How Do I Get My Mother Tested?

[jasonD2]

I'm convinced my mother has gluten problems but she refuses to get tested for Celiac and whenever i bring it up she yells at me and says "oh please enough already!" she has had IBS and diverticulosis for most of her life and during the past few years has had trouble loosing weight (she needs to drop 10-15 lbs), her teeth are very sensitive and always break (not sure if thats a symptom) and shes experiencing some hair loss (again, not sure if that's a result of gluten). all of her other blood tests have been ok and she goes for annual colonoscopies. her mother and grandmother both died from stomach cancer, but of course they also had poor diets and never went to Doctors.

Anyway, my mother has some Dr appointments coming up cause she wants to get things checked out and I really want her to at least get the celiac blood panel. Im at the point where I want to literally threaten to not to talk to her until she does this because nothing else will convince her. She has no idea how this is stressing me out and the fact that i cant even have a normal conversation with her about it is driving me nuts.

Any suggestions? I had another idea to actually email or call her gastroenterologist and explain all of my issues and how there might be a genetic correlation.

thanks

[ang1e0251]

I think if you are that concerned and she is that uncooperative, then you should speak to her dr. Call and ask to speak to the nurse the day before her appointment. Say when your mother is scheduled for her appointment and in a very short sentence or two sum up your fears about her. Say you would like to speak to her dr about her condition and just give him a heads up about some family history and symptoms she may not be telling him about. You'll either get a call back from the dr later or the nurse may give you an e-mail so you can correspond. The nurse will probably tell you they cannot disclose her private info to you. Just reassure her that you do not need any info, you simply want to inform the dr about your mother's symptoms that could lead him to diagnose. The dr cannot probably diagnose her because she is not revealing the extent of her family history and her personal symptoms. ( This may not be true but if they think it is, they will probably talk to you,) Stress that you only want her to get well and you don't need to know the details on their end.

If your mother thinks the celiac panel is all the dr's idea, she will probably go along. But be prepared that the gastro may not be open to celiac, some are really on board and others less so. Know that if the dr won't go along, then you will have to back off. That's hard to do with a loved one but you may be in that spot.

I wish you good luck and keep us informed. Maybe there are other alternatives.