finally......

my results are in and I have gluten-sensitive enteropathy or celiac disease. I finally called my doctor's office this morning and asked if there was any results yet (from my March 22nd gastroscopy & biopsy) which I had been told I would get in 10-14 days and it has been exactly 4 weeks from today! I now plan to call my gastrointestinal specialist and find out what my next step should be. I think that I will probably have to see a nutritionist or something to help me figure out what I can and can't eat and how to still get everything I need. I was advised to also go see a naturopath.

After all this time without any results I had really begun to hope that the results were negative and that I didn't have celiac disease. This would have meant that I would have had to continue testing to find out what was wrong but... an answer where I didn't have to undergo a complete lifestyle and dietary change would have been much easier to swallow!

So I got home and started doing some more research online about celiac disease and living gluten free. There are MANY gluten free blogs and websites out there with recipes, help and info on living life gluten free. One site had a list of restaurants and their menus showing what was and wasn't gluten free. It was helpful - and a little sad.... the potato bites from Arby's are not gluten or wheat free which means no more for me : (
And for my next trip south of the border... I found out that the Outback Steakhouse has a good GF menu which includes a crab dip appie, meals and some desserts! So while I will have to make many adjustments, apparently I will still be able to enjoy some of the things I have always loved! And the great news is that the tortilla chips that I LOVE are made with corn and are totally gluten free so I will still be able to enjoy eating nachos!! YEAH!!!

I was a bit emotional today after finding out my results and called Ronel when I got home tonight and told him - he was upset that I had to find out alone and that he wasn't here and then I found out that he was back in the hospital yesterday morning and was just released this evening. He was back in because of his gallstone and the accompanying pain. So this just added to the emotional load I was carrying and added to the frustration I was feeling. Days like today aren't supposed to happen! (sorry, just had to rant a little - I really don't like knowing that Ronel is sick enough to be hospitalized and I'm not there!)