How I found out I had celiac

My grandpa had cancer. I was six years old. I was writing all sorts of letters to him and suddenly my stomach started hurting. We thought I was going to puke so we rushed to the bathroom. I stayed leaning over the toilet for a long time. Then finally my parents thought I should get some sleep. So I went to bed. But the stomach aches kept happening day after day and finally we went to a doctor. He made me keep taking this pill called Prevacid. And Tums. That helped for a little bit. But not for long.

I felt nauseous. I felt all sorts of things. Angry. Upset. And I could not ignore how much it hurt. So I didn't have a very fun time playing in my room.

Then we went to see my regular doctor. He wanted to stick a needle in me, and the needle would take out the blood. And then some people would look at it and see what I had. And then they did it. And then they did it again after a little while.

We visited a new doctor and she said to take a little more blood. That made me feel annoyed, upset and a little scared. It hurt. It didn't take long though. After it happened they gave me a band aid with a smiley face on it. It took a little while for it to stop being sore. But eventually it did.

Then I had an operation. It was not fun. I went to a playroom, (the only fun thing about the whole operation thing). Then I got taken to a room, and got on to a bed with wheels under it. I got changed into a nightgown (which was WAY too big on me) and mommy rode with me when they took the bed with me and my mama on it to the room where I would have my operation.

I stopped at the bathroom. Then they made me breathe into this yucky air that would make me fall asleep. And when you counted to three, poof I was asleep. They stuck a tube in my mouth and my two wiggly front teeth came out, even though they weren't really ready. The tube went into my tummy but still I was asleep, so what I felt was nothing.

And when I woke up I had a big hole in my mouth when I smiled because my bottom teeth had come out too. I looked at my chest and there were these square things on it with pictures of animals on it. I couldn't talk very well. I never really talked without any front or bottom teeth. I was talking horribly. There was also a needle in the back of my hand and it hurt. I kept asking when it will we take it out? When will we take it out? The answer was, ALWAYS, soon. The good part is, I had some animal crackers and watched a movie.

They scraped off a tiny little thin piece of my tummy when I was asleep with a knife and sent it to a laboratory where it would get tested. I didn't feel it because I was asleep. Or else the whole thing would terribly hurt.

And that's how they figured out I had celiac. We basically emptied out the whole house. Now I can't have some of my favorite foods but that doesn't mean I can't have any yummy foods. And some people make gluten free pasta, one of my favorite foods. That made me feel a little happier. But still, no Cheddar Bunnies, and other crackers.

The most important thing is that I'm not hurting my body and I still get to eat yummy things!