It's easier than I thought

Well, so far anyway. Yesterday my kids' school had an arts festival/carnival. We planned to eat lunch there and at worse, I thought I would have a hamburger sans the bun. I was delightfully surprised by being able to purchase fried rice at one location and grilled veggies at another. I mixed them and it was a damn good lunch. All for $2.50. I would have paid (and did donate) way more than that.

I'm currently reading Gluten-free, hassle free: A simple, sane, dietitian-approved program for eating your way back to health, by Marlisa Brown. In just the first few chapters, I've been thoroughly impressed by her positive outlook, concentrating on what one can HAVE, rather than not have. She has a comprehensive symptom list, and suggests that if you check off 4 or more items, you should be tested for Celiac Disease. I ticked off 15!!!

The American Journal of Gastroenterology 106, 1318-1324 (July 2011) 

Celiac Disease sounds difficult to diagnose, so I don't plan to go to the trouble of testing. If it's affordable though I might have a tetramer test done to see if I have the HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 gene. The solution is the same if I have Celiac or not: eat gluten-free.

Woke up thinking about my upcoming week and how I am going to stay gluten-free when I remembered that I had two meetings scheduled at my favorite coffee shop.  When I scheduled the meetings, I had eating the fabulous crepes they make, in mind. I almost cried when I thought about not ever having one of their crepes again. Then I recalled that they make the savory crepes with buckwheat!!!  I'm saved!  Buckwheat isn't actually a wheat at all. I will have to confirm they use buckwheat, but I'm no longer near tears.  :)

I decided to take a trip to our local Whole Foods to check out their gluten-free section and it was ... GONE!!! They've integrated all the product throughout the store. So, say, if you want gluten-free crackers, you look in the cracker section. This is great in some ways, but today, I just wanted to see what was available. Almost another moment of tear inducing drama.

I knew this wasn't going to be easy. I don't like change much. I really don't like having restrictions on food. However, my joint and muscle pain are already decreasing giving me a bit of courage that I can get through these first few weeks of adjustment.

If you see me out and about and I look teary eyed, just give me a hug and remind me that it'll be okay.