Gluten Free...now there's Three!

We are up to three out of six kids that now eat gluten free.  A fact which I am not happy about.  A fact that has caused me many tears and a complete meltdown in the middle of a store.  But I am once again adjusting.  Now if I could move on to "accepting."

Mialee was actually diagnosed with Celiac Disease a couple of years ago by her "Pro Celiac" pediatrician.  However her symptoms were limited to eczema.  So I took her to a dermatologist who negated the diagnosis and we made the decision to not take her off gluten.  However in the past 6 months she has slowly increased in anxiety to the point where she was reduced to tears every day when she came home from school from the shear exhaustion of trying to hide all her worries.  She would crawl in the van in misery and we would come home where she would release every little detail of every little possible problem that could have, would have, or did happen during the day.  She would whisper worries in my ear every five minutes.  She would walk around almost in a constant panic and... something. had. to. change.  And after a little research, lo and behold, anxiety can be related to Celiac.  So instead of investing in a psychologist we decided to try the gluten-free route for a while.

Aiddie began to have tummy aches a couple of months ago.  She still eats, but her complaints soon turned into questions, "Mom, why do I always have a tummy ache?"  So we did a blood test--which came back inconclusive and looking suspiciously identical to Nikell's.  So we began negotiations with the pediatric GI to get a scope.  And I say negotiations because I didn't want to have to drive down to Murray 3 times to have him look at her test results and then order an Endoscopy and then actually do it.  We got it all scheduled and then she got sick.  Her cold, that had virtually disappeared, came back with a vengeance and began to turn into Pneumonia.  Her pediatrician launched into a full-scale celiac attack and left me feeling guilty and somewhat like I was in denial.  Which I am.  But if it's not celiac, if there is some small chance that she doesn't have to deal with this "disease" for the rest of her life, then I want it.  But I suppose he won because I took her off gluten.  She still has tummy aches though, so I am taking out milk next...  So poor Aiddie has felt horrible with her constant tummy aches, the beginnings of pneumonia,  and then she got pink eye...  Poor kid.

So here we are.  And I have found that Nikell was a lot easier to accommodate than Mialee because Mialee actually likes food.  So before when I made lasagna all I had to do was throw in a bag of gluten free pasta to make Nikell happy.  Mialee...not so much.  She wants lasagna.  And she wants lasagna that tastes like lasagna not snot.  Go figure.  So now I either cook gluten free or I make two dinners.  I make gluten free lunches and buy gluten free breakfast cereal.  Ugg.

It's okay though if they are happier and healthier...

And on that note, I will share a little story that occurred the other night.

I had prepared a bunch of pasta and then had to go feed a hungry baby and so left the food to be consumed while I was hibernating in the other room.  In the chaos our gluten free kids started eating NOT gluten-free pasta.  This will give Aiddie a tummy ache, but she usually has a tummy ache these days and Mialee really would never know the difference, but Nikell will get sick.  Painfully sick.  So I waited that night for the crying and moaning but it never came.  The next morning I told Jason how surprised I was that Nikell wasn't sick all night long.  A little later that day Mialee was asking Nikell about it and Nikell, very matter-of-factly, replied, "Oh, I didn't want to be sick all night and I didn't want to miss school today so I just said a prayer."  Simple as that.