newly diagnosed--scared, confused--long post

[aklap]

Oh you weren't rude or disrespectful! Quite the opposite. I did find it interesting.

We do have the GFDBC camp as a sticky, see? http://forums.glutenfree.com/topic1718.html

The FDA is in the process of setting standards as what can be labeled GF in the US. You already have standards in the GWN [Great White North] - it's set at 20 parts per million. Yeah - parts per million. If you have 1 million blue marble and 20 red marbles, that's the max amount of gluten [20 red marbles] that can be in your food and still considered to be GF.

The US is expected to adopt the 20 ppms.

Keeping in mind - some people can even react to trace amounts like that. There's really no clear studies that show exactly how much gluten is safe for everyone. Everyone is different. Hence the need to shoot for 100% [even tho is almost impossible to remove trace, trace amounts].
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[canadave]

ah...it's in a sticky thread of stickies! gotcha.

You do yeoman's work here, Al....thanks so much for taking the time to respond to not just my enquiries, but everyone else's.

--Dave

[aklap]

Thanks! I try...

I best get something done around here before Peg goes on a rampage. That outside faucet has been calling my name. It needs to be fixed...

Peg's making some potato salad for tonight's GF fish fry!!
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[aklap]

[celiacmaine-iac]

[canadave]

Steph,

Oh, no worries, you didn't come off as Pollyanna at all Actually you and Al have done a lot to ease my mind...I'm still in denial, but slowly starting to come around to this. If anything, I feel sorriest for my wife, who now has to deal with me having this CD. She's been terrific, and she'll be with me thick or thin, but I'm sure it'll be tough.

For me, adjusting diet will be the easy part. I love oven-cooked french fries, potatoes, meat, chicken, and fish. I already got a hold of Kraft GF peanut butter and some frozen GF corn bread--I'm going to hold off on them until my EGD test. Not too keen on fruits and vegetables, but I guess I'm going to have to learn. Anyway, the diet adjustment will be fine I'm sure eventually. And I don't mind reading food labels carefully--I've done that most of my life anyway.

The harder part is going to be ensuring absolute GF protocols while living with someone who's not GF. I don't want to ask her to give up her foods just because I have CD, though I know she would if I asked her to. It's going to be tricky though, particularly because--unless I become much more sensitive to gluten once I go GF, in which case disregard this statement --I don't seem to have much adverse reaction to gluten, and thus won't really have much way of telling whether tiny amounts of gluten contamination is occurring. We also don't have a dishwasher, so washing dishes separately and so on...sigh. A lot of work to do just to keep GF and NGF separated.....

Anyway, enough whining for now....trying to find a positive place, trying to find a positive place..........

[aklap]

Heheheee

We live in a split house. I'm GF, Peg is mostly GF. If it's just you and your wife - and she has total buy-in on the CC stuff - it's do able. It just takes a bit of work and practice. After awhile it becomes second nature.

On thing to keep in mind - we've been doing this for a while [May is my 5 year anniversary of my gluten free-dom.]. Don't expect to know everything over night. If you do, your head will explode! You will make mistakes starting out. Accept that fact and don't stress about it. Like I said - learn from the mistakes and move on.

The base of our meals are always GF. Peg will add any NGF modifiers if she chooses. Pasta meals - I make mine, she makes her's. The sauce is GF. Lasagna - same thing.

We have red colored utensils for GF stuff so we know those are to be used only for GF stuff. I have my own pizza pan, loaf - muffin - cookie pans.

I would venture to guess that on the average - most celiacs live in a split house. At least the ones I know locally do. Those that inhabit the boards and support group may opt for the 100% house. If you have children - it may be easier to have the 100% - just because it might be a bit easier to control.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[canadave]

Thanks Al - it is just me and my wife (and no chance of little'uns). Quick question...when you say you have GF utensils, are we just talking table silverware, or are we talking drinking glasses, cups, pots, pans.....? And you store those away from the NGF utensils, right?

