One of my poor daughters has developed Celiac's Disease and has had to go gluten free (no wheat, barley or rye). Her symptoms were many, the worst being the pain. Luckily I have a pretend MD and diagnosed it. The real MD confirmed it with fancy tests and procedures. And that's why she makes the big bucks.
Think about all of the things you eat that have wheat in them - crackers, bagels, breads, pizza, soy sauce (yup!), cereal, Cheez It Mix... The list is endless. Then, think of the things that could have morsels of gluten in or on them - the toaster, the peanut butter jar, the utensil drawer! Arghhh!
My good friend, Lady Modesty, attempted and succeeded in making an appetizing gluten-free bread for my dear daughter. You can find her trials and tribulations (and success!) with making bread here: Gluten Free White Bread.
The worst part of all of this has been the fact that she could not receive communion until we came up with some sort of solution! One of my amazing priests took it upon himself to solve this dilemma and for the first time in 2 months she received our Lord today. My priest ordered low gluten hosts and they are kept separate for her. She has to receive communion either first or last. The word on the street, however, is that they have the consistency of a potato chip, taste a little like corn and take a long time to dissolve.
Life is always exciting around here, that's for sure. I need to go wipe out my fork compartment now.
The difficulty with the Eucharist must be the most distressing part. My uncle, who is a priest, has celiac's, and though I disagree with most of his public preaching his devotion to the Eucharist is solid, and I always admired him because he consumed a small particle of the Host every day, long before low-gluten Hosts were available. The offering up of that painful sacrifice for him, and for your daughter, would no doubt be greatly beneficial for souls. Very easy to say, very hard to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see this has worked out so well, and that the family hasn't "converted" to Methodism. ;-) God bless your little one.