I am happy to report that my kitchen, fridge, and pantry are now approximately 50% gluten-free. As my son is the only one who NEEDS to be gluten-free, I find we are slowly paring down on the "old" food and replacing it with the GF variety.
Case in point - grilled cheese for dinner a few nights ago involved my son having his on GF bread and us having ours on "regular" bread as there was still a loaf in the fridge and 2 in the freezer! We will certainly not waste the food we already have, even though we are all trying to be gluten-reduced, while my son goes gluten-free. These things are slowly but surely being replaced with gluten-free products, some more successfully than others, as seen in my previous posts!
My son has now been gluten-free for 15 days and we are seeing a remarkable improvement in stomach issues that have plagued him for years! Poor guy! Due to his diagnosed anxiety disorder, most doctors and therapists we encountered over the years attributed the stomach issues to the underlying anxiety and went about trying to treat that. Although I initially thought this made sense, the physical symptoms were not improving, even though the psychological ones were. Puzzling.....
Just over 2 weeks ago we visited our family doctor and I explained the situation. Again! Hoping for another possible solution to seeing my son doubled over in pain almost daily. The doctor ordered blood tests and an abdominal ultrasound, in addition to suggesting a possible gluten intolerance. Thanks for mentioning that possibility 2 years ago dude! Really?!?
I digress.......so, the short story is, although frustrated that this was not mentioned before, we are thankful that it was mentioned now, as it appears to be part, if not all, of the issue. He has had no stomach pains since eliminating the gluten 15 days ago.
Yesterday I took my son for the blood work and abdominal ultrasound. He was so scared but was very brave. He thought the ultrasound was pretty cool, and loved the story about my ultrasound when I was pregnant with him and how I almost peed on the table! Oh come on, you KNOW it feels like you are going to pee on the table!
When we were seeing his gallbladder, spleen, kidneys, etc on the ultrasound screen, he turned to me and said "How do my insides look Mom?" My response, "Well bud, I've never seen your insides before but they look pretty good to me." :)
He wanted to tell his friends at school that he had an ultrasound and announce "It's A Boy!" I suggested maybe this was not the best idea! :)
The blood work was traumatic. Although he did enjoy watching all the old men coming in and out of the bathroom in the lab waiting room with their bottles of pee. "Eeeeoooo, Mom, that guy has really dark pee!" Talk about TMI. Although it did distract him from his nerves about the blood work.
I went in with him to try and keep him calm and distracted. And trust me, this was difficult, because needles make me want to faint! Our nurse was wonderful and explained everything to him as she went along. Even though I told him to just look away and think about something else for a few seconds, he insisted on watching and I thought the poor kid was going to pass out!! He literally turned green and then white as a sheet! The nurse had to pat his cheeks and tell him to talk to her, while I am trying not to pass out myself! That would have been good! A 2-for-1 deal in the fainting department!
His voice suddenly got really loud and he says "Mom, all of my parts are numb! Am I talking really loud?" It was freakin' hilarious and just what we needed to break the tension. He recovered, and was very proud of the "bunny" that his nurse made out of the bandage/cotton on his arm.
I walked him to the car, as he was still pretty pale and a bit shaky, but a drink box and a GF cereal bar later and he was feeling better and ready to head off to school to tell everyone about his adventure.
I was proud of him. I AM proud of him. He understood these tests were important for his health and overcame something he was frightened of, despite the underlying anxiety that is always present for him. He did great!
Results are expected next week and we are keeping our fingers crossed that a gluten intolerance is his only issue because, quite frankly, I'm not sure either one of us could handle any more blood work!
Am I talking really loud? All my parts are numb! :)
Happy weekend!
~ The Lazy Gourmet
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