Check-In March 2007

[aklap]

Good GF Gravy, it's March!!! I should've known better, since yesterday was Peg's b-day.

I swear I'm living in a Time Accelerator. I said last night "Gosh, it's Friday again tomorrow". I'm not complaining...but Holy Cow!

Normally I have to think about stuff to put in here, since this snuck up on me, I can't think of anything to say. I'm sure something will come to me later. Actually, I think I'm still sleeping [I just got up].

How 'bout the rest of y'all?

For those of you just tuning in, Check-In is chance to introduce yourself, let everyone know how you're doing, what you're up to, to touch base...something, anything, just let us know you're still around

The Check-In Time Tunnel
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Al

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

[NorthernElf]

Busy, busy, busy...2 boys in hockey, a girl in Guides (and I'm a leader), plus babysitting, teaching classes...I always thought winter was supposed to be a quiet time !

Spring break is coming up !

GF is getting easier - I feel so darn good when I am strict - someone help me remember that. And you know what ? I've barely been sick this winter - one very mild cold that didn't affect my activities. I pretty much always have a really bad cold or two, one of which ends up in bronchitis. I think it's the GF thing - so many pluses to eliminating it.

Now if someone could just warm up the weather - it's -30 C here today with the wind chill and more snow in the forecast...um, it's March already.

[luvscowznh]

I didn't post it last month, but I got engaged on Valentine's Day and am now planning for an August 25th wedding date. Yes, that's August 25 2007!! I found a reception hall that will work with my food needs and make 2 GF meals (one for me and one for my fiance who will be eating GF that day...) Needless to say, I will be pretty busy for the next 6 months and may not post that much. I'll be reading as always though!

Al - I hope that you're feeling better after your scare and are taking good care of yourself.

--Manda
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[aklap]

1st off Congrats on the impending nuptials!!

[ostrich]

I'm glad you're doing better Al! I hope you can figure all out without having to go back to the doc. Sometimes they're not worth the paper their degree is printed on.

I think March will be the Month of No Husband. DH is trying to pick up some extra hours, but (of course) they're all hours that're opposite of my schedule. I wish I could change my schedule to match his, but it's just not possible in an office setting.

I'd like to start the house stuff up again this spring, but it'll depend on DH's job. We need another real income to afford the mortgage. (real income = something that gives you 32-40 hours/week)

Still hoping 2007 will *&#$ing get off my back.
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Ostrich :>--O==={

Time falls away, but these small hours
These little wonders still remain

[kb9oyo]

February was a particularly busy month for us. One of my 2 sons is bipolar and had a really tramatic drug reaction to his medication combination. He was taking Abilify with Lithium and it seemed to be working well **and** he was being compliant about taking it! He had stroke like symptoms where he was completly paralized and unable to talk or anything. These symptoms lasted for about 12 hours or so. By the next morning, he seemed fine, so they released him. We hadn't even managed to get home (we had stopped at the pharmacy to get his prescription filled for about 20 minutes) when all of the symptoms returned. Obviously, we returned to the hospital, but we again had to go through the ER with was understaffed and overbusy. After another 14 hours there, he was given a room and some of the symptoms seemed to be receding a little. He continued to improve until about 2:30 that afternoon when the symptoms again returned. That evening, the Psychiatrist finally stepped in and demanded that he be transferred to a psych ward where he could be taken off of all of his medications until they washed out of his system and a new set of medications could be established. It was a very scary time.

The good news is that my other son and his wife had their second child this week. Gabriel Andrew was born on Monday about an hour and a half before I had to take my husband to the airport for a business trip. There was just enough time to let Grandpa hold the first grandson for a few seconds before we left!

