The very first thing I recommend after getting this diagnosis is: Take A Deep Breath! Breathe! Repeat! Let it soak in a while, and read everything you get your eyes on. Don't take it all in all at once because it will overwhelm you and make you want to give up, but knowledge is power.
The second big step is to concentrate on what you CAN have instead of what you can't have. Try to make this the most positive change you can. Sometimes all it takes is just changing your perspective. If you have just been diagnosed, this sounds like a bunch of talk, but we did this exact thing and it has been a blessing to us.
Admittedly, I am not the one having to live gluten free, but I am gluten free by association...and I have found that I actually LIKE a lot of the food and we eat the same things for many meals! Once in a while I will fix myself something different, so I do not have a strictly gluten-free kitchen. The secret to that is keeping separate cupboards and counter spaces, and clean, clean, clean. I also do not have a dishwasher so all of my dishes are washed by hand - mine... I guess you could say I do have a dishwasher, it's just the two-legged variety.
The third thing I did was go out and buy a separate set of frying pans, invested in some Pyrex Visionware (I found a couple of complete sets at yardsales) and separate cooking utensils and storage bowls (also Pyrex glass ware). We decided to try and eliminate plastics from our kitchen and storage, then we try to eat as much organic and hormone/steroid/antibiotic free food as possible. We buy locally every time we can, and I may be able to share some leads on that as well.
Also, get the person going gluten free a new toothbrush and some Crest. And if one of you is gluten free and the other is not, make sure the one that is not gluten free brushes their teeth before they kiss the one that is! More than germs are passed in saliva...and on a more touchy subject...The allergist says they cannot say for sure if gluten is passed in other bodily fluids, so if you are gluten free and still having issues, you may need to invest in condoms. We don't have the kind of gluten reaction that affects the skin, scalp and tissue, just the stomach, but I know that a type of dermatological reaction to gluten does exist and then you have to change you soap, shampoo, dish detergent, laundry detergent and fabric softner...everything that touches the skin.
Last, but not least, accept your new condition, and decide to befriend it and make the best of it. If you fight it, it will take longer to heal, and you will have stress and all the problems that come with it to deal with on top of your original condition. The more stress you can eliminate, the better you will feel and the faster your stomach can heal. Also, accept that nothing and no one is perfect. You are going to make mistakes, and you are going to ingest some gluten, somewhere, no matter how careful you are. There are going to be setbacks, just try to learn from them and go on and do the best you can.
We will have to address family attitudes and dinners, reunions, etc later. This is an issue we are still dealing with. And sometimes we aren't doing very well with it, but we just do our best, and let God take care of the rest.
I am happy to report that after a year, my husband showed at least a 50% improvement in the cilia on the lining of his intestines! So that encourages us to keep on going and doing our best!
*NOTE: from now on I am going to try to always abbreviate "gluten-free" with the letters GF.
No comments:
Post a Comment