Chow Mein Goodies - Makeover

I haven't posted in quite awhile because there hasn't been much to share. But I thought I'd start sharing some of my successes (when they happen, which is pretty rare!).

This was one of my absolute favorite recipes since I was a little kid. Super easy to make, cheap, quick, kid-friendly, and oh-so-yummy!
Unfortunately, chow mein noodles are wheat. Boo!

After trying to make it without the noodles (which resulted in a slab-like peanut butter/butterscotch fudge-like creation), my mom suggested I try it with Chex instead.

6 oz of butterscotch chips
1/2 cup of peanut butter
3 oz of chow mein noodles gluten-free Chex
2 cups of marshmallows

Melt the butterscotch chips until smooth
Add in the peanut butter
Pour mixture over the chow mein chex and marshmallows
Mix with your hands
Clump stacks onto wax paper and place in fridge.

YUMMY!
So.....the result of the experiment?
I like the Chex version WAY better than the chow mein version.
Woohoo!!!

Yes, No, Yes - Sort of.....

I took a little hiatus, sorry about that. I was waiting for results, waiting for explanations, waiting for results, waiting some more....

My endoscopy went fine. Pretty quick and easy, the only glitch was the ineptness of the person starting my IV. Let's just move on. I had to be there at 8 and I was home by 11ish (that includes the hour drive home). Then I waited on my results.

As an employee of the facility where the testing is done, I have access to results. It's not something I recommend and I hadn't planned on looking them up because I wanted to give the physician time to look at them (although he had told me ahead of time it was fine to look them up myself). We also have a way of signing up to access your results and send email messages, etc. to your physician. After 2 weeks of hearing nothing (and I knew my results within a couple days), despite 2 messages and multiple phone calls, I finally tracked down my doctor through our email system. Luckily, he didn't mind me doing this and was very apologetic that he had not received my messages via our web-based system.

So before the endoscopy, my lab levels (specifically: ttg-iga) was elevated to 32 (anything over 10 is positive). Coupled with my symptoms and my response to a gluten-free diet, the doctor put me at almost definitely having Celiac. The endoscopy, however, was completely negative. Um...yeah. So. There are very few things that can raise a person's ttg level and none of them matched with me...it's pretty specific to Celiac. I had only been on a gluten-free diet for a couple days before going back on a regular diet - not enough time for any damage to heal. Plus, some of my labs came back really low - particularly my Vitamin D level. Another indicator.

So, we repeated my ttg level and also did genetic testing. My ttg level is down to 21, still positive but the change is indicative of the gluten-free diet I'm on. As far as symptoms, I can definitely tell a huge difference when I do eat gluten. My body definitely does NOT like it!

Took over a week to get the genetic test results back. They look at two specific ones hla-dq2 and hla-dq8. In simple terms, if you don't have these, you cannot develop Celiac. If you do have them, then you have the predisposition to develop it and should be monitored. So my doctor basically said that, if it came back positive, then we'd make a positive diagnosis. The results are graded from 1-8 depending on whether you have one or the other or both, etc. Mine came back at a 4....according to the chart that came with the results, I have a 10 times greater chance of developing Celiac. So we're back to a yes.

I'm now awaiting the next steps. I will need to see a nutritionist - I have a good handle on eliminating gluten but I still need help evaluating my diet and making sure I get what I need since I'm eliminating a lot of foods from my diet. I am taking an enormous dose of Vitamin D weekly for 10 weeks and then will probably take it monthly (and it makes me so sick!) depending on what my levels are at the end of that time. Because of my nearly-nonexistent Vitamin D level, I will have to have a bone scan for osteoporosis as well. Sigh.

Two good things:
#1 No one is telling me "it's all in your head" anymore.
#2 The gluten-free diet has completely resolved my skin lesions that I've been dealing with for over 2 years. (What a HUGE relief)

So that's the medical update. Finally some answers....just had to go all around Robin Hood's barn to get there!

GI Visit and Next Steps

Spent the morning at the Gastroenterologists. I was pleased with the visit. I was not able to get the doctor I requested but I was able to see one of his fellows. He was extremely nice and very knowledgeable (although I didn't learn anything new but at least it didn't seem like I knew more than he did)...he is also an adoptive parent - we are everywhere, LOL! One of the easiest to converse with doctors I've ever met.

As expected, an endoscopy has been scheduled. He stated he was "92. No, 95% sure that this is celiac sprue" but the endoscopy is the definitive diagnosis. So that is scheduled for Monday. (Boo!)

