This has been a weird couple of days. I have a lot of work to do, but things keep popping up and I haven't been able to get half of the stuff I have on my plate finished. Sometimes work goes smoothly, sometimes it doesn't.
First, I found out yesterday that I tested positive for gluten intolerance on two counts, and that I also have two genes for gluten intolerance. So, by all counts, I'm considered gluten intolerant. That's a crazy thing to me, because I got tested on a hunch due to some advice from these women in an online support group that I'm a part of. They suggested there might be a link between gluten intolerance and some other problems I'm having, but I thought it was a bit of a stretch. I didn't think I would actually come up positive, but I wanted to eliminate the possibility before investigating into different possible causes further. It's pretty insane that those women were right to have suggested I get tested! I don't have full-blown Celiac disease, although my score for intestinal damage was dangerously close to the limit (285 out of 300), so there's that.
This news is likely going to change a lot of things for me, which is sort of weird. For now, the task is a little intense. I'm seeing a doctor on Friday for a different problem, but I am going to ask her about a possible gluten link, and see what she says. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to slowly phase gluten out of my diet. I don't feel that I have to stop eating gluten full-stop this week, but I am going to go gluten-free once I finish the last box of cereal on my counter. I think I will try the diet for six months and see if it helps. All of the mysterious health problems I have had over the last few years are symptoms of gluten intolerance... it's sort of weird to have them all link up as an auto-immune response to something as simple as a slice of bread or some pasta.
Sigh. I am going to miss chocolate chip cookies and baguettes, but if eliminating gluten can answer a few other issues, I'm willing to give it a try.
Second, I won a great set of needles on E-bay. It was my first win, and I feel deeply satisfied. I figured out that you have to not bid at all until the last minute, and then sneak up and steal the sale out from under some poor, unsuspecting soul's feet. That's how I lost my big lot of 100's of needles from some dead lady. So I instead won a beautiful set of wooden needles for 40 bucks. The price seems ridiculously reasonable to me because one pair of wooden needles here is automatically at least 7,50 euros. Multiply that by eight, and I believe you have more than 40 dollars.
I'm waiting to see about a sewing machine and a tortilla press. After that, I will have to stop the E-bay party. I might just let the sewing machine go, and buy a cheap one in a real store. However, I haven't been able to find a tortilla press anywhere here, so I'm pretty intent on winning one. And knowing now that I can't eat anything with gluten, I'm all about the corn tortillas.
Third, my vacation is already more than halfway over and I haven't done much work at all! I'm not too happy about that.
So, on that note, I have to go run to the cinema right now to go see "Ray."
You don't have to miss chocolate chip cookies and all that, you just need to search a little bit to find the gluten free kind! It'll taste a little bit different, but it's better than going without.
My cousin's wife and son both have Celiac. It was a difficult adjustment for them to make (gluten is in SO many things!!) but they seem to have the hang of it now. They cook most of their own meals (something I'd never be able to do!) and have a list of restaurants/food that's gluten free for when they want to eat out.