even told one of my sons that he didn't look like a diabetic either! I told both boys to find new doctors. What kind of a doctor would say something so stupid???? You can't tell by looking at a person.

The chair of the board of naturopathic doctors in the state where I used to live said "you don't look like a celiac" and insisted that diagnosis would be based on a colonoscopy of the large bowel.

Another practitioner insisted that I didn't need to eat gluten before the bloodwork because the TtG, etc. were a "genetic" test and would have high values in celiacs who had not been eating wheat lately.

???

[debmidge]

The chair of the board of naturopathic doctors in the state where I used to live said "you don't look like a celiac" and insisted that diagnosis would be based on a colonoscopy of the large bowel.

Another practitioner insisted that I didn't need to eat gluten before the bloodwork because the TtG, etc. were a "genetic" test and would have high values in celiacs who had not been eating wheat lately.

???

I think those doctors have been eating "Wonder" bread!

[huevo-no-bueno]

I think those doctors have been eating "Wonder" bread!

[Britt-ME]

I have enjoyed this topic a lot. It is true that the general population doesn't think about what they eat. My freinds still ask me sometimes why I spend all my time at the store reading lables. "Wouldn't be quicker to just by whats on sale?" I wonder about wether they think before they talk.

6 years ago I got into an agruemant with a women who was a rabid vegitarian and was convinced that EVERYONE should be a vegitarian.

ME: I would have a hard time being a vegitarian as I'm intolerant to gluten, dairy and soy.

Her: It's imposible to be intolerant or allergic to soy. It's the perfect food. No-one is allergic to soy.

Me: If I eat something with soy in it, I get sick.

Her: It's just in your head.

We agrued for a few more minutes, then I just had to walk away.

Some people you just can't talk to.