What I learned at a recent Celiac meeting

Sean was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in late January. Basically, that means his body does not process gluten (found in wheat, rye and barley). It is an autoimmune disease that does damage to the small intestines. This damage causes the body to not absorb minerals, vitamins and nutrients from food.

Ever since then, it has almost felt like we had been thrown into the deep end of the pool and never been taught how to swim or have a life jacket. Luckily, we have found some help with two different support groups. One is just for kids with Celiac and one is for anyone with Celiac. The one for the kids sponsored the camp Sean went to this summer.

This past weekend there was a meeting for anyone with Celiac. One of the people in this group owned the scuba shot where Sean learned how to scuba dive. It took us both a few minutes to realize where we knew each other from. Both groups have been the lifeline we have been looking for. Recently we got an email stating what new gluten free items a near by Wal-mart started to carry. Hopefully that means we will be able to pick up some items cheaper than we did before.

There was a meeting for Celiacs this past weekend. It was very interesting. The guest speaker is a gastroenterologist whotook questions from the crowd about Celiac disease. She said that 40% of the population have at least one of the two genes that cause Celiac. However, only 1% of the population ever develops the disease. As of right now they do not know what triggers the disease.

This got me thinking about Sean. Even when he was in daycare he did not like infant cereal. At that time many of them were made from barley and oatmeal. Oatmeal can often be contaminated with wheat. Maybe he didn't like the cereal because it hurt his stomach. There is no way that we will ever know.

Last school year he missed 5 days between the start of school and Christmas break. Not counting the days he missed for the surgery to determine if he had going to the doctor, he only missed 1 day. That is a huge difference. Even though he says he feels no different since he went gluten free, his absences in school show a different result.

We are also very grateful to our neighbor. She had just started her pediatric gastroenterology and she is the one to suggest having him tested Celiac. His only symptom was the back of his teeth were rotting away.

Megan has a job offer

Megan did really well on her job interview. She is going today as a trial run to see if she likes the job and would she be willing to do this. It would be working with younger children (5-6 years old). For the past 3 summers she has worked with this age group at camp. She feels very comfortable with them.

Megan was so excited that she had an interview and did well. It reminded me of the acceptance speech when she won the Oscar. They liked her, they really liked her.

It's the economy

Megan is determined to get a job. She has put in numerous applications all over town, but has not heard from anyone. It is hard to explain that people with bachelors and master degrees need to work at Target because they need to feed their families. The employment section in the newspaper has been very thin lately. Even in this economy she has managed to get an interview tomorrow. The local YMCA needs a climbing wall instructor. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope she gets it.

Five days of school completed, 175 more days to go

Both kids are getting used to waking up early. They haven't had to wake up this early since Memorial Day. Megan is appalled that she has Physics at 8:35 am. For the past 2 years she has had a P.E. class or another class that doesn't require much thought. As you can tell, she isn't a morning person.

Sean is now in the 8th grade. He had a pretty carefree summer and is getting used to being in a structured environment again. Most of his classes are close together, and he is very happy about that.

The first week has always been challenging. It takes us a while to get used to the new time table.

Megan's new 'do

Megan recently got her hair cut. She had enough to donate her cut hair to "Locks for Love." It looks great on her.

Hard to believe she is only 16. She probably had 10-12 inches cut off. It is a very different look for her.

She starts school on Monday and does not want any of her friends to know what her hair cut looks like. Too bad she published a post on Facebook that she cut her hair.

Megan the Daredevil

Megan has always been our very adventurous child. She started walking at 9 months and was running by 10 months. A few years ago she went to a ropes course. The people running it said that they had a few new elements and no one had tried them out yet. She was the first one to volunteer.

Recently, we were invited to go out on the lake for the day. Someone Chet works with has a power boat and 2 personal water craft (aka jet skis). It was getting close to dark and the jet skis are not allowed out after dark. Megan was asked if she wanted to drive one into the dock. She jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, she only has 2 speeds. She is either all out or stopped. Needless to say, she was all out. Everything was great, until she hit the wake doing about 40 mph's. She went one way, the jet ski went the other. Luckily, the key is tethered to the life jacket. When she fell off the jet ski just went in a circle. Unluckily, her head hit the water rather hard and now her sunglasses are at the bottom of the lake. I would like to say that she learned something, like to slow down. I am pretty sure she didn't and would do ita all over again if she had the chance. Now she has something to keep her sunglasses attached to her head.

There was this one time at Celiac camp...

Sean just got back from a week at sleep away camp for kids who are Celiacs. He had a great time. We were a little concerned when we dropped him off. He was about a head taller than most of the other campers. He was the oldest boy by about 2 years. He was even taller than one of his counselors.

He did like meeting kids just like him. One of the first things out of his mouth was how his new friend Mandy was just like him and the only Celiac in the family. He got to eat everything and not have to worry about reading the food labels. He went swimming, rock climbing, had a water gun fight.

He also got voted camp flirt. This was pretty surprising to me. He is the shy, quiet type. He told me he just has to talk during dinner and the boys in his cabin did not talk during meals. He hardly ever talks during our meals. Since the boys did not talk he went to the girls table and talked, laughed and ate with them.

The camp had at least twice as many girls as boy, if not three times the number of girls. The only kids who were close in age to him were girls. It still shocked me that they considered him a flirt.

We are happy that he met kids who are like him. Up until now, he never really met anyone who had Celiac or could not eat gluten. He was one of the few that had just been diagnosed with Celiac. Most of the other kids had been gluten free for years, not just six months.

Cruising

For the first time ever, we will be taking a cruise. We are headed to Mexico and then back home. Should be a nice vacation. Luckily, the cruise company says they can accommodate Sean and his Celiac. I am a little nervous. The cruise company called just yesterday to figure out exactly what "food allergy" Sean has.

Sean will also be attending a sleep away camp JUST FOR CELIACS. This is great. Now he can meet other kids, his own age, and find out that he is not alone. I am looking forward to it.

Megan is work at the Y as a camp counselor. One of her campers will be on the cruise with us. That should be interesting.

Megan is a licensed driver

Megan took her driver's test yesterday. She got an 83 on it. We are very proud of her. Now her old 92 Camry doesn't look so bad. She likes being able to drive herself anywhere. I think we will worry more now than when she was an infant. This is way scarier.

Things are happening so quick

Megan will be turning 16 in just 2 days. Where did the time go. It seems like only yesterday she was a little blond girl running around. She will be taking her driver's test on Friday. The day after Memorial Day she will be starting her job as a camp counselor. She is growing up so quick.

Sean's first birthday as a Celiac

It went a lot better than I thought it would. He spent the weekend camping with the scouts. He helped make 3 batches of gluten free brownies. They went over very well with the other boys. No one noticed they were gluten free! That made him feel really good.

How did this happen

We now have 2 teenagers in the house. Sean's birthday is today, Friday, April 24. He turns 13 today. It seems like just a few years ago he was barely walking. He has big plans for the weekend. He is going on a biking/camping trip for the whole weekend. We will celebrate his birthday on Sunday when he gets back.

Good News

Sean does not have Mono. We thought he might. Over the weekend he developed a high fever, had a lot of aches, a sore throat and his glands were swollen, plus hurt to the touch. All of this brought back memories of Megan's bought with Mono. Luckily, his test was negative.

Megan has a job for the summer. She will be a camp counselor again this summer. This will be her third year working at the YMCA. It has been a great experience for her. Hopefully, she will have a good summer this year.

Beautiful Spring Day

It is yet another beautiful spring day. Pollen is still pretty high, but it is too beautiful to not go outside.

It looks like Sean might have Mono. We need to take him to the doctor's tomorrow morning. He is running a high fever and has swollen glands. I am not sure why, but it appears both children are determined to get Mono before they get out of Middle School.