There Is Hope!

[tictax707]

A while back someone posted about their *best* experiences or something to that effect. I tried to dig it up to add, but couldn't find it so I am just starting anew. Yesterday (4th of July) I had, hands down, the best, happiest, safest experiences I have had at a social gathering since my diagnosis 8 years ago. Granted I had the odds in my favor - the hosts were well aware of the seriousness of 1) my disease and 2) allergies in general as one has a shellfish allergy. Appetizers consisted of new bags of chips and salsa (read all ingredient labels), and this amazing avocado bean dip with black beans, tomatoes, avocados & bell peppers, all freshly prepared with clean utensils (I watched), hummus with veggies ONLY - not a pita in sight!, pulled pork cooked on a freshly cleaned and super scrubbed grill - no seasonings , no marinades. Dessert was fruit with my gluten free/dairy free chocolate chip cookies. Everything was extremely delicious. Everyone thought so. I could finally, FINALLY, FINALLY, eat FREELY. AND it was NOT a big deal - gluten came up in social conversation once, for exactly 25 seconds. (I had of course spoken with the hosts in depth beforehand, but because we have been friends for a while they kind of already know the deal already). Today, I feel FANTASTIC, except for the fact I am still pretty full.

I WAS NORMAL!!!!!

(I am almost crying with joy).

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you for posting. I am so happy for you. I hope someday the posts relating experiences like yours will outnumber the ones of clueless people trying to feed us poison. We can hope anyway.

[AlysounRI]

I work at a library where many research fellows come through.

When most of them leave they bring treats for the staff to thank them for their help.

Most of the time, I can't eat any of them as you might expect.

Last week or so, one of the long term fellows left and brought in a carvel ice cream cake, with me in mind, thinking that I would be able to eat it along with everyone else. Her heart was in the right place. Sadly, I could not eat it because it had those little crunchy things in it that were made with wheat. But I was quite touched and thanked her very much before she left.

I am so thrilled that you had such a great experience!!

I can imagine how it might want to make you cry!!!

I am very happy for you

~Allison

[i-geek]

These moments are amazing, aren't they?

My sister-in-law is getting married later this month, and my husband's aunt and uncle threw a wedding shower for her and her fiance last month. The uncle has DH and has been gluten-free since last fall. All of the food save one dessert was gluten-free. It was wonderful to eat whatever I wanted from the table and not get sick later or feel like a weirdo asking about every little thing.

[sandsurfgirl]

My family is so great about it. My dad forgot to save a piece of tri tip for me without marinade and the marinade had gluten. They defrosted chicken breast and found gluten free seasoning to put on it. I had to convince him to cook it on the clean part of the grill because he was so afraid of contaminating it! He was begging me just to cook it in the kitchen but there was a nice big spot on the grill that was clean and far from the meat so he relented and grilled it for me. The BBQ sauce was gluten free but he made sure to use a separate spoon to put it on the chicken in case it touched the glutenous tri tip.

[kitgordon]

My family is wonderful about it, also. I am the latest to develop symptoms and go gluten-free. My Mom, Grandmother, an aunt, two uncles and two cousins have all either been diagnosed with celiac or diagnosed themselves - so they kind of broke in all the gluten-eating family members for me, so our gatherings are usually pretty safe. I wonder if we hold some kind of record for most celiacs in one family.

[torimuse]

I think I've gotten lucky to have such wonderful experiences so early on. Hopefully it's a sign that times are changing and CC is on its merry way to becoming a thing of the past, even though that day probably won't be in any of our lifetimes...but we can hope.

I finally broke the news about being gluten free to my parents about three weeks ago, myself only knowing for 4 or 5. They're still learning, and, bless her heart, my mom takes forever to get the hang of anything new, and she's always done all the shopping for the family.

I went to visit them a couple days ago, and was very worried about eating when I didn't have the staples I do here at home directly available. However, lo and behold, on the table they keep cereal on was a box of Cinnamon Chex (which I KNOW they don't eat), with its big, emboldened letters spelling out the magical words of "Gluten Free". She also had a big box of white rice in the cupboard. Later that night, she even treated me to dinner at PF Changs, and got a gluten free appetizer (the amazingly yummy chicken lettuce wraps) for us to split.

In addition, I'm moving back out to Omaha, and I told my new roommate a week ago that we'd need to gluten-proof part of the kitchen for me. She responded by searching the internet for any information she could about living with a gluten-free person and is in the process of clearing half of every cupboard so that I can store my own stuff without fear of CC.

She's shown me exactly where she keeps her one teflon griddle, and where the wood cutting board hides, so that I can avoid them like the plague. Her all-purpose flour (which is only rarely used) is in a very sealed container and being regulated to the highest and furthest corner of the shelves. She even said that once I can afford rice flour (a gluten-free friend found a great flour substitute recipe), she's considering giving the wheat flour to her boyfriend to get it out of the house entirely, and she'll use the substitute for her own cooking.

She's also in the process of eating as much of her glutenous food as she can before I move in, and she'll probably end up on cutting back on glutens herself just so that I can avoid the risk having it in the kitchen brings.

I didn't expect the half of this out of her, or my parents, and the overwhelming support touches me very deeply.