Isolation

                     I have been feeling very left out in some ways recently. I was diagnosed with Celiac's disease over a year and half ago. I do tend to not eat out as much and prepare most things from scratch which is good. My friends were pretty good about things for the most part but I stopped getting invites to go out to eat and such. I know I do have restrictions on what I can eat but most of the time there is some things I can eat. fast food is not usually an option but I have even been to a festivals and was able to find things that were safe and had no reactions from what I choose to eat. It has been so isolating in some ways but I also feel so much better. I just never thought I would not be so hard to handle at times. I know giving up gluten is not easy but things are getting easier with more and more restaurants offering gluten free items. I am hoping things will get better but it has been a rough road of learning and researching. I know it is so easy for cross contamination to happen. Most of the time just touching an item containing gluten and touching a gluten free item can contaminate the item. This has happened to me at a restaurant before and I was sick for several days. I don't want my friends to have to worry about it and I have learned some great places that we can all eat but it did take me a while to even eat out after my diagnosis.

 I am still learning a great deal about Celiac's disease and how to avoid cross contamination. I know a friend invited me to Thanksgiving and it worked out well there was plenty I could eat and nothing was cross contaminated which is what I aim for. My friend has another friend who is also gluten free and they sent me txt message with the ingredient lists to make sure that it did not have gluten. I really appreciated all her effort to make it safe. I know most people are overwhelmed by it and I can see how that could deter them from wanting to go to lunch.