March should be interesting as well. The 22nd is the 62nd anniversary of my birth. After having been treated for celiac as a child, my symptoms went away and at that time they told you that you "outgrow" it and that you "might" develope sprue as an adult. Obviously, it doesn't work that way. I was screened a year ago at Univ of Chicago and managed to get a score of 27 on the test that said that any score over 4 was positive for Celiac. (I did managed to lose 60 lbs during the gluten challenge, though. The bad news is that I have managed to gain most of it back now that I am gluten free. What bugs me the most about that is that I had brought up my childhood diagnosis several times to various doctors, but I was assured that since I was fat and didn't have Big D, I couldn't possibly have Celiac. Bah!
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Sue Beyer

[nancw]

Welcome March Lions & Lambs - goodbye February Bears and BS! The crocus are about to bloom, and my son turns 6 on Tuesday.
I'm finding new confidence in my GF lifestyle and very much looking forward to my first GF anniversary in mid-May. Thanks to all here who have contributed in all kinds of ways to my continuing success.

But there's always something, right? May I vent/complain? Just when I'm feeling really good after two months of snow, snow and more snow, I hit a HUGE pothole the 2nd week of February. I've since had the car's alignment done, but I am experiencing daily left-side-only headaches/facial nerve pain and shoulder/arm/neck pain and weakness from what I surmise is a pinched nerve. Ibuprofen helps to a point, but I am wary of taking too much because of potential gut issues (pre-GF I used Ibuprofen freely). Since I can't get to see my doc until the 13th, I am going to the massage therapist and possibly, acupuncturist next week. Honestly, I don't even want to see the doctor - all she will tell me is rest and anti-inflammatories, right? Can anyone give me any advice on proceeding because frankly, the headaches are pissing me off, and I really need to do more than limited yoga and walking to keep the pounds off.

Take care all.

[luvscowznh]

[nancw]

[aklap]

Gosh Sue...how scary!!! My heart goes out to you...

I agree with Cowz...look at the gluten connection. It certainly can't hurt.

http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/depression,anxiety,panic
http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/foodallergies.htm
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Al

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

[kb9oyo]

We did have Steve who is bipolar go through the Univ. of Chicago screening this year. I was very disappointed when he got the test results back and they showed him as normal. With that, he gave up on any of the GF diet unless he sits down to a meal with us. (After I got my results back a year ago, he adopted a GF life style, but did go back to eating gluten for 6 weeks for the gluten challenge. I didn't think that he had been that strict about it and he lived alone, I figured that the 6 weeks of eating gluten every day would be enough to show some results. They didn't. I wonder how often that test gives false negatives? He doesn't really want to go back to being GF because of the hassle and the expense. He keeps pointing out the negative results of the screening when I try to suggest it to him. I'm not positive, but I thought that his mental condition was better when he was trying to be GF, but I'm just a mom and what do moms know, anyway. He is on disability because of the bipolar, so there is some limited medical coverage, but he doesn't really want to pursue it much. My family looks at me and if I suggest screening for the rest of them, they just shake their heads and say something like I see the symptoms in everybody because the symptoms are so vague.
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Sue Beyer

[aklap]

It's not suprising that UC testing came back negative. They are only looking for CD proper (I don't think they do the AGA IgA or IgG tests that might give you a clue on Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). Gluten can and does cause problems outside of CD. I'm living proof of that!

Of course he's going to refer to the negative testing - it supports what he wants Of course Mom doesn't know squat, because it's what he doesn't want! Hehehehee I know all the tricks...I'm a son too LOL

Do you think you could get him to poop in a bucket?? LOL There' always the EnteroLab route. That DOES look for gluten sensitivity...

Unless he wants to try to improve his health [is it easy for him to be on medical disability? That's a rhetorical question - no need to answer it.] - he's not going to want to put the effort into it. I've seen people have great results with their depression/bipolar issues when they stay GF.

I think we as gluten intols ALWAYS see it others! LOL
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Al

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

[Fidissimus]

Busy - busy - busy... The end of Feb. was good. I had my birthday birthday and my GF birthday. Six years GF and going strong! Getting easier all the time.

