Devastated By Thankful

[gluten free overseas]

Thanks, everyone, who provides input on this forum. It has helped me enormously. I was going to get my children tested in the States, but I don't think it's necessary now. I took my two boys to the doctor for a check up and told them all about the gluten testing options for when we get to the States and that I'm concerned about both of them. One son is very constipated (not matter what I feed him--prunes etc) and the other one soils himself/can't make it to the toilet. **Just to say thank you to all of you because I saw a thread on this forum about how a mother saw this same symptom and it led to a celiac diagnosis for her child.

So they can't do the biopsy or the blood tests or any of that here but they did give my younger son an xray. Oh my gosh. His intestines are swollen and distorted--jammed with fecal matter. And his rectum is 5xs too large--which is way only liquidy stool is seeping out, and he can't help that he's soiling himself. So the doctor was like, "Hey, go with the elimination diet--this is a serious situation. You don't have time for the other tests." It was really devastating to see that x-ray, but hopefully, my children won't suffer like I have my whole life.

My husband was with my two sons and something smelled like someone had had a bowel movement, so he said, "Did someone poop?" The older one said, "No." The younger stretched his neck around to check his bottom--see, he can't even tell if he's soiled himself or not. That makes me pretty sad, but I know he'll get better.

So. I need your top notch advice. What do you pack in a lunch box? We can't get ready made gluten free bread, but I am willing to do a lot of baking from scratch. I'm already getting pretty handy at it.

What does a parent of a child with gluten intolerance need to tell a teacher?

What do you do about class parties, ice cream parties or whatever?

I saw the post about play dough. If my children wash their hands after playing play dough and they spray down the table surface, is that enough to be safe?

[srall]

Sounds like a good supportive doctor. I hope your sons see some relief soon. I believe they will.

Very recently there have been a couple of great posts about packed lunches and dinners for kids. I think even going back 3 or 4 pages and you will find it. My great investment was a thermos. So, for example today I'm sending a cream of broccoli soup. (I make it with coconut milk because we're dairy free). I'll also send minnestrone, spinach/basil pesto with rice noodes, gluten-free crackers with lunch meat, leftovers. We used to do sandwiches with Udi's bread but that got axed from our diet (corn) so I actually make a bread from coconut flour (5 ingredients) and make pb & J with that. But look up the past threads. Our diet is more limited than others here, and I always love getting ideas from other families. These posts were very helpful.

School and parties: I just send food, plain and simple. I would never trust somebody else to feed my daughter. It's been a year of constant research, label reading and cooking from scratch. I'm on the PTO so I usually know if there is going to be a party with food (they are getting more rare). Next Wednesday is her last day of school and the students are walking to the playground where they will be provided with a treat. I'm sure it's ice cream so I'll meet them there with sorbet. I'm fortunate in that I work from home so things like this have been easier for me.

My daughter is 8 and the only discussions I've had with her teachers is about her behavior. I don't *think* we've had a problem with art supplies, at least not that I've noticed. But if she's eaten something bad, or her vitamin regimen isn't exactly on, her behavior deteriorates very quickly. Just this past week we've done something different and I'm trying to figure out what it is. On Sunday she had massive tantrums (did I mention she's 8?) and she's lost a lot of recess this week. I suspect a different brand of vitamins. But...it's a constant challenge to keep things balanced.

Hope some of this helps, but mostly I hope your kids do well on a gluten free diet. Just FYI we had to do corn/dairy and soy too, plus lose a lot of the processed foods along the way. Good luck.

eta: I just read your post and saw that you're cooking from scratch. I think this will help.

[kareng]

Go to the top right corner & use the Google search. I just tried it with "lunchbox" and got some of the old posts.

Some people will eat things cold - like left over pizza or stir-fry. Sounds like you don't live in the US, Canada or UK so you might not have the exact products people talk about. One of my kids has a friend that brings sushi a couple of times a week in a little cooler type lunch box. One of mine eats a PB & jelly & chocolate milk every day. (He's 18 and 6ft 1 in 175 pounds so it worked for him.

My other liked a snack type lunch - nuts, fruit or carrot sticks, little candy bar, maybe crackers or rice cakes, slices of cheese.

Neither like anything with a container they had to bring home. Plastic baggies are easy to get here so that worked.

[gluten free overseas]

Thank you! The thermos idea is awesome--my son LOVES soup. Both posts--great ideas, thank you. I will type in "lunchbox" right now.

When I told my son that he had to go gluten free too, he burst into tears and cried, "I don't want to have your disease!" That was a very sad sad moment, but a least they will have a happy, energetic childhood... not like mine....