Glad to help! And glad to procrastinate on my own hw
-What were you thinking when you were diagnosed? I was relieved to find out why I had been sick, and amazed to find out that all these random problems (broken bones left and right, constant sinus infections, etc.) I had had since I was a little kid were all connected, and all so easily resolved. I mourned the loss of gluten a little, but my brother is on the diet (though he's older, and I never lived with him while he was on it) and my dad and cousins have severe food allergies, so I knew that life goes on with restrictions.
-How did you react when you heard?I was actually excited that a doctor was finally listening to me and I wasn't crazy. I really wasn't all that sad.
-How did you family react? What were some of their responses?Well, my dad is used to all of this due to SEVERE lactose intolerance (so much that CC bothers him, but it's not an allergy, it really is lactose) so he was just eager to be supportive and whip out the credit card at whole foods lol. My mom didn't think it was too big of a deal either, and the two of us collaborated to come up with easy dinners. She's gluten-free now too. My stepmother, however, was a different story. Having just married my father a few years ago, she doesn't know much about food allergies, and I think she finds cooking for me stressful. She doesn't understand all of the nuances of the diet yet either.
-What sort of tips or advice do offer for other teenagers who are just now being diagnosed?Life goes on. Eat to live, don't live to eat. There is a substitute for all of your favorites, I promise, and cheating just isn't worth it. Be open with your friends and let them try your food, and they will be less weirded out. My friends are SUPER supportive and that is the most helpful thing for me.
-What are some horror stories that you've experiences while being a Celiac?Being sick the day before thanksgiving was not fun- I was CC'd at a family brunch, and had to drive home 2 hours feeling awful. Oh, and having a sip of my friend's hot chocolate and then finding out it was the milky way flavor
and then having dress rehearsal for pride and prejudice and trying to squeeze my super bloated stomach into petticoats. But I've been pretty fortunate so far, I haven't had anythign that bad.
-How do you handle dating being a Celiac?Haven't had that experience yet, was only DXed in the fall
but I would imagine suggesting a safe restaurant (or somethign not food related at all), ie sushi or outback, and being open about it. I don't want to come across as too psychotic, but you do hafta be kinda anal about this stuff. If he can't deal with it, too bad, my health is more important.
-"Why me?"/"Why now?" stories.My friends, though great 99% of the time, occasionally joke about it and rub the goodness of their gluteny foods in my face. Or at parties when I have to skip the cake I feel that. AN once in a while I just get kinda down about it. But never anything so bad.
-How did you come to realize that having celiac disease was not the end of the world?When I talked to one of my really close friends who has it, and I realize dhow much better I felt gluten-free...and tried yummy substitutes.
-How did you tell your friends? How did they react?They asked after I had half a billion doctor's appts and blood draws, and I just explained it openly. They were a little weirded out at first, but they soon got over it. And some of my friends already knew about it because of my other friend. Either way, they are cool with it now, though I don't know how much they totally understand. But they are good about giving me ingredients to read if they give me food or anything like that (we had a gluten-free taco night at my friend's house last week...CC free, and delicious!)
-Tell me a time that you cheated, if you had, or a time where you wanted to.During Hell Week (the week before the show where we have rehearsal from 2PM until 8PM) for the Wiz, the smell of the chinese food and everyone's crackers and stuff was driving me nuts. This was when I was first diagnosed. When everyone was out of the dressing room, I "sampled". That was the last time I ever willingly ate gluten.
-Tell me a time where you friends have tried to get you to cheat.They haven't
As far as anything else, though celiac made me different, it made me less different than missing school all of the time because I was sick. With celiac, I seem perfectly normal, until you eat with me lol! And even then people often don't catch on. When I was sick, people thought I was a drama queen or a hypochondriac. Now I'm much healthier, and most of the other disorders I have associated with celiac (endometriosis, hypoglycemia, allergies, asthma etc.) are well controlled and don't pose much of a problem