Work has been nutso - our whole office moved and I got a crappy new cube (though it is less crappy than my old cube so I can't complain too much). I decorated it and now it's the envy of the office! ha! (It's small and has no window view and still everyone wants to sit there - go figure... And yet no one will trade with me... hum? )

I've also been busy with the newsletter for our support group - that always eats up a big chunk of time for me but now it's done! Yea! ... until the next one. Ah well. I've got three months.

I'm also thinking about starting a GF/Celiac group at work (there's 6,000+ people on "campus"). I know it would be a worth while endeavor, but I'm already so busy - I would be even more coo-coo... except I know how beneficial it could be to so many. Even within my own small group (about 100 people) there's one Celiac (me), one strict Wheat Free Gluten avoider (cause she feels so much better), one who suspects she's Celiac and is kinda Wheat Free, (though the blood work came back neg and she has yet to biopsy), and two others who suspect they might be but have yet to go on the diet or get tested but wanted information. So imagine how many others there are in the rest of the 5900 employees! It's just taking a big breath and getting the ball rolling...

Another reason to start the group would be to show a presence on campus so they will provide some sort of safe lunches in the cafeterias. I made a salad yesterday from the salad bar (pretty much the only remotely safe thing they offer besides coffee, bananas and Laura Bars). So even though it was risky I made the salad and picked though everything trying to be extra cautious; I thought I was good. But somehow ONE of those stupid little fried crispy Chinese noodles snuck in to my salad and got sick even though I thought I spit most of it out... And how sad that, even though I was kinda freaking out at the time and upset to find said noodle in my mouth, I was thinking too it sure tasted good! Ah, if only to be able to eat a safe lunch at work that I don't have to pack in...

Otherwise, I haven't won the lottery yet, but I'm sure some day I will. I'm also excited about heading out to the coast this weekend to just get a break from life and to listen to the ocean for a while. (It's hard for me to be even this land locked - we're currently a 2 hr drive to the beach - I grew up 1/2 mile from the water) I know I shouldn't complain, but I really miss it.

Anyway - hope you're all doing well and staying healthy and happy. To those of you who aren't, I hope you're feeling better soon and getting the answers and support you need.
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Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[cruelshoes]

More of the same here. Work is busy. Girl Scout cookie sales start this weekend, so the 3 weeks of insanity begins. My daughter wants to sell 100 boxes, and managed to pre-sell 56, so hopefully we won't have to work too hard. I am so glad CD has removed the burden of buying Girl Scout cookies from me. I don't miss them one bit.

We started a "quick" project to paint my son's room. 2 weeks in and we still are not done. He had Thomas the Tank engine all over and he's decided he has outgrown that. We asked him what dolor he wanted his room and he decided on (get this) ORANGE. Just orange seemed a bit overwhelming, so we managed to talk him into some orange, some yellow and blue and green molding. It sounds like a horror show, but it really is cute. I'll have to post some pictures.

We had my son's Boy Scout blue and gold dinner last week. The food committee made the whole meal GF so Sean could eat what the other kids were eating. When we walked in, he asked "what can I eat?" You should have seen the look on his face when I told him he could eat everything. Priceless.

Sarah is getting bigger all the time. She can sit up by herself now, and is starting to "swim" in preparation to crawl. It tugs at my heart a little to see her getting so big. She is doing all sorts of talking, and actually seems to know what she's saying when she says mama and dada. The only gluten we have in the house is her baby food, and she almost glutened me the other day. I was feeding her and I yawned right at the same instant she sneezed. Some of her barley cereal got in my mouth. I have never moved so fast as I did to try to get to the sink to spit/rinse/brush. Luckily I seem to have escaped unscathed. Living on the edge! Isn't it great?
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-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?

[Deby's GF Bakery]

Hey all, things at Deby's are going well. We will be in the Denver Post on March 7th in the food section. Post food editor, Ellen Sweet is writing Deby's story. It's all good.

We are busy playing with our new fryers. We bought 2 on the 28th of Feb. We are going to experiment with doughnuts today. Very exciting. I'm anticipating gaining at least a pound or two over the weekend.
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Monica Poole