I have recently had to spend time 'reloading' the kitchen to maintain safety in the presence of a gluten eating husband and a gluten free child. We have found that while my son can verbalize he can not eat gluten, he can not always resist gluten packed foods....especially when they look yummy. From the beginning we took our food and have gluten foods stored in one cupboard. That seemed to work for a bit.
Then we included one counter right below that for the 'counter' foods such as baked goods, things my husband doesn't put away, etc. We would use the other spaces for safe, free foods. Then there was this Amish Friendship bread. I make both regular and gluten free versions. My son did not see his container of baked goods so he went straight to the container on the BAD counter. AHHHH!
Fortunately I caught the little critter,....I mean my son, prior to him ingesting the evil grains. SO we have added another feature to our safety. RED storage lids for his easy visual clues. RED means STOP. We even took a sharpie to write DAD and CODY on the appropriate lids. Cody's are clear or blue, his favorite color. They are both now color and graphically labeled. This has already helped segregate our kitchen more deliberately while providing ongoing independence for our growing boy. And in case someone places their container on the wrong counter, it is now clearly identified by at least two visual ques.
My son took the moment to color his own GLUTEN FREE counter sign. It is taped on HIS side of the kitchen. He will be the first one to tell you that you are in his space.....I may regret that some day but for now it is at least helping in the kitchen.
It is important in order to have success to consider these types of reminders and safety additions. It will assure that the at risk diner is going to leave your kitchen with a thumbs up experience. The last thing we want is an exposure. Some of you may wonder what happens with an exposure anyway? Let me share.....
Our son has had four exposures since diagnosis. The first one about 6 months after he went gluten free landed him in the hospital for a week with nausea, vomiting and all forms of GI symptoms. The next three have resulted in severe respiratory congestion, requiring medication and management to get him through recovery. This was his general profile pre-Celiac diagnosis. He was in the ER and hospital continuously for 12 years with respiratory illness. At one point they wanted to put him on large dose long term steroids. I said no, not yet! And I am so glad I did as the damage from those meds would have left him with permanent dysfunction. Once we found and removed the gluten factor, never sick again....except for four exposures.
The consideration for you the Celiac patient or family member is that each individual will react differently and with diverse intensity depending on the amount and frequency of exposure to gluten's. Untreated...still ingesting gluten..Celiac disease leads to diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, intestinal cancers and other auto-immune conditions. With treatment, removal of gluