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.