<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Margaret says:

>I've noticed that many of us who brag about our good attitudes also report
>that we have supportive families, loyal friends, and good cooking skills. We
>also have, but of course would never mention, that we have enough income to
>buy ourselves expensive kitchen gadgets, expensive mail-order products, and
>of course, a computer.

Margaret is right on. Also people are raised with different kinds of eating
habits -- I am thinking of Midwestern friends who live where iceburg
lettuce is a vegetable and the tasty dish is something breaded, dredged in
flour, thickened with flour etc. etc. It is my good luck to have been
raised on a very different kind of diet, so the adjustment to celiac was
relatively easy for me. And I am not trying to stretch a food dollar to
feed a family, nor do I have to deal with a celiac child who can't eat
sandwiches with her friends or go into a fast food place and chow down on
what everyone else is chowing down on.

It was not difficult for me to understand that there is a lot of food for
celiacs to eat because that is pretty much what I was easting in the first
place. Being forced to change one's eating habits, however, is notoriously
difficult. In the case of celiac, the rewards are more than worth it -- but
Margaret is right: we need to be supportive of the many for whom it is a
tough job.

At the same time, I am one who believes that diagnosis is critical. I
recognize it can be elusive, but I think it is important not to allow the
frustrations of dealing with doctors sidetrack us into problematic
self-diagnosis.

Mary B
NYC