Keep Swimming

[sinenox]

Alright then. I just sent my sister off on her train back to Boston and with that my Thanksgiving is done. It's been a week of family and food and travel and drama but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Our meal went very well in spite of being gluten free, soy free and vegan (except for the turkey and ham, for which there was a

Comments

[iria_2001]

isnt drama fun?
a question for you, as it got me thinking about sitting around a table with family and being the only one with CD. Have you had the "you should be tested" talk with your family? how did that go, if so? does it ever come up at meals/family gatherings? I had one family meal right after i was dx, but it was extraordinarily awkward when i mentioned the genetic component of the disease- my family, particularly older members, took a real offense to it, probably because my grandmothers cancer/early death could have been prevented, and because they took it as me saying they were in for a horrible painful and slow death. im not sure how to navigate it with family....wondering if you had.

[sinenox]

I was lucky enough to have a good role model for that talk. My grandfather got cancer a couple of times, including breast cancer, before they finally realized there was something wrong with him and tested him for Celiac. My grandparents (knowing that I had been sick since childhood) then confronted me every time they saw me, gently but firmly. I remember saying all of the horrible things that people say to me now. "I'd rather die (awful, in hindsight...though my favorite food has always been bread)/it couldn't be that/the symptoms aren't exactly right..." etc. They even gave me a horrible little book on making simple meals gluten free. I came around a few years later when I just couldn't function and I've learned that sometimes that's what it takes