As I think back at the beginning of our journey, it empowers me to know what all we have overcome. I never though this would have become so easy, so thoughtless to shop cook and prepare food for Teagan. Home is our Safe House. I am in complete control, and it’s comforting. But to live in this bubble is not realistic, nor is it fair for Teagan. We are a very social family; we love to spend a family night out trying new venues or going to old favorites, or movie night in ordering pizza. Going to Nona’s house for a family dinner and the girls spending the night, for either fun or because school is out the following day is a very common occurrence for our family, including birthday party’s, or holiday parties at school, these are the times that I feel out of control and helpless. And if you know me at all…not something I like to feel.  I don’t want this disease to cripple Teagan. And I know that seems a bit hardcore since looking at her she is healthy. Even with her looking about 3 years younger than she is due to her growth retardation, she is very athletic, talented at soccer and almost anything she tries. But I’m speaking emotionally crippled, I have heard on more occasions that I would like…”Why am I Gluten Free?”…”I hate being Gluten Free!”… “It’s not fair!” What do you tell a now 9 year old? How many ways can I explain to her the reasoning behind this disease she has? What I have done is gotten tougher on her; I don’t let her feel sorry for herself. I don’t let her dwell on the negativity. And I don’t baby her, and it is so easy to do just that. Because as a mom all you want to do is scoop her up and hold and hug her and give in to her demands… of SUGAR. It is much easier to find gluten free snacks that are sweet and sugary, than it is to find healthy and savory snacks. But I’m learning, and will be sharing with you the recipes I find or create, and restaurants we love and go to all the time, or are willing to try for the first time. Sharing the good the bad and the ugly, focusing on a kid friendly gluten free, Austin.

I went by myself to HEB, and cried

When Teagan was diagnosed, I felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks. I knew I should be relieved, because it was only Celiac Disease. And with the symptoms she has been experiencing, it could have been so much worse. But that didn’t matter…so many thoughts and questions went flying through my head, but nothing would come out of my mouth. I could not ask the Dr the questions I needed answers to. I could not get the swarming of confusion to settle into words that would make any since. So I took my information pamphlets, and left.

            What now?? What do I do, what can I feed her? How is she going to handle this news? I had done some searches online…and that just made it worse. The websites I went to in the beginning listed all these things she could not eat; all these ingredients to stay away from. And I’ll be honest; my household is an amazingly busy home. Remember, I have 2 soccer players and we are at the fields Monday – Thursday evenings, and games on the weekend. I do not make dinners from scratch…well occasionally I will play in the kitchen if I have an evening off. So yeah…I don’t make dinners from scratch. And that is what I read, or least what I had in my head after the preliminary research. And I didn’t know better, I didn’t have anyone to ask. Not these simple questions, or as I call them stupid questions, because I felt ignorant, and I wanted help on a simple layman’s level. I think this was the first time as an adult, I felt helpless.

            My first trip going to the grocery store was a disaster. With iPhone in hand (I knew I would be using Google every other step), I grabbed my “green bags” and went by myself to HEB, and cried…all the way through the store. It’s funny that the last trip I had through HEB was a breeze; I was thinking to myself “I sure can fly through the store now”, after having to get used to this HEB with moving to our new house 1 & ½ years before. Not anymore; reading every label and Googling every ingredient that I cannot pronounce, that may or maynot be gluten free. Hoping that Teagan would eat what I am going to be bringing home to her. No more bread, or tortillas, cereal, so many chips, and sauces, some processed meats, and dressings, and most marinades….So I got a couple basics; corn tortillas & cheese. Yup, we started with cheese quesadillas because I knew she could and would eat it.

The Family

OK…so now we have that out of the way, I want to formally introduce myself. My name is Elika and I am an early thirty something soccer mom of two and have been married for 16 years…to the same man. High school sweethearts since I was 14, me a freshman and Carl a senior. We married when I was 18, just 5 months after high school. We are opposite in every way that you would think would not allow a marriage to work, but it does. Political views, religious views, just keep thinking of the most important things that make a husband and wife a unified team…and not us. I don’t believe we are compatible in any marriage counselor’s eyes. But with 16 years behind us…we’re good. I work in collections, in the property management industry. Not the most glamorous profession, but I love the people I work with, and the schedule I have (6:30am-2:30pm)…so I’m good. Collections was never a plan I had…but who has that in their plan?? I started out as a photographer. I love shooting people; there is something about catching them at the most vulnerable time, that just moves me. And that was my plan; I was going to be a photographer. I successfully did that for about 5 years…and then came Kyah. She stole my heart. And after trying to make it work with running a photography studio, with her there with me…I had to choose…and I chose her.

Carl is a 37 year old motorcycle mechanic, for the past near 16 years. He works for a place he is miserable, but he’s good at it and it pays more than changing careers. I think there is more a comfort factor than he is willing to admit. Remember I said 37 year old, right…well that is only in birth years. Mentally I am married to an early 20 something, very early. Between his boat, motorcycles, jet skies, guns, paintball guns, RC vehicles, he is the epitome of; “Big Boys and Their Toys”. He is a transplanted Texan from Florida since 1994, and he fought every minute of it for years. Then one day he just snapped and realized what a great place we live in…with the lakes, all the riding locations, basically the perfect place to play with all his toys. And now after saying for years and years, he could not shoot an animal…he is a hunter. It is official…He is a Texan.

 My older daughter, Kyah is in 6^th grade….enough said! All the sudden I have this ½ little girl, ½ teen, and geeze, do both of those personalities go to war every 5 minutes. You couldn’t pay me to be that age again. A very good student, who happily goes to tutoring to make sure she is staying up on her grades. What would I do without tutoring…yes I said I. She is in AP math, I swear she is learning things I never saw while in school...but there is always a chance I blocked that out due to permanent mental scarring. So I am no help what so ever to her, but I did show her how to look up tutorials on line. I don’t think I have ever appreciated the internet more. She plays Division 1 soccer, and has played since she was 3. It is her life as much as breathing is.

Now for my little Celiac; Teagan is 8 years old, but acts like she going to turn 12 at next birthday. I guess that is because she is the younger sister and secretly looks up to her big sister. Everything seems to come easy for her. I think it’s because even though she is tiny for her age, she is so darn cute and has a personality as big as they come. Teagan loves to read, always has a book to her face, she gets good grades, but it is a struggle to keep her on task and focused because she is such a busy body. Everyone remembers her, because she is unforgettable. Tiny little frame, olive skin, long brown straight hair, and huge blue doe eyes. And man…can she use those eyes like a weapon. She also is a soccer player since age 4, and a really good one. She plays in an academy league which is training ground for select. And again, maybe because of her big sister, Teagan has a natural talent for soccer. It comes much easier to her, than Kyah who has to work at it. Teagan has surprised me how well she has taken on her new Celiac lifestyle. But she feels good now, no more chronic stomach aches, no more spitting up her acid reflux, and she has grown a bit. Now we have to be careful since she has been on her diet, if she has any gluten, she gets so sick; vomiting, severe lethargy, awful stomach pains and having to take meds that may or may not help the symptoms, that have there own symptoms. So that is a bit of incentive to not sway from her diet.

A History Lesson

   My early years with Teagan were fairly uneventful, health wise that is. As I look back, and there were times I believe we may have had hints of what was to come. I had no idea that throwing up everything she nursed meant anything more than a bigger spit up than normal. And as a toddler and growing... no fever, just a random vomit that would keep her inside away from her sister and friends in fear of having a stomach virus. And when she started falling off the growth chart by the age of 3, I figured she was taking after the Italian side of the family...some of my great aunts don't even come up to my chin. And Yes..I get to feel tall for at least as long as the visit lasts.

   As she entered school, we started noticing she was getting headaches. But as a migraine sufferer for nearly 30 years, I assumed she was doomed the same fate. Then came the stomach aches, and parasite tests to follow...a few of them. At age 6 she was the skeletal age of a 3-4 year old and were recommended to take a growth hormone test. The most grueling and painful 6 hours of her poor little life.

Aaannd...Nothing......Growth hormones were good. So we let sleeping dogs lie...for now.

   She started getting acid reflux in 1st grade, to the point of needing to spit out what came up because it was so frequent and so much. During class she would have to excuse herself to the bathroom to spit up. And let me tell you she was...OK... is a big time manipulator. She would try and tell the teacher she "threw up", and she would be sent to the nurse on a weekly basis. Because you know you can't be in school if you have been vomiting,and she sure knew that and tried to take full advantage. I ended up having to tell the school we were seeing her Dr. about the problem and to KEEP HER IN CLASS! I would threaten to ground her for the weekend if she would go to the nurse without being actually sick...and that worked, most of the time. We finally got referred to an internal medicine doctor, Dr Jatla. He said we could take this test, and that test and then another test...or she could have an endoscopy. Put her out, and do the same thing as a colonoscopy; but going down the other end of the body. (sorry couldn't help myself) They did biopsies of each crucial spot all the way down to her small intestines. He found damage all the way from her esophagus to her small intestines. So much damage in fact that the tiny little villi that are used to absorb nutrients...were gone. Completely flat was her small intestine, which meant one thing...CELIAC DISEASE, and that she has been suffering for quite some time. The other damage to her digestive system were in no comparison to the small intestines, so no need to bother with the details. It makes me sad to think, why couldn't we have found this sooner? And then the sun shines, and I am grateful we found out about it this early. It has only one simple solution...No More Gluten!