jmengert

Thank you all for your replies! That's a bummer about not being able to check unsealed foods; I usually bake a lot before I go somewhere, but it looks like I won't be able to do that. It's nice to hear that I can seemingly trust the gluten-free labels--you never know!

Natural Feast makes one, though I haven't tried it. Was that the company?

I'm sorry--that has to be very frustrating. Personally, I think positive blood results are a good enough indicator for celiac. I had hugely elevated blood results, and that was enough for my GI to diagnose me with celiac. The diet worked for awhile for me, but I've been having problems again, and only now (2 years later) did I have a biopsy (he suspects colitis or microscopic colitis). My point is, with positive blood results *and* positive dietary results, it looks like you have celiac disease. One sample is simply not enough to go on, and it's a shame that your doctor doesn't see that.

So, I would go on with the gluten-free diet, and I hope that you continue to get better!

I'm hoping that those of you who live in England or have traveled there can help me. I'm going to London and Cornwall at the end of December for 14 days. I'll be staying at my boyfriend's father's house, so I will have a kitchen. I am one of the celiacs who doesn't ever eat out; I am micro-sensitive and for me, it's just not worth it. So, I'm wondering two things: how good is the quality of gluten-free foods in England? I see that Tesco and Marks and Spencers has gluten-free items in their stores; are they good about not having cross-contamination issues? If these products are marked gluten-free, are they, indeed, gluten-free?

And, flying: can I bring food into the country, if I check it? I'm thinking canned tuna, english muffins, cookies, Larabars, Enjoy Life stuff, pots, pans, anything that will help me out. And, can I bring a meal onto the plane to eat on my way over, or is that stuff prohibited with all of the bans? I don't want to starve on a 7 hour flight! I've emailed the TSA, and they never wrote me back.

Thank you for any help anyone can provide! This is my first trip overseas since diagnosis 2 years ago, and I'm quite nervous!

I use Badger's lip balm. I find it health food stores, or at Whole Foods. I love it--it's very natural, and it doesn't have any color. I've also verified it to be gluten-free.

On the Delphi forum, several people have said that Hershey's miniatures are not gluten-free because they reuse the paste for all the types, and apparently it has barley in it. However, I have not spoken to anyone myself about this, but I wanted to pass on what I've heard. I avoid the miniatures, just in case.

Just reading that brought tears to my eyes; what a wonderful best friend you have, and what a great story!

Dr. Mark Ringold

Christiansburg, Virginia

Absolutely wonderful--probably the best doctor of any speciality that I've ever seen.

I'm currently dairy free, and in my pumpkin pie, I use rice milk instead of evaporated milk. However, I use less of it than the recipe calls for since rice milk is thinner. My pie sets up just fine, and it tastes yummy!

I don't have recipes for these two things, but I'm sure someone will chime in with some.

I would make a gluten-free pecan pie; the only thing that needs to be altered is the crust, and I make pie crusts using Pamela's shortbread cookies, crushed with melted butter. I serve it to my non-gluten-free family, and they love it (I make a chocolate pie with this crust). I think that this crust would work well with a pecan pie.

And stuffing can easily be made gluten-free; you can make cornbread stuffing, either by making homemade cornbread, or buying the prepackaged kind at Whole Foods. I am the only celiac in the family, so when I go home to my parents' house for Thanksgiving, I cook the entire meal gluten-free, and no one cares because it's so tasty! It sounds like your family is very understanding, so hopefully these two ideas will work. You could also try making stuffing with your regular recipe using Kinnikinnick bread, which is the best pre-made gluten-free bread I've found.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

That's very interesting--my vet friends also told me that cocker spaniels and labs bite more, statistically, than any other dogs.

Very interesting points!

I saw this topic and had to respond because we were in the same situation. My boyfriend and I adopted a dog 1.5 years ago and were told he was a boxer mix--no pit bull in him at all. As he's gotten older, everyone thinks he's a part pit bull, and we have several friends who are vets who think the same. However, I know our close friends who happen to be vets all say that pit bulls are not always aggressive dogs. They are just the ones you hear about most in the media. Our dog is the sweetest thing in the world, and we've had him for awhile now, and he wouldn't hurt a fly. Try to not let people scare you; there are A LOT of stereotypes out there about pit bulls, and not all of them are founded. If your dog is loved and taken care of, you should be fine.

Eko has never been one of my favorite characters, so his back story didn't do much for me, and I wasn't especially moved by his death. However, I liked the interaction between Jack and Juliet--I wonder what Jack is going to do? Will he kill Benry?

