I've a stack of books (as per usual) I want to blog about, but, for now, I will break the trend of writing about reading, writing, and children's books and mention Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern (aka, the Gluten-Free Girl, who is not only a fine writer, but takes the most lovely photos of food!) Like Shauna, my husband has celiac disease, which is a condition in which your body is intolerant to the gluten in wheat, barley, rye (and some would say oats; his diet is still oat-free at the moment). Intolerant makes it sound a bit wishy-washy, but it is a very serious disease and very underdiagnosed. Since it manifests in so many different ways, the symptoms are often lumped in with something else or brushed away and dismissed. I've heard of people who were essentially starving (grown women about 90 pounds), who suffered from chronic headaches, who had severe and constant canker sores, who had miscarriage after miscarriage, who had constant stomach, bowel digestive woes, etc. The picture of a person with celiac disease can vary wildly. So, my public service announcement is...if you, or someone you know, has been sick for awhile and no one can seem to figure out why, do a bit of reading on celiac disease. It might not be this disease of course, but it just might, too. (Shauna's blog and book are great places to start.)
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