Gluten Free
27 Jan
Congratulations to Jeanine! She won the Yoplait Smoothie Giveaway!
David had his appointment with our family doctor, and the doctor recommended David go gluten free for 3-4 weeks instead of spending $300+ on the blood test, especially since our insurance won’t cover much of it. If David gets better, great. If not, then David will go dairy free for 3-4 weeks and see if that helps.
David is going gluten free until February 14. Our Valentine’s Day tradition is pizza and a movie at home. Restaurants and so many other places are crowded on Valentine’s Day. So, February 14 seemed like a good day to have some gluten.
I would really have preferred to just do the blood test and get it over with. However, David still hasn’t found another job, so it’s difficult to pay for a doctor’s appointment, let alone additional lab work.
And the doctor was pretty clear about his opinion that David should not do the blood work. He even mentioned that labeling David with Celiac Disease might hurt David when he’s applying for life insurance or if he ever has a break in coverage. Frankly, he’s already got enough labels. I don’t think one more is going to make much difference. And praise be to God, he took out a life insurance policy months before he was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. Long before he took any medication.
But I’m not a doctor.
Last night my mother said, “We can do this.” So then I started singing the Bob the Builder song, “Can we fix it? YES WE CAN!”
I’m pretty stressed. I really thought we were close to remission. Close to normal. It doesn’t sound like a big deal to go gluten free for 3-4 weeks, but it is. Most people don’t realize that David has been denied most of life’s pleasures for the past few years. He can’t go do fun stuff. It’s not like he can replace bread and pasta with bike riding or playing softball. Food is one of the few things he has left.
And, uh, I really like food, too. Is there gluten in Diet Coke? I can already tell you that I will not stay gluten free. Bad wife, I know. I promise I won’t eat cupcakes in front of David.
Maybe going gluten free will help his arthritis pain. Maybe he will be able to do fun things soon. That’s what we’re praying for.
Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement. They help me so much.
Love,
A Young Wife
Shauna James Ahern has a Wonderful blog called Gluten Free Girl, http://http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/ – she also has a great book by the same name. All of the recipes of hers I’ve tried are Delicious! Hope this helps make gluten free time go a bit easier for both of you. Most people with any kind of auto-immune disease will have a gluten allergy or intolerance. This doesn’t mean they have Celiac’s Disease per say, but cutting down on/out gluten should help your husband feel better because gluten can cause inflammation which causes pain so forth. I haven’t cut gluten out completely, but I have cut down on it (along with sodium & high fructose corn syrup) and believe me it does help. Shanua’s blog and book are worth the look-see!
You should talk to Angie Eisenzopf about gluten free recipes. I bet she’d be glad to share.
It’s not easy, but if he does have Celiac’s it will make him feel SO much better! There are lots of online resources that you can find to tell you what products have gluten in them and which don’t. I also second the recommendation for checking out Gluten Free Girl, it’s great.
Hey kiddo…I know it’s not easy….my MIL has it, and it’s tough to go out for dinner and stuff to celebrate birthdays and such…BUT…she feels SO much better.
And I can totally relate to David re: having one vice left: food! It’s like, everything else got taken away, and that’s one thing he could enjoy how he pleased! With me, it’s just all the weight gain from the medication, (and other issues)…but now that I’m on Symlin, that helps a LOT with the weight! (About 17 pounds down!)
And PRAISE GOD you got life insurance when you did! Doug got it about 4 or 5 years ago, because he’s in about perfect health (thank you Lord!), but there is not an insurance company on the planet that would cover me for less than like $175.00 a month. Doug’s is like $39.00. At 175, what’s the point???
Hope you both have a wonderful weekend!!
I’m not a true celiac but I am gluten free (for the most part) and I feel much better without gluten than with. My mum has similar health issues to your husband and diet helps keep things in check. It’s difficult, but not impossible.
I really like what I’ve seen of your blog – I think I will add you to my google reader so I am not just “stopping in from SITS.”