Also, without a dishwasher, I'm not sure how to go about washing dishes separately. Do we basically just have to wash dishes on a "meal by meal" basis, where I go first and then she washes hers? Otherwise, if we pile all the NGF and GF stuff in the sink, it'll all get CC'ed, right?

[aklap]

Hey - that sounds like our house. No rug-rats here...besides we're to old now to deal with crying and diapers I'm 45 and Peg...well...I'm younger...

We have GF rubber spatulas, wooden spoons, cutting boards - things that are porous. Those are items that you need to look at replacing

Teflon is considered porous. Gluten can get embedded in the coating. Yes, it sounds hard to believe - but some here had problems until they replaced their coated pans.

We have the same silverware, dishes, glasses, etc.

We have a dishwasher, we do rinse the plates a little bit before they go in. As long as you can thoroughly clean & rinse the items [stainless steel, glass, pyrex, corelle,etc] you should be fine. It's the porous stuff that's fussy. Certainly washing GF dishes 1st then NGF dishes would make sense.

To answer your question - yes the items would be CC'ed - but - they easily cleaned.

I have different pizza pans/bread pans/cake pans due to scratches and knife marks in the NGF pans. Again, another place for gluten to stuck in.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[canadave]

hehe...yep, no rugrats here....

Sorry, I was slightly confused about your post. You said you have rubber spatulas, wood spoons, cuttiing boards, things that are porous. Then you said the porous stuff is bad (?) not sure I get that. I need to get NON-porous spatulas, spoons, and cutting boards, right?

Also not sure about the CC/sink question (sorry, I'm a little dense....) Are you saying it's okay to mix GF and NGF pots and pans in the sink for a couple of days, because when we go to wash the dishes we can just wash the GF stuff first and it'll be okay? Or do we have to keep the NGF and GF pots/pans from touching at all, period?

An unrelated question that just occurred to me. I read somewhere that some shampoos and other non-ingestible items can contain gluten. As long as I don't have a reaction to a shampoo that contains gluten, and as long as I make sure not to swallow it, can I still use something like that? (pardon me if that sounds like a silly question....I'm in a bit of a surreal mental zone right now, trying to mentally organize the do's and don't in my head....I know you and others have said to relax and not worry about it, but for me, the more knowledge I have about a problem, the more I feel like I'm able to cope.....)

Thanks,
Dave

[aklap]

Sorry 'bout that. I have separate GF porous items because there's no way to really clean the NGF ones satisfactorily. They generally have the color RED some where on them - be it the handle or the business end itself.

I think you'll be fine with leaving NGF and GF dishes in the sink. As long as they are easily cleaned and cleaned thoroughly. Since most of our meals are naturally GF [short of pasta, or some bread that Peg will have on occassion], this is not something that I worry about. We will rinse our dishes when we put them in the sink since it maybe hours [days? ] before they get loaded into the washer. This prevents food from getting dried on [and having any stray gluten laying around].

Nope, not a silly question at all!! It shows that you're thinking. Yes, generally items like soap and shampoo are replaced too. Not because you're going to swallow it in the shower [although you technically could- gack!], but gluten can get on your hands. Some people can react just by touching it [mostly a skin reaction]. Some people do not switch out their bathroom products. Some Celiac experts will say not to worry about items that are not directly ingested. Some people do replace them, some people don't. It's a matter of personal choice. In the grand scheme of things - it's probably not top priority. Worry about the food choices 1st- then work your way down.

Certainly meds and supplements will have to checked too.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[canadave]

Awesome--thanks for clearing that up, Al, I get all that now.

Well, I think that's about all the questions I have for now. I'm slowly but surely starting to come to terms with all this. For the first time I see the light at the end of the tunnel I just entered two days ago.

Thanks again for all your help.....being able to ask questions here and have them answered so quickly has been like getting a lifeline tossed to me after falling overboard. I'm sure I'll have more questions as the days pass (maybe even later tonight....lol), but I've been spending all my time reading and learning from this forum, so hopefully I'll be fully prepared once my official dx comes in and I enter GF-dom

--Dave

[aklap]

Glad we could help...

Keep asking questions. If ya ain't askin'- ya ain't learnin'
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa