Our Little Celiac

I just get a kick out of the various things we are learning. On Saturday, mom and dad watched Olivia while Heather and I went to Sioux Falls to talk and meet with a dietician at HyVee. She was a great resource, and is a diagnosed Celiac her self. I just chuckle every time I hear it now. People with Celiac disease are known as Celiacs. I kind of like it. I think it's got a good ring to it. So, I affectionately call her my little Celiac. So, our trip to Hyvee was very good, and we learned alot. I liked having a good resource, such as a dietician who has the disease, to help us and give us advice on what is good and what she doesn't care for personally.

So, the big adjustment was to how things are labeled and priced. We will be spending a lot of time reading nutricion labels, and looking through ingredients. What we livked is the labels all over the store that indicates what is Gluten free. We learned several things and will probably refer to Hyvee quite often. It's going to take some getting used to, but the adjustment is already in progress. But, Thanksgiving is coming this week. It's going to be tough. It's tough for me when Olivia comes up and wants bites of things she cannot have. Her little voice that says "Bite???" just breaks your heart to say no, you cannot have that. You can't convince a little 21 month old that it's going to make her sick. But, we will survive that too.

Olivia's Road to Recovery

Today we finally got answers. After nearly four weeks of Olivia throwing up food at random times, for what appeared to be no reason, we can quit wondering. Of course, wondering is only the beginning, because the next step is moving forward. Today we found out Olivia was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We fought many battles and symptoms to come to this conclusion, but finally a pediatric specialist at Avera Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls was able to diagnose her based on the symptoms and a biopsy and blood test performed on Monday. After a little searching today, Olivia matches 100% of the symptoms and descriptions in this WebMD article.

So, now the common questions begin.

She has what? Celiac disease is basically a wheat allergy. So, because of this, she cannot have anything that contains flour, or other forms of wheat germ. If you open your cupboards, you'll probably find around 70% or more of the items contain gluten.

How was she diagnosed? It started with a barium swallow here in Mitchell that showed her intestines were infected. We were then scheduled with a specialist at Avera Children's Hospital who took a camera down Olivia's esophagus to her stomach and verified what the other tests showed. While inside, they took a biopsy and some blood for testing. The tests return that her celiac levels were 25 times the normal level.

Is there a treatment? No, there is nothing you can do, and medical professionals are not even sure what causes it in some people. It is possible that her body could reverse the disease, but it's not likely.

Will she outgrow this like children outgrow other allergies? It has happened that people grow out of the allergy, but it will more than likely affect her for life.

So what are some of the main items she cannot eat? Most flavored potato chips, goldfish, cookies, bread, pizza, stuffing (which is sad for Thanksgiving coming up), crackers, soups, croutons, breaded items (chicken strips), anything that contains flour.

So, what can she eat then? Alot of the items she can eat she will grow into liking. Among them are all unbreaded meats (including steak!), fruits, vegetables, potatoes (not chips), popcorn, some original or non-flavored potato chips, lettuce salads, fruit snacks, pickles, most dairy products.

So, are products readily available for her? Yes, but at a price. Here in town, there are very limited options.

How hard is it to find gluten free products? Depends on the size of the store. Here in Mitchell, there are limited options. In a larger city, the options grow significantly.

So what is the next step? We will soon go to HyVee in Sioux Falls to meet with a dietitian and find the products they have available. Sioux Falls, due to the larger population, has much better options for our menus.

Does she have follow up appointments? Yes, we will follow up in 3 months to monitor her levels, and make sure she's recovering from the effects of the gluten that was in her on Monday. From there, we will follow up every 6 to 12 months for the next several years.

So, we move forward. For the most part, we will adjust to having a mostly gluten free house and we plan to all change over to a mostly gluten free diet (O's will be totally gluten free). It's an adjustment, but considering what tests were coming next, and the diseases those tests were for, we're not going to complain. We look forward to having our little girl back. It is expected she will be back to normal soon.

Olivia the Genius

I shouldn't be surprised, as she is my offspring by my child is incredibly smart. I just found out the other day that my mother and wife have been teaching her to count, and she's quite good at it.

Olivia Works Hard

A while back, we made a trip to Walmart and got a few items, got them in the front door from the car, and heard all kinds of grunting in the living room. We grabbed the camera and it resulted in this:

Second Night in a Row!!

Yup, the total is up to two!! Two consecutive nights of posting fun things to the blog. Tonight's video features more of Olivia and her animal sounds, plus some of her playing with the camera. Enjoy!

Olivia's Animal Sounds

Olivia of course has many talents. Tonight, she would like to feature a sampling of her many animal sounds.