So here’s the thing: I’ve never claimed to be an expert at anything. Many days I’ve wished I could be a subject matter expert (SME—that sounds so professional, doesn’t it?) but it’s taking too long to find the subject.
I do know I’m good at being an advocate for my kids. When I get all the moons aligned and all the experiments over and all the diagnoses nailed, I will call myself an SME at MOK (My Own Kid). Until then, take this as my disclaimer that I am not going to cure you with this blog post or any of my blog postings for that matter. I’ll give you some really cool resources I’ve found, but don’t consider me an SME of you. K?
My little intro is this. My son and I started our GF diet in March of 2009. We went at it slowly and followed this excellent plan of attack found at TACA. If you’re new to a GF diet, or any special dietary restriction, don’t go cold turkey. Grandma went cold turkey off the heaters, but you should not try that. Grandma’s been through a lot. She’s a tough old bird (please oh please don’t tell her I called her old).
I’ve read it takes a long time to completely rid your body of gluten, especially if you have a gluten intolerance or celiac disease. If your body doesn’t like it, it has a harder time getting rid of it. If you have celiac disease the tiny little hairs on your colon are smashed and can’t absorb the nutrients from foods you eat and become coated with that gluten. That said, don’t expect overnight changes with this diet.
Always watching what we spend, my goal has always been to find foods that are “mainstream” foods that we can continue to eat without spending a fortune on special food. Here are some links to sites or statements I have that are for mainstream foods (aka Baked Lays potato chips are GF and anyone can buy them anywhere).
This is by far the most comprehensive list I’ve found of mainstream foods that are GF. Start here!
Hunts brand
Nestle candies
General list of candy
Another good list...
Hormel brand
Chex cereals
Restaurant lists
Biaggis has been incredible and their GF pizza is awesome.
Other cool blogs that have details and tips and tricks on GF :
http://moreglutenfreeoptions.blogspot.com/
http://newfaceofautism.blogspot.com/
http://killthegluten.blogspot.com/
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ (She also has amazing photos on her site)
Watch out! Hidden sources of gluten
Our pediatrician recommended this book for finding mainstream foods. He’s got a son with celiac so I believe him.
Very cool grocery store in Woodbury, MN.
Very good supply of GF and organic foods.
The pretzels my son inhales as if the world will run out of them if he stopped eating, by Glutino.
The crackers I cannot put down until I eat the whole box, by Blue Diamond.
Do you have some resources to share? Let’s post them here.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Mom's Health Comes Last
I've fought plantar fasciitis for almost three years already. Many times in the last 34 months I have considered how to clean up after me taking a hack saw to my ankles to get rid of the pain in my feet. Really, at certain times I've convinced myself the pain of whacking off both feet would be less than continuous, 24-hour pain.
Okay, to give myself some credit, I have been to foot doctors. I've been to three in fact. First foot doc I saw took x-rays, told me I didn't have bunions, then took a 3-week vacation before he told me what I can do to help my pain. NEXT.
Next foot doctor said he had no clue what was going on, recognized I had pain, then sent me to a neurologist to zap my legs because of a suspected nerve issue. The neurologist, while most likely utterly confused and deeply amused at his new calling, zapped both legs from knee down (a most unpleasant and annoying process I may add), and declared plantar fasciitis. NEXT.
So here's where that whole "mommy's issues get pushed to the back burner" thing comes up. I have a title to my ailment, two foot doctors and a neurologist who really don't want to see me again, and a deep frustration inside me that said, 'forget it. On with life. I don't have time for this.'
I have 2 young kids. One has special needs that has brought hours and hours of research, doctor visits, experiments with diet, medications, and therapies. One has an attitude. I love my kids and will do absolutely anything to get them what they need. Unfortunately, those needs and tests and doctors and research always took away any free time I had to find a new foot doctor. Oh well. I chose this. Deal with it...
Two years later, I had to stop all physical activity. Buying groceries for the week puts me on my rear for the rest of the evening since my feet hurt so bad I couldn't fathom the idea of walking anymore. I was a college athlete, a good one in fact. Me stop being active? My coaches wouldn't believe it if they saw me now.
A close coworker of mine always has beautiful words of wisdom and doesn't beat around the bush when we talk. She is genuine, sees beauty in everything, and has an outlook on life that wakes me up and makes me want to be better each and every day. She keeps telling me I can't put my health issues on the back burner for my kids, otherwise my health issues will take me away from being able to be there for my kids.
Why didn't I listen to her?
Today I'm contemplating when I should call my newest (and sympathetic and responsive and aggressive) foot doctor to schedule surgery. I let it go long enough that now he's gotta hack up my feet.
If you're reading this and wondering how a person gets plantar fasciitis, two words. Listen carefully. Are you paying attention? BAD SHOES. That's all it took for me. Day after day of wearing dress shoes that had no support. If there is anything you should take the time to research and spend a little more money on, it's your feet. When your feet hurt, your life hurts. Do yourself a favor and find good shoes.
These are the brands I've been told are good for plantar fasciitis:
NAOT
Birkenstock
Dansko
Hafflinger
Think!
Keen
My guess is my foot doc's hack saw will be a little more sanitary. I'll give him that benefit of the doubt.
Okay, to give myself some credit, I have been to foot doctors. I've been to three in fact. First foot doc I saw took x-rays, told me I didn't have bunions, then took a 3-week vacation before he told me what I can do to help my pain. NEXT.
Next foot doctor said he had no clue what was going on, recognized I had pain, then sent me to a neurologist to zap my legs because of a suspected nerve issue. The neurologist, while most likely utterly confused and deeply amused at his new calling, zapped both legs from knee down (a most unpleasant and annoying process I may add), and declared plantar fasciitis. NEXT.
So here's where that whole "mommy's issues get pushed to the back burner" thing comes up. I have a title to my ailment, two foot doctors and a neurologist who really don't want to see me again, and a deep frustration inside me that said, 'forget it. On with life. I don't have time for this.'
I have 2 young kids. One has special needs that has brought hours and hours of research, doctor visits, experiments with diet, medications, and therapies. One has an attitude. I love my kids and will do absolutely anything to get them what they need. Unfortunately, those needs and tests and doctors and research always took away any free time I had to find a new foot doctor. Oh well. I chose this. Deal with it...
Two years later, I had to stop all physical activity. Buying groceries for the week puts me on my rear for the rest of the evening since my feet hurt so bad I couldn't fathom the idea of walking anymore. I was a college athlete, a good one in fact. Me stop being active? My coaches wouldn't believe it if they saw me now.
A close coworker of mine always has beautiful words of wisdom and doesn't beat around the bush when we talk. She is genuine, sees beauty in everything, and has an outlook on life that wakes me up and makes me want to be better each and every day. She keeps telling me I can't put my health issues on the back burner for my kids, otherwise my health issues will take me away from being able to be there for my kids.
Why didn't I listen to her?
Today I'm contemplating when I should call my newest (and sympathetic and responsive and aggressive) foot doctor to schedule surgery. I let it go long enough that now he's gotta hack up my feet.
If you're reading this and wondering how a person gets plantar fasciitis, two words. Listen carefully. Are you paying attention? BAD SHOES. That's all it took for me. Day after day of wearing dress shoes that had no support. If there is anything you should take the time to research and spend a little more money on, it's your feet. When your feet hurt, your life hurts. Do yourself a favor and find good shoes.
These are the brands I've been told are good for plantar fasciitis:
NAOT
Birkenstock
Dansko
Hafflinger
Think!
Keen
My guess is my foot doc's hack saw will be a little more sanitary. I'll give him that benefit of the doubt.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Just Me, JKT ~ Entry One
I started this blog to gain some followers, to express myself somewhere, to share opinions with folks interested in the same things I am, and to just generally create more things for me to keep up on.
Who knows...where will this go? Hopefully somewhere. I hope I can come up with content suitable for readers to want to come back to my blog and read about me and my thoughts.
What will I write about?
autism and how it affects me and my emotions
being a mom
being a wife
being a friend
being a relative
working vs. not working
winning the lottery
gardening
crafting
art
motion
lack of motion
...just to start.
Who knows...where will this go? Hopefully somewhere. I hope I can come up with content suitable for readers to want to come back to my blog and read about me and my thoughts.
What will I write about?
autism and how it affects me and my emotions
being a mom
being a wife
being a friend
being a relative
working vs. not working
winning the lottery
gardening
crafting
art
motion
lack of motion
...just to start.
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