Also as expected, he wants me back on gluten until that endoscopy/biopsy. I was actually really disappointed about having to do this because I don't want to lose my momentum....I struggle with will power and I was feeling really good about my commitment to being gluten-free. Just hoping I don't blow it this week. (Boo!)

So I'll keep you updated!

Eating Out & Health Update

Took my first forray into the restaurant world last night. There is not enough time to head home for supper after picking M up from school before I have to get her to ballet, so I debated all day on where to go for supper. I seriously considered just grabbing myself a snack, getting her a Happy Meal and then waiting until I got home to eat. But I didn't want to be cooking at 8pm.

We ended up at Applebees...it's one of our regular places to go and oddly enough, I order the same thing every time and it's gluten-free! I had a steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. I did relay to the waiter that I was gluten intolerant (apparently, even if you are choosing gluten-free on the menu, you should tell your server so they can make sure the cook doesn't use your spatula for flipping your kid's breaded strips or adding some mystery sauce to your food). I'm pretty sure that the waiter thought I had some toxic, communicable disease. I swear he backed up a step. Probably didn't help that I laughed at him!! I told him to just write it on the order (hoping the chef would have a clue!).

After ballet, we went to Dairy Queen. This is our normal treat. This week, though, I had to forego the cone. I was so happy the other day when I learned that Dilly Bars are gluten-free....I don't have to miss out on a dip-cone anymore (well, the cone's gone but I'm trying not to think of that!). Plus, Dilly Bars can be bought in a box and taken home! Score! It's also very timely that M learned how to lick her cone finally so it doesn't drip...since I guess "helping" her with drips is out of the question. Funny thing, she actually didn't finish her cone last night (that's strange!) and offered me the best part bottom end. Oh well, the dog got a treat, too! I have noticed some difference in how I'm feeling. No miraculous overnight cure but definitely some digestive changes that I don't care to share. Maybe a little less grumpy too; either that or my child has suddenly become an angel overnight....somehow, I think I've become less grumpy! The skin lesions that I have on my hands have completely healed up and are looking right now how they usually look about 6-8 weeks after erupting....and it's only been two! Now that's HUGE!

I have an appointment next week with the gastroenterologist. It's not the one I wanted to see but, since I couldn't get to see him until July, I consented to seeing one of his fellows for now. Just to make sure we are on the right track.

Spaghetti Dilemma

One thing that I definitely have to get right is spaghetti. I love spaghetti. We love spaghetti. We eat a lot of spaghetti. We have it at least 2-3 times a week (including leftovers for lunch). So, I have to get this one right. Sauce is not a problem. My favorite brand is gluten-free and the stuff I add to it (ground beef, mushrooms, and onions) are not a problem. So I wasn't too worried about that. It was the noodles that had me worried. (In all honesty, if the sauce is thick and hearty, I can skip the noodles but I don't think I could skip them the rest of my life). I bought a couple different kinds and was given a couple different kinds....so I started my experimentation the other night.

Let's just say....back to the drawing board. I used rice noodles (Vietnamese rice noodles, to be exact). The flavor was fine...eating them dry was just like eating the regular ones I used to scarf as a kid (and then my mom would be upset when half her noodles were missing the next time she went to make spaghetti!). The texture was really interesting. I cooked them for the recommended 2-3 minutes and they were still stiff. It ended up being over 10 minutes before they were "twirlable" around a fork. Once I was eating them, it was the weirdest thing (and hard to put into words). If I cut them with my fork, it was easy. If I bit them off with my "biting" teeth, they were soft. If I tried to chew them with my molars....well, they were like shoelaces. It was the strangest thing....almost squishy and chewy. Really weird. Again, taste was not bad....just really hard to eat. Next time I will try the noodles that are a blend of flours. I learned a few other hardships while making the spaghetti. First, my daughter is a meatball girl. I could care less about meatballs if there is meat in the sauce. But meatballs are great for a preschooler to stick a fork in. I just buy frozen ones and throw them in the sauce....except they have wheat-based fillers. Yikes. So we ended up with separate sauces. This will not be our new norm. I will either find some gluten-free meatballs or just make my own.

The other thing was the noodle situation. I chose to cook separate noodles for my daughter because she eats spaghetti about 2-3 times as much as I do and gluten-free noodles are not cheap. Cooking a separate pot of noodles would not be a big inconvenience (or so I thought!). There is a lot of talk about cross-contamination. So I was very careful about which fork was going into which pot of boiling water. I knew that I would have to strain my noodles first so as not to contaminate the strainer with her noodles. Unfortunately, my noodles took a lot longer to cook than it says so M's were beyond al dente by the time I got them strained....luckily, she didn't notice!

