Main » September 2004

September 29, 2004

Coeliac and MALToma

Someone posted a question to me earlier to ask if I knew that there was a link between Celiac disease and MALT lymphoma.

I do know that there is a link between the two and that most people who have auto immune diseases are also more prone to MALT. Well I have celiac as you all know and I also have Sjogrens syndrome and sarcoidosis. All three diseases are more prone to develop MALT lymphoma than healthy people so I guess that it was bound to happen for me. I did not find out until ten months after my diagnosis of Celiac that I also had MALToma and it was only through the testing for this that I found out about my other diseases.

My main incentive for trying to stick to a coeliac diet is so that I do not increase my chances of gastric MALT or of gastric lymphoma. I have already increased the chances a great deal because the celiac disease was left untreated for so long.

I have done really well this week as far as sticking to my diet goes. I am back to reading the labels on absolutely everything and if I am not sure then I just don't eat it. I do think that I will have to give up my hot chocolate in the mornings because the place that I get it does not have a gluten free one!!!! (better for the waist.)

My biggest piece of advise to anyone who is newly diagnosed with celiac disease is to read the labels on everything and never take someone else's word that products are gluten free because they may not be. If you don't do it right from the start it is hard to get on track and in the end the only person who really suffers is you!!!

Posted by Possum at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2004

The wonders of "zantac"

For those who are wondering, Zantac is a great drug they have in Australia which neutralizes stomach acid. Great for when I eat the wrong thing. It does not, however, stop the dreaded runny bum that I get with it!!! Sorry about that.

I have been living on Zantac for the last week. I have been suffering from the worst gastric reflux and acid indigestion that I have had for a long time. Nowhere near as bad as pre diagnosis though. I haven't worked out if it is the food or just being fat that is causing the problem. I am 5'4" and I weigh 84 kilograms. I don't know what that is is pounds sorry. It is a never ending battle to fight the flab because ALL of the pre prepared gluten free food is high in fat or super charged with carbs, or so I've found anyway. I should not be so slack and just eat fruit and vegies and meat and stay away from the pre prepared foods. I have one excuse that I cling to and that is that I work five or six 12 hr shifts a week as a cook so the last thing I want to do when I get home is cook!!!!

When I find the secret to well being and the easiest way to lose the flab I promise to tell everyone and not charge them a cent!!!!!

I am going to pay off an excercise bike and home gym. I know that I have the willpower to work out because I used to have a gym membership that I used every day before I started this job. Hopefully this will allow me to get a little slimmer!!!! Don't think it will help with the eating of the evil gluten though. I think it is time to go. I am starting to sound stupid!!!

Posted by Possum at 01:18 AM | Comments (1)

September 11, 2004

An update on the digestive system of me!!

Well as I said in my first post I have coeliac disease.

I have done well, not fantastic, but well at keeping the gluten out of my diet, but it proves to be difficult when I go out for a meal. People just do not understand what they have to do to serve me a gluten free meal. I understand this and don't stress too much about it but I find it frustrating that I cannot really go out for a nice meal in the country area where I live because I may end up very sick. I do make the most of it when I am in Melbourne though. I go to one of the gluten free bakeries down there an have a little bit of a pig out.

Anyway what started that train of thought was the last night I thought I would get a steak sandwich for tea. I do this once in a while. I give my hubby some of my g-free bread and he gets it for me. Last night though I think that they may have definitely cross contaminated my food because today my belly is not a happy chappy. Let me tell you that on one of my only days off in two and a half weeks of hard slog at work the last thing I wanted was to have to spend the day close to a toilet!!! I suppose that it could have been worse though!!

I went out not long ago to a cafe that advertised gluten free sandwiches and cakes and ordered a g-free sandwich. When I got it, it was made out of rye bread with oats on top. I was not amused. They have improved though!!! For those of you who do not know rye and oats are not g-free.

I must have slipped a couple of times in the last week and eaten the wrong things. I just never feel well if I am eating wrong. I sometimes forget to read the labels on food and get caught out that way. Well I am back to homemade bread, stir frys and rice noodles this week to see if I can get things under control again.

Posted by Possum at 04:22 AM | Comments (0)