Skip to main content

Celiac Education Day

Since being diagnosed with Celiac in December leaving my dorm has taken more preparation than it used to. Every meal and snack has to be carefully planned out., each restaurant research, all snacks packed. So going to Celiac Education Day at CHOP was quite a treat, I only had to bring my cell phone and wallet with me. For the first time since being diagnosed with Celiac I didn't have to worry about it, irony at its finest.

The day was amazing. I got to play with adorable children, one three year old informed me that she had Celiac and a wheat allergy, and was very excited to learn that I have Celiac as well. Even more exiting I could eat everything!

There was a ton of samples! There were a few things that stuck out for me. First of course were Sweet Note Bagels. As a Jew who grew up right out side NYC, bagels play an important role in my life. Between finding out I probably had Celiac and the final blood test the two things I got while in NYC was a bagel and a black and white cookie. I actually went to all three Zarro's locations in Grand Central in search of a poppy seed bagel, because if it was going to be my last a sesame seed one wasn't going to cut it. Now that I have gone off on my little tangent back to the gluten free bagels, they are amazing. They are actually NY style unlike Udi's bagels that are more like a piece of bread with a hole in the middle. As soon as Passover is over I fully intend on buying a full case.

I can't pay homage to NYC without mentioning a Philly favorite as well, the soft pretzel. As Celiac Education Day I discovered Tonya's Soft Pretzels. They taste even better then most street pretzels.

My last big discovery was Sweet Megan's. This is the first gluten free bakery I have found where the stuff taste better than the ones I make myself.

Lastly I went to a teen discussion about college. It was so interesting to hear from all the families there that were so concerned their children would have more trouble with Celiac once they go to college, for me it has always been harder at home than in college. I guess in the end it comes down to what you are used to. I also met Priyanka Chugh, who was leading the discussion. She survived college with Celiac and blogs as the Anti-Wheat Girl. I actually just one a gluten free giva away from her blog, I think it just came to my dorm yesterday (I get an email when I get a package), but I took an impromptu trip home so I will have to wait to get it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Swollen Wrist

This morning I woke up to a red painful swollen wrist. My right wrist was not happy or useable for the better part of the morning. Of course my mom wanted to make a rheumatologist appointment for this week but I really did not think it is worth it. Since I am now in the 2 week period before my hip surgery I can not take anything but Tylenol anyway (no voltaren or fancy cream), so there is not a whole lot that can be done. We finally settled on me going to my GP (for the 2nd time in one week as I had a pre-op appointment with him on Monday), and I took a picture so I can show my rheumy at my next appointment. I managed to get an appointment at 11AM because my GP was in the office this Saturday. By the time of the appointment my wrist looked pretty normal, although I had the picture so he could see something was up. He had it x-rayed just to rule out any issues non rheumatology related, and as we both guessed the x-rays came out normal. My Lovely Wrist this Morning I was left wit...

The Perfect Body?

Today I am going to write about a taboo subject- body image, and how living with chronic illness/pain has affected it. I get told how great my body is a lot, I am tall and fairly skinny. Not to be egotistic but I look pretty good in a bikini. I should love how I look. I should be confident of my body, after all I just bought a pair of size 2 jeans. Yet I still struggle with loving my body. My New Jeans! In middle school I thought my legs were fat, that was when I had muscles from horseback riding, today I miss my muscular legs. My thighs tend to be two different sizes, the left one is almost always smaller. The reason for this is simple, my left quad has atrophied from months of limping and being on crutches when I was 15/16, at one point it was so bad my doctor measured it and the difference was a good 2 cm in circumference. Today they are almost the same size, and probably look the same to anyone else, but to me they still look different. If you haven't guessed it yet, ...

I Am Still Me

In the past two years it seems like my medical issues have become part of my identity. I am the girl always on crutches or limping, the one who doesn't participate in gym. No one asks where I am if I am not it class, they know I was probably at a doctor's appointment or if I come in a period or two late my friends know my shoulders are probably having a bad day so I had to take a bath to get rid of morning stiffness. I am not sure when it happened but people are now more surprised when I can walk then when I can't.  Sometimes it is really hard for me to move past the medical parts of my life, because it does affect all the others, but it is important that I do. I try to do everything I used to do, which is hard but aside from athletic activities I have done a pretty good job managing. I can't always do everything I want to but I prioritize.  There are a couple things I refuse to let my health affect. Debate is something I don't let get affected, since I have ...