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I have written a couple of times on the list soliciting stories of people with Celiac for a follow-up project to my documentary "Gut Reaction."  So far I have receive a lot of responses, but not one of them has been from a man.  So I'm writing again.  

Men, you know how you felt when you were first diagnosed.  Please help me help others get past that point to the place you are now.  There are uniquely male problems around getting diagnosed and about sticking with a GF diet -- different pressures, different expectations, than those faced by women -- so it is incredibly important to make sure men hear about CD from other men as well as from women.  

Please help with this project.  I am putting my original email below.  I'll remind you that, in order to participate, you need to be in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area (Philly, Delaware, south Jersey) or to be able to get here easily.

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HERE'S MY ORIGINAL EMAIL

Those of you who heard my public radio documentary "Gut Reaction" know the power of hearing peoples' stories of living with Celiac Disease first-hand.  I am currently working on a follow-up project to "Gut Reaction" and I am once again looking for people willing to share their stories of Celiac Disease in an effort to help others.  

What I need from you are your personal life stories.  I want to be very specific about what I'm looking for so please read this next part carefully.

I am looking for adults who learned they had Celiac as adults -- people who suffered all their lives until they found out that they had Celiac.  I am also looking for parents who can talk about the challenges of having children diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

I would like to hear from people who went to various doctors over the years and were given various diagnoses other than Celiac, or were told "We just don't know what's wrong with you."  I will want to ask you about your symptoms and the impact they have had on the way you have lived your life.  So I need you to think hard about how comfortable you will be talking about embarrassing life experiences that were caused by your Celiac and expressing your embarrassment and emotional pain, as well as your physical pain.  I am looking for people who are good storytellers and who have an interesting story to tell.  That's what will be most important in conveying the information that I will want to get out.

I am also looking for parents who can talk about the challenges of having children who have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I will want you to talk about your feelings during the time before your child was diagnosed, when you were struggling to get doctors to understand what was happening to your child; and about whatever feelings you had as you watched your child get sick.  And I will want you to talk about the challenges you face keeping your child Gluten-Free.  Do these challenges cause stress?  What's the nature of that stress?  As I said above, good storytellers who have an interesting story to tell are what will be most important.

This is a journalistic endeavor.  Therefore no one will be paid to appear, but you can imagine the good you will be doing by informing other people who are currently as in-the-dark as you were before you were diagnosed.
 
Please write me your story in the most engaging way you can, including as much detail as you think I need to know.

If I select your story, I will need to contact you so please tell me a way to do that.  As I mentioned, you will need to travel to the Washington, DC/Baltimore area.  

For the last thing I'm going to write here, I ask the indulgence of the list manager.  I do not mean this to be promotional.  If you want to hear "Gut Reaction," you can hear it in the "Documentaries" section of my website -- http://www.rlpaulproductions.com/doc.html

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Richard Paul
rlpaulproductions, LLC

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