» Celiac Disease Call Me Hannah

I have Celiac Disease. It means my body cannot digest Wheat and Gluten, if I do, I do not grow because my body does not get the nutrients it needs. I was diagnosed when I was 3 years old. Having Celiac Disease means that I have to be careful with what I eat. As long as I keep to my gluten-free diet, I will be perfectly healthy. I have learned a lot about how to read ingredients so that I can be responsible for my health.

Things I cannot have are things like french fries at most restaurants, pizza on pizza on pizza day at school and hot dog days at school, birthday cakes, ice cream cones at Baskin Robbins, chicken fingers and nuggets, dessert at most restaurants, donuts, muffins and bagels, cookies, cupcakes, pretzels, egg rolls, tempura, noodles, pasta, onion rings and a lot more!

The good news is that there are lots of foods and treats and snacks that are gluten free and lots of companies are making more gluten free products so that I can have most of the list above because there are substitutions that are good for me.

Because I have Celiac I take a lot of care to be prepared for everything. Even though I’m not able to have things what other people are having, It doesn’t mean that I can’t participate I just have to bring my own dessert for a birthday or pizza for pizza day at school. Packing lunch for school is sometimes hard because my Mom and I have so many things to think about. There are a lot of kids in my school with different allergies like peanuts and sesame seeds. My lunches have to be nut-free, sesame-free and gluten-free. A lot of the gluten-free foods are made with either nuts or sesame seeds. It takes some extra time when we grocery shopping, but we do ok. We want everyone to be safe and healthy.

It bothers me when some other people are having something I can’t have and I feel left out. I deal with this by having a different treat and still participating. It’s not a big deal even though it is hard. My health’s more important and I always remember that. It’s sometimes frustrating when we’re out for the day and there aren’t a lot of things that I can eat for a meal. Places that are especially hard are Canada’s Wonderland, The Zoo, Baseball games and the EX. My parents always ask about the ingredients and sometimes the people working there don’t know if there is gluten in it or not. So I don’t have it just in case there is gluten in the food.

In the 6 years since the doctors told my parents and me that I have Celiac disease, there are more products at the grocery store and more restaurants that have gluten free food choices. My favourite restaurants to go are Swiss Chalet, Boston Pizza, The Olde Spaghetti Factory, Il Fornello, Pizza Pizza and PF Changs.

Here are some of my favourite Gluten-Free foods that we always have:

From the top left: Lundberg Risotto, Corn Pasta, Blue Diamond Crackers, Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix, Kernels Popcorn, Chapman’s Ice Cream, Cinnamon Chex, Udi’s Gluten Free Bread, Nature’s Path Waffles, Schneider’s Country Naturals Hot Dogs, Gluten Free Cafe by Health Valley Chicken Noodle Soup, Rice Crackers, Nature’s Path Gluten Free Crunchy Maple Cereal, Annie’s Gluten Mac & Cheese and Popcorn.

Today is Celiac Awareness Day. I have Celiac Disease. I was diagnosed when I was 3 years-old. What does it mean? The simple answer is that it means that I cannot eat anything with wheat or gluten because my body isn’t able to digest it like other people. As long as I keep to my diet, I’m fine. I’ll write more about what it means to me soon, but for now, my Mom wrote this:

This is a short story.

It runs in the family on both sides for generations. We are short.

I found Eric online. J-Date. I don’t admit that often. He is, as he and his profile and his photo described: funny, charming, kind, creative, hard-working, music-loving and handsome with a great smile. All true but for this one thing: his profile stated that he was 5’3″. I thought, Perfect! A nice Jewish guy, a few inches taller than me! Great!

As is turned out, we had a mutual friend that I credit with introducing us in person so that I didn’t technically meet my husband on J-Date. Jodi brought him to my work-place to me one day, which surprised me almost as much as realizing that he was not 5’3″ – he is 5 feet and almost 1 inch. Just like me.

Hannah was born weighing just under 7 pounds. Good and healthy. As she grew she was small and we were repeatedly told by her paediatrician that all is fine with the then familiar refrain, small parents – small child. It made sense. It fit.

When she was three years old, that refrain became less relevant. She wasn’t growing. A battering of invasive test revealed what for Hannah defined her stature as more than small parents-small child. She has Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. When people with celiac disease eat foods gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi, the lining of the small intestine that allow nutrients to be absorbed. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats. Celiac Disease is managed solely though diet. By eliminating all gluten from her diet – her villi will heal, she will get the nutrients that she needs to thrive and grow. Almost three years later, we’re back on the charts and she’s growing at a normal rate.

But the refrain still holds true – small parents – small child. We’re a family and we fit. Hannah doesn’t realize that people often look at us with disbelief when she says she’s 7 years old and finishing Grade One. She doesn’t realize that she wears a size 4 in jeans and that she’s still in a 5-point harness car seat. None of that really matters to her.

What matters to her and what she does realize is this: she can’t play on the monkey bars at the park like her friends, she can’t go on the water-slides or all of the rides at Canada’s Wonderland, that she is always delegated to be the baby when playing house, and that she can’t hold a baseball bat as well as her neighbour who is 2 years younger than she is. These are things that matter when you’re 7.

And I don’t disregard it.

I remember what it was like. One of the most outstanding of all of my memories was in high school. I was slow-dancing with a guy at my prom. He was on the basketball team and more than a foot taller than me. Because he could, he picked me up as we danced, my feet dangling in the air. He smiled. They all did. It was cute. I was cute. Oh, how I wanted to be beautiful that night, like my friends. It was my prom.

Everyone looks at Hannah and says that she’s cute. And yes, she is. But I remember how I cringed at hearing that word so often. I look at my daughter, and see that she is beautiful – inside and out. I talk to her often about what is important. I am forever telling her that what I love the most about her is that she is beautiful – inside and out – that she is kind, generous and thoughtful. [Note to self: stop telling Hannah how cute she is and keep telling her that she's beautiful.]

When I talked to Eric last night about it, he told me that he had also recently talked with Hannah about it too. She was disheartened and discouraged playing baseball. He told me that he explained that because she’s small, she might have to work a little harder at some things. He told her that being small, however, will not be an obstacle for everything. He cited me as an example. Look at all that Mommy has accomplished. She’s not in the newspaper this week because she’s not tall. She’s in the newspaper this week because of what she has achieved. And that is why it’s always been ok with me that he said he is 5’3″.

When you stand tall, reach far, aim high or dream big – being short or being tall doesn’t mean a damn thing.