Nearly 11 years. That’s how long my family and I have been advocates for celiac disease, testing and the gluten free diet. Not one time in those first 10 years and 9 months have I ever helped get someone diagnosed with celiac disease.
Sure there was my brother..diagnosed in 2008, but I wasn’t instrumental in that. One day I just got the call that he had celiac! WOW! I was flabbergasted (not so surprised any more after hearing about his symptoms and seeing how he’s progressed).
But about two weeks ago my 10+ year streak of not helping people get diagnosed ended– in a shatter. Two friends from different areas of my life suddenly felt that they needed to be tested.
One emailed me and asked about whether there was a relation between thyroid and celiac. I told her yes, sent her some information and she got tested. 4 days later her blood came back positive, two days later she got the biopsy (hello record time!) and started gluten free.
The other emailed me and asked about GERD (Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease) and celiac. She complained about fatigue and tired of “feeling 30% all the time.” I told her that was enough to get tested…again, her blood was positive. She, so far, is seeing immediate results on the gluten free diet.
I am not blogging about this to pat myself on the back– I am just in awe:
- Impressed that awareness is increasing about celiac disease
- Amazed at how impactful celiac can be to the body by the way the damage manifests itself in people
- Happy that these two women just fought for their health– and won!
I do hope to interview these ladies to find out more about their symptoms and diagnosis– their stories are very unique and horribly common all at the same time. Watch for more on them (hopefully) in the coming months.
Tags: celiac, diagnosis, diet, disease symptoms, gluten-free
Leave a Reply