And it looks like next week from the previews that Sawyer and Kate hook up--ugh. I want Kate with Jack!

Anyway, I can't believe next week is the last episode. I hope it's more exciting than last night's was.

Thanks for the spoilers, Richard! I actually guessed that both of them would happen (I won't go into specifics here for those who don't want to be spoiled).

I've searched all over the 'net for who Kate chooses....and nothing. I guess I'll just have to wait for next week. I'm so impatient

I made it through just fine! It was not a big deal at all, which makes me very happy. I had it early this morning, and I came home and slept for a few hours. Now I'm just groggy with a sore throat, but I remember nothing after, "roll over, please." And then I woke up in recovery. And the whole thing only took 20 minutes, which is great.

Thanks again for everyone's supportive and kind words!

I actually use Hellman's canola oil mayo, which is really good stuff. That particular type is soy free, too, which is nice.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate these responses! I'm stupidly obsessing about this, so it's great to hear all of these positive stories. At least tomorrow at this time it will all be over!

Thank you all!

Thanks for the input! I'm also a big, big chicken, so tomorrow has me terrified. I guess it's because it's my first procedure of any kind (excepting various ultrasounds and x-rays over the years). I just hate things that are invasive, and I hate the idea of being drugged. But, if it knocks me out and lets me forget what's going on, I'm all for it!

Thanks again!

After having elevated blood levels after nearly two years gluten-free, my GI is giving me a biopsy on Wednesday. My blood levels were so high when I was diagnosed that I didn't need to have a scope then.

So, I've never been in the hospital, never had any kind of anesthesia, nothing...and I'm TERRIFIED of Wednesday. I get nauseous very easily, and everyone in my family gets sick from anesthesia. So, have any of you had problems with the sedative for the endoscopy? I'm being given Versed, which my doctor said is short acting, but you never know.

Also, were any of you awake during it, or does it pretty much knock you out? I don't want any knowledge of a tube going down my throat. This particular doctor doesn't numb the throat, either, so I'm even more worried....

Any encouragement or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone for your continued replies. My doctor has scheduled a biopsy on Nov. 1, as I never had a biopsy when I was diagnosed because my blood levels were extremely high. When I saw him (my GI specialist) with my blood results, he said only one was positive, and it was weak, at that. He said this may be as good as my results ever get, but he wants to rule out other GI issues, such as microscopic colitis. So, I'm going in for the endoscopy Wednesday, and then we'll schedule an colonoscopy after that.

I eliminated paper products and my boyfriend went gluten-free in the house, and I feel marginally better. I also cut out dairy several months ago, to see if that would help, too, but it didn't make a huge difference.

Thanks again for all of your replies! It's just nice to know that I'm not alone

I agree with what everyone has said so far. I never eat out because I'm extremely sensitive and have been glutened in the past. However, I still go out with my family and "eat out." I bring my own food, and I've never once asked if it's okay, and no one has ever said anything to me. I would just not say anything, and eat your food, and hopefully it will be okay.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.

The nice thing about Thanksgiving is that it converts very easily to gluten-free. I'm not much on recipes (most of my food I cook just by memory or adding/creating what I want), so here's what I had last Thanksgiving (I made everything myself to make sure it was gluten-free, so we all had a gluten-free meal, and everyone thought it was great!):

Turkey--I bought either Butterball or Shady Brook Farms--I can't remember which.

Apple rice stuffing

Mashed potatoes

Macaroni and cheese (with Tinkyada noodles)

Green beans

Cranberry sauce

For dessert I made a blueberry cobbler.

This year, I'm dairy free, too, so I'll just take off mac and cheese from the list.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, just let me know!

Yeah, I think Juliet and Jack may be a couple in the future, which completely bums me out. I like Sawyer and all, but I really like Jack. *Sigh*.

I also just cannot see Evangeline Lilly and Dominic (forget his last name) together--I heard they recently got engaged, too. Very interesting.

More dirt...

**SPOILER***

Open Original Shared Link

Whoa...I won't reveal anything for those who don't want to know, but whoa! I can't believe it!

I love this show!

Now, if I could only figure out who Kate chooses...Sawyer or Jack. I'm a Jack fan, myself, so I think she should go for Jack.

Hi, Lynne--Very funny you should ask this, as I was just told this on Wednesday. My antibodies were also positive (just one over the limit, too), but the rest of my results were fine. My doctor said that since my results came down so drastically, it was fine. He also said that those results are probably as good as I will ever get. I'm having an endoscopy (my first one) in two weeks, so I'll know then if I'm actually getting damaged or not.

So, I guess it could be true. I found it a bit odd, too.