Another Passenger On The Spousal Celiac Ride

[mndtrp]

Well, my fiancee just found out she has Celiac Disease. She was talking to her primary care physician about how she was feeling, describing how she was tired a lot, joint pain, getting sick more often than some other people. Her PCP ran some blood tests, which came back with higher levels of whatever the indicator. Her endoscopy showed the flattening, but the biopsy was inconclusive. She said goodbye to gluten.

I figured it would be easier for us to just get rid of everything with gluten in it from our house. Since we both do a lot of cooking, rarely eating out, we had several bags of stuff to remove. I had been seeing "gluten-free" popping up on products, but didn't really know why. Now, I do. Our neighbors were kind of surprised when I showed up with four of the cloth bags full of stuff we were giving away. They offered money, which we didn't take, but were kind enough to show up a couple of days later with a bunch of gluten free food. Quite nice.

Anyway, we removed everything except for the barbecue sauce and flour tortilla shells. She rarely eats the BBQ sauce, unless we make BBQ chicken, which we bought new sauce for when we do some grilling. I also eat a lot of turkey wraps when I get off of work at midnight, while she is asleep, and her tortilla shells are fairly expensive. If we make enchiladas, burritos, or quesadillas we'll use her tortillas. I also tend to make large pots of stew, spaghetti sauce, or taco meat, and then freeze them in ziplock bags. This makes it easy for us to grab a decent meal if we are in a hurry for work. Unfortunately, all of those things are made with my grandma's homemade tomato soup, which uses flour. We aren't going to toss those, I'll just put some red duct tape on them so she knows not to get into them. I'm going to get the recipe from my grandmother, and make our own tomato soup for the future.

We went to a few different stores, and some places are very organized with their products. Sprouts made it easy by having everything that is gluten free labeled with a green shelf marker. Their produce was cheaper, and in better shape, than most other places as well. I did buy some Sam's Club animal crackers, with wheat, because I like to have them with tea at work. She has her own crackers, so that won't be an issue. As far as crackers and whatnot, we didn't eat a whole lot of them anyway. We rarely had cookies, and the chips we like are already gluten free, so we are getting lucky there.

My family is ultra-supportive, and have been obtaining information and some staples for when we come visit. Her family, on the other hand, told her that they "didn't have time for this right now". They said they didn't have enough money to go out and by all new groceries. We kind of expected them to say that, so it didn't come as any surprise. I sent them, and my family, a rather long email telling them what the situation is, and how it won't be that difficult for them to cook something. Since we don't visit often, they won't even have to buy new groceries. We'll see what happens.

Now, I have a couple of questions:

1) Since she didn't have much in the way of symptoms, what do you think will be the reaction to any cross contamination in the future?

2) All this talk of separate utensils and everything; do dishwashers not do a sufficient job of cleaning?

3) I haven't given up beer. Will this send her into a reaction if I kiss her? (this is probably associated to the first question)

Good times. It doesn't bother me much, so we'll see what the future brings.

[Darn210]

mndtrp,

First of all, welcome to the forum . . . lots of great people here . . . lots of great information.

Second, I love your attitude.

Now, I have a couple of questions:

1) Since she didn't have much in the way of symptoms, what do you think will be the reaction to any cross contamination in the future?

2) All this talk of separate utensils and everything; do dishwashers not do a sufficient job of cleaning?

3) I haven't given up beer. Will this send her into a reaction if I kiss her? (this is probably associated to the first question)

Good times. It doesn't bother me much, so we'll see what the future brings.

Hard to tell what her reactions might be. Some people find that once they go gluten free, their reactions to cross contamination are much stronger and different than what they experienced before gluten free. There is just no way to really predict this. My daughter's reaction (acid reflux with regurgitation) is the same as her main symptom before going gluten free.

We have a mixed kitchen. The dishwasher does just fine for us. I will say that I have always been a very thorough pre-rinser though. The only thing we have separate is a toaster, a cutting board and a cookie sheet. We all eat the gluten free pasta so we don't need separate strainers. I also don't own any wooden utensils. Otherwise, I would have separate strainers and wooden utensils.

Thoroughly brush your teeth after eating/drinking gluten and you should be OK. If she's very sensitive, there are gluten free beers.

[OptimisticMom42]

Anyway, we removed everything except for the barbecue sauce and flour tortilla shells. She rarely eats the BBQ sauce, unless we make BBQ chicken, which we bought new sauce for when we do some grilling.

I agree with the answers Darn210 gave but want to add that CC from the grill has been a problem for alot of people. And my BF hasn't had a real kiss in ages because of beer.

[Ahorsesoul]

mndtrp,

You are another one of my heros for taking a stand with your celiac spouse! You'll need to decide if you like kissing your spouse or the (poisoned) beer better.

Just because someone does not show symptoms doesn't mean there isn't damage being done.

[mndtrp]

We'll be getting a new toaster shortly. I don't really eat toast, or bread for that matter, so that won't be an issue. During snowboarding season I usually have PB&H sandwiches, but I can probably just keep it in my boarding bag.

I'll only eat my BBQ sauce on things like corn dogs, which she doesn't eat anyway. Any grilling or BBQ sandwiches will be made with the new sauce.

We'll see how it goes with the beer. I usually have one when I get off of work, and she's already in bed. On my days off, I'll sometimes have a couple. She's not a huge fan of the smell of it, so she would probably prefer I brushed my teeth and cleaned up prior to kissing her anyway. As far as deciding which I like better, that may depend on the day.