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In a message dated 96-02-05 23:36:35 EST, you write:

>I just found the following post and I'm in a rotten mood. Livid actually. I
>spend a lot of time in the newsgroups trying to convince people to get
>tested for celiac disease. But then I come across this!! I don't know how I
>should answer this. At this point I think the medical profession needs to be
>lined up and shot. We'd do better without them. Don Wiss.

        You're not alone Don,  The flustration level around here is at the
heartbreak level.
         I was diagnosed about 4 years ago,  and about 2 years ago I started
talking to my neighbor about celiac disease and all of her symptoms. She was
very overweight with swollen legs that she kept covered with a towel  when
someone visited.  They are red, dry cracked skin and ooze white
infection,when at the worst. Sorry there's no nice way to put it.  She has
been going to see the doctors here in this small town for 30 years with
different symptoms and complaints. She has DH with diarrhea and constipation,
fatigue. I really don't see how she has endured and suffered this long. She
gradually started eliminating gluten from her diet, and got to walking around
again pretty good.  Two times when I was down there I ask her  " Mrs. Lucille
are you celiac"   She would stop from her normal joking and look me straight
in the eye and say   " Yes Dwight  I'm celiac".  She never did get to the
point of eliminating all of the hidden gluten's.  Her husband mixed up some
brandy and junk that hurt her bad for about two weeks.
        All of this is mixed in with trips to Nashville  to see the "know it
all doctors " as she would say.  She even took the FAQ from this list to one
of them and they told her she definately did not have sprue. Without doing a
blood test or biopsy, they are sure she did not have sprue.
         She won't be around much longer for the doctors to practice on. She
went in for an operation to take care of intestinal blockage..........the
cancer is so bad he just did a short bypass  around the blockage and ended
the operation.
       No you want here about any multimillion dollar lawsuits, these are
hard working people, salt of the earth, practially took us in like family
since we moved down here.  To proud to think that someone might owe them for
30 years of suffering.  I stand up here in this  house on the hill and look
down on their dairy farm  where they put in a lifetime of blood, sweat, and
tears and much suffering. Why does this have to happen to such good people?
       My mother lived with this almost 35 years before I was diagnosed. And
Sara, the one who helped me find out what was wrong with me, and saved my
life. She had it for 10 years and almost died before they finally stumbled
onto it.
         This is not just a Tennessee problem of incompetence, it happenes
all over this country. In the year I have been on this list I've heard some
pretty sad stories.
       If 20/20and 60 minutes have time to cover wolves in Yellostone, you
would think they would have time to embarrass the medical community in this
country. (the ones that know it all as Mrs. Lucille says)  Ten minutes of
prime time could save a lot of suffering for a lot of people.

         Dwight                       Gluten free in Tennessee