Then there is the saving of leftovers....two sets of sauces, two sets of noodles. I'm going through rubbermaid like crazy and filling up my fridge. And can we talk about water bills? I usually run the dishwasher 2-3 times a week. We've run it 3 out of 4 nights this week. But I know all this will settle down. I will find alternatives so we will not be having separate food and I will also learn more things to cook and freeze (how I usually operate). Just got to find my groove.

What I ate today.....

I promise I won't bore you daily with my menu (although I've never been good at keeping a food diary, so maybe this would work....), but I'm trying to keep track of what I'm eating and how I'm feeling and making sure I'm doing this right. So, if anyone spots any mistakes in my eating, please tell me!

First....haven't really felt any different (2 whole days in, you know, expecting a miracle!) but I can tell you that I'm not feeling deprived or depressed. I'm actually having very satisfying, fulfilling meals. I have been hungry at times but this is because I'm used to grazing all day and my grazing food has been eliminated. But it's a normal hunger and not my usual "I've got to have something horrible for me right this minute" kind of craving that I'm used to. And while I got up to pee about 40 times last night (thank you, iced tea!), I never once wandered to the kitchen for a snack. Yes, I used to eat in the middle of the night because I had a gnawing hunger in my gut....of course, I usually picked something full of gluten (like club crackers) and just kept the vicious cycle going. So hopefully, that gnawing will cease (taking with it the middle of the night snacking).

Today's food: (drank iced tea all day)

Breakfast:
-cup of fresh fruit (cantaloupe, strawberries, blackberries)
-cinnamon/sugar pecans

Lunch: (seriously YUMMY!)
-leftover steak and mushrooms (sauted in olive oil with sprinkle of garlic salt)
-baked potato with butter

Snacks:
-mini bag of M&Ms
-cinnamon/sugar pecans
-Dubble Bubble gum

Supper:
-baked tilapia marinated in Dole Orange Pineapple Banana juice (don't laugh - it was good and I didn't have any lemon juice in the house!)
-cubed potatoes, roasted in olive oil with garlic salt
-corn and peas (as requested by M - yes, my 4-yr-old LOVES peas and corn!)
-broccoli

As a treat, I decided to make the Betty Crocker gluten-free brownies. I added some chocolate chips and some caramel dip (you know, for apples)....didn't have any walnuts or they would have been perfect. Even without the nuts...they were FANTASTIC!!! The only issue I had was getting them out of the pan...probably because I can no longer use my baking spray (BOO!!). Awesomely good. I've already eaten 3 (who can resist warm brownies?).

Commitment and Support

I've been overwhelmed at the number of friends that have stepped forward with personal experience, friend suggestions, and resources like websites, stores, support groups, etc. I'm in information overload (but in a very good way - every question I have, I have someone or someplace to turn to get answers). After some discussions with other celiac friends, I've decided to go ahead and commit to the diet now. It may be months before I get an appointment with a GI specialist and then I can resume the glutenous diet if they feel it's necessary for the testing. Apparently, my levels are high enough that they may take awhile to come down.

Today I cleaned out my pantry. Most of what I purged did not surprise me but I was pretty shocked at a couple items....like the spice blend I used for tacos. Pretty much anything pre-mixed like spice blends or gravy mixes is o.u.t. I guess it's time to start using the real things (spices, I mean) instead of relying on mixes. I was happy about several things I found to be gluten free...like sour cream and onion potato chips and my favorite spaghetti sauce.

Here is what I purged sent home to my parents. If you read the previous post, you will see that I've already started replenishing my pantry. I was very blessed to have a good friend come over today and bring me some gluten-free items that she loves. She has been living this life for quite awhile and knows the ins and outs of it. She helped me with a basket of items I was unsure about as well as confirming the gluten-free properties of a couple things that I love. She gave me a crash course on which noodles hold together best and gave me "hints" on finding stuff cheaper (like buying rice noodles in the Asian section rather than in the gluten free section). It's nice to have a resource close at hand!

Preparing for the diet is going to be the most time-consuming. It's not going to be so easy to just grab and go like I usually do before work. I'm going to have to plan it out more thoughfully. I already have my breakfasts lined up this week....hard-boiled eggs, sausage (double-checked the fillers!), and fruit. I also baked up a batch of cinnamon/sugar pecans to be able to snack on throughout the day. Lunch will be leftovers from my dinner the night before (tonight's was steak and mushrooms sauted in olive oil with a sprinkle of garlic salt). I'm drinking iced tea no;, still getting my caffeine fix but skipping the gluten! Now, just need to figure out dinner tomorrow night....thinking tilapia.

Seriously, though, how can you get discouraged when you have this to eat for breakfast?