www.celiacfiles.com

I haven't been posting as much lately because I'm nearing the final stages of my graduate school capstone, which I'm scheduled to present in less than two weeks. The capstone project is www.celiacfiles.com and much is still needed to make this Web site complete!

Visit again for regular postings after March 23 (the big day).

Coming attractions will include two outstanding audio clips with world-famous celiac researchers -- Dr. Joseph Murray from the Mayo Clinic and Dr. Alessio Fasano from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Interestingly, both doctors left their celiac research in Europe initially assuming that prevalence of the disease would be far less here in the United States. How could rates be any higher than in Ireland or Italy?! Well, they're really not...and they'll tell you why in these interviews.

Also enjoy hearing from three celiacs I was honored to have interviewed in 2009. Wallace, Deborah, and Michael shared similar disease symptoms after years of misdiagnoses. All three maintain a fairly strict gluten-free diet.

And still, more to come are videos!

Have a good gluten-free week,
Julie

Endoscopy Results

I’m growing tired of my usual pancake production every weekend. In the mood for potato pancakes or just something with more texture. This morning I tried making cornmeal pancakes -- something with a little grit.

I followed my usual recipe (see “Aunt Betty’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes” post) but instead of using ½ cup gluten-free flour, I used ¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill corn polenta (uncooked) and ¼ cup Bob’s Red mill gluten-free all-purpose flour.

The verdict? GRITTY AND FLAVORLESS AS ALL HECK.

I added some flavor with frozen blueberries (peaches would be good too). I also made a non-alcoholic Mimosa blending sparkling mineral water and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Now, getting to the better result…

My upper endoscopy results came in the mail Friday and I suppose with any result arriving in the mail (and no phone call) errs more on the side of good news. Well, the results weren’t only good, but sounds like my small intestine is finally normal:

“Julie, your small bowel biopsies are PERFECTLY NORMAL! They would not be able to tell from these biopsies that you have celiac sprue. Congratulations! Keep up the good work,” my doctor wrote.

I’ve felt relief all weekend and a tinge of emotion. It’s sort of like working really hard to get an A in class and then seeing your final grade, the A, overwhelms you with happiness, a sense of accomplishment, and relief.

That’s exactly how I feel about this recovery process.