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Hello to everyone,

I have received such an outpouring of support, encouragement and wonderful
advice from this group.  Instead of writing to each one of you--and you know
how much mail that would be!--I wanted to send a letter acknowledging the
group for its unmatched ability to understand and relate to this issue we all
share.

Firstly, thank you to all who let me know that you have been there and that
grieving is a natural process of accepting the illness.  I want you all to
know that this depression is not a permanent part of my life.  I am a happy
person who is living the life of my dreams.  The depression stems from the
realization that I've received such poor medical advice over the years, I've
fallen prey to believing that grains were a good thing (what with all the B
vitamins, colon cleansing action, etc.), and the painful knowledge that I
could be passing this on to my child and his children.  That coupled with the
hideous and sometime disfiguring rashes, were almost too much to take.
However, I always know what a wonderful life I have and how much I have to be
grateful and happy for.

I also appreciate the information you all sent regarding the books, which I
do have, and all the wonderful suggestions for mail order and shopping, as
well as fabulous recipes.  Your jokes and humor are just so inspiring.  I
never thought I could laugh at diarreah.  Jax's book was the first I
purchased and I use it almost daily.  I have also looked at Elaine G.'s book,
but I don't identify with her theory that it is not genetic, so I am sticking
with GF and my wonderful gastro doc for the time being.

I heard from many registered dieticians, and as fate would have it, this very
morning in one of my yoga classes, one student turns out to be an RD and
volunteered to counsel me. She has many celiac clients and is familiar with
our plight.  I have found a local support group, so anyone who will be
attending the next meeting at Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, NY will be
meeting me in October.  I can't wait to meet all of you.

As far as bone loss, thank God I have none.  However, I do thank all of you
who suggested I be tested.  This is partly because I am a yoga teacher and
yoga is very bone building.  I plan to offer a class to my local support
group, so all of your here in my area, this will be my personal thank you for
your lovely letters and suggestions.

I am also grateful to those of you who did get lengthy and technical because
I was not aware that when I take my biopsy I would already be GF for a few
months.  I will call my doctor and have a discussion about this.  It was also
very informative to read about false positive readings, and all the other
wonderful research that you guys did.

Most of all, I am just blown away by the warmth and generosity of your
remarks, the time you took to respond to someone you don't even know, and how
very much I identified with each of the stories you told of your own journey
with Celiac Sprue.  I am looking at the diagnosis as a gift of sorts.  I am
now able to do something about what has given me so many years of misery.

Just a small reminder to those very few with the "get on with it" attitude
who also mentioned "at least it's not cancer or some other disease which is
worse".  Please remember that when people write for help, you don't know what
else they have dealt with in life, so soften your heart and offer support
instead of criticism because, guess what?  Been there, done that with more
serious illness.  It still doesn't lessen the angst and frustration of Celiac.

Again, thank you all so much for all of your support and tenderness.  I look
forward to making whatever small contribution I may to this list.

I hope all of you stay strong and healthy and appreciate yourselves for how
much you were able to lift my spirits and allow me to see my way out of my
funk.  Enjoy your weekend.

Love and blessings,

Libby