When one is diagnosed with Celiac Disease, it is absolutely life-changing. All the food that you love, you can never have again. Things like wheat bread, oatmeal, beer, etc, are now forbidden. The emotional impact of the diagnosis varies from person to person.
When I was diagnosed two years ago, I was devastated. For a month following my diagnosis, I could not step into a supermarket without crying. As time went by, I was able to come to terms with my Celiac Disease, for the most part. The one problem I have begun to face, within the past year, is stigma.
Recently, Celiac Disease, and the Gluten Free lifestyle, has been discussed on TV. In programs such as "Jessie," "Kathie Lee and Hoda," and "Chelsea Lately." These TV shows have, not only given inaccurate information about those with Celiac Disease, they have mocked us, reducing us to less than human status. They have told the world that it is okay to ostracize us from society. We have been called "annoying, picky eaters." Chelsea Handler recently stated that we are "almost as annoying as vegetarians." First off, I am insulted by that remark in two ways. One, we Celiacs are NOT annoying. Two, I have friends who are vegetarians, and they have good and valid reasons for being vegetarian.
I have been in a funk lately because of what the media is depicting of Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free lifestyle. I have been angered by the stigma. The Celiac community has been in an uproar over what has been said about us. We have written letters to Kathie Lee and Hoda, Chelsea Lately, and petitioned Disney to remove the episode of "Jessie" from the airwaves.
People, Celiac Disease is a very serious illness. Unless you have it, or you know someone who has it, you have NO idea what we go through each and every day. Even a small speck of gluten, can make us very ill for weeks. We suffer from a malnourishment. We cannot help it. The villi on our small intestine has been destroyed by gluten. The villi is what absorbs nutrients. This is why we get sick. There is no medicine that can cure us. We need society to understand that we deserve respect. We may go to a restaurant and order a gluten free meal, and I understand, from a restaurant staff's point of view, that it can be annoying to have to cook a meal seperately, but, we have the right to go out to eat. We deserve the same respect as a regular patron of a restaurant. Restaurants, and society, need to be educated about Celiac Disease. Since the media won't feed the public correct information about Celiac Disease, it is up to those of us who suffer from Celiac Disease.
Since I am a blogger, I will be posting A LOT about Celiac Disease. It is my duty, responsibility, and pleasure to educate the world about this disease. Just like it is important to know about Diabetes and Lactose Intolerance, it is important to know about Celiac Disease.
Those of you with Celiac Disease, I understand how hard it is to have this disease. My advice to you is, ignore what TV and the media says about Celiac Disease. Ignore the names that we are called. Ignore the eye rolls. The best thing that you can do, is hold your head high, and educate everyone about this disease. Be open to sharing your struggles with the disease. We are NOT annoying, picky eaters. We are NOT less than human, and we are not terrible people. We are AMAZING people. :-)
(photo courtesy of: http://www.emaxhealth.com/files/imagecache/large/celiac%20disease.jpg)