Shelly Shiflett - Celiac Lost: A Family Guide to Finding a Gluten-Free Life

Celiac Lost: A Family Guide to Finding a Gluten-Free Life

Published by Gatekeeper Press

2167 Stringtown Rd, Suite 109

Columbus, OH 43123-2989

www.GatekeeperPress.com

Copyright 2020 by Shelly Shiflett and Christopher Shiflett

All rights reserved. This book is intended only as an informative guide and is based on one familys experience and story. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physicians and dieticians or any other medical professional. The ultimate decisions concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or publisher. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. Mention of specific companies, organizations, products, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does the mention of specific companies, organizations, products, or authorities imply that they endorse this book.

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the authors.

ISBN (paperback): 9781642377002

eISBN: 9781642376999

Library of Congress Number: Pending

Celiac Lost website: www.celiaclost.com

We dedicate this book to our family and friends who
have supported us on this journey, and to the many
families who are beginning their own gluten-free life.

About This Book

When our son, Christopher, was diagnosed with celiac disease in August 2015, we felt lost and confused. How could this be? The child ate bread, pasta, and cake. He had no symptoms! Except his growth rate had slowed. And he had this strange little rash. As a mom and pediatric nurse, I should have caught this sooner, right?

The signs and symptoms of celiac disease are varied and often unclear, with some symptoms noticeable and others only rearing their heads later. Receiving the diagnosis as a child or an adult can feel overwhelming and sad for some, and for others it is a significant relief to finally know the source of their distressing symptoms. In either case, turning to the world of gluten-free living requires much education as you have real and permanent restrictions to a food protein that is seemingly everywhere.

Whether you are beginning gluten-free living from a place of complete surprise or a welcome change, we are all in this together to learn how best to start a new lifestyle and weed through the new world of labels and cooking methods. Our family approached this book from a starting point where we felt lost and overwhelmed, moving toward the place were now in, feeling educated and content. We wrote this book with two goals in mind:

The first goal is to address how to switch to a gluten-free diet in a simple and straightforward manner, encouraging you to keep your family recipes using gluten-free ingredient substitutions. We provide quick tips on grocery shopping, cooking, and meal ideas that took us years to discover.

Our second goal is to address the family and social complications that can arise when you have a restrictive diet with celiac disease. The diagnosis affects the entire family and, sometimes, friendships. We share our mistakes and successes in hopes it will make your transition smoother.

This is the book we wish we had when Christopher was diagnosed.

Triage Table of Contents

In nursing, triage involves prioritizing patient treatment by degree of urgency. When you are diagnosed with celiac disease, your first urgent need is to find out what you can eat! After that key concern is addressed, you are ready to learn and take control of this new lifestyle. For the purposes of this book, weve tried to triage what celiac patients often want to know first, followed by what they can address later. However, read this book in whatever order fits your needs or interests.

The idea for this book came to me as I was taking a walk and thinking how Christopher has grown and taken ownership of his diagnosis. He has taught me so many things about gluten-free cooking. During the first two years of his diagnosis, Christopher would occasionally come to me with cooking ideas, tips, and recipes that were, time and time again, immensely helpful. He started to ask a lot of questions about how I was cooking things (what flour I was using, why this brand seemed to work better than that other brand, etc.), and little did I know that he had been viewing a lot of food channels and cooking websites. Christopher has advanced from I dont like this (fill in the blank bread, pasta, etc.), or just not eating what I gave him, to Im going to fix biscuits this morning. Im going to make spaghetti carbonara tonight. He has totally taken charge and done so through extensive research on his own. Christopher agreed we should share our experience and together we have collaborated on this book

As I reflect back on this entire experience, Ive come to realize that we really have three stories to share: one as a parent of a child with celiac disease, one as the child experiencing the diagnosis, and another as a family. We all have different perspectives on this process, and I think sharing our individual stories can help others. This book is designed not only for people who have a new celiac disease diagnosis, but also for anyone who has a friend, family member, or loved one with the disease and wants to understand better and provide support.

Moms Story:

I am the proud mother of two sons, Tyler and Christopher, who are currently teenagers. Like many moms and parents, I have found that having children fundamentally changed me as a person. The challenges and situations you find yourself in as a parent really make you focus on priorities and the importance of family. Being a parent also enhances the realization of how out of control we really are and how the decisions we make are an effort to regain a sense of control. I highlight this last point because, since having children, I have always tried to make something good happen out of whatever cards we are dealtit is how I try to regain control of my world and figure out Gods plan for us.

My children were both born prematurely. Tyler was seven weeks early, but Christopher was 12 weeks early despite my best efforts to stay pregnant full-term. Fortunately, his two months in the NICU went fairly smoothly other than the apnea (stop breathing) and bradycardia (slow heart rate) that occurred with his bottle feedings. While scary for me that we might have to resuscitate him during his meals, it was an expected condition of his prematurity and he grew out of it. Nonetheless it struck me that something so nurturing as feeding my child could be a life or death situation. This experience led me to change my career from business to nursing when he was one year old, and since then I have tried to positively apply both my knowledge and attitude to out of control situations to ones of growth and opportunity. So I find it interesting today, with Christophers diagnosis of celiac disease (once again, feeding my child can cause danger and damage), that I continue to work to gain control and find resilience in the challenges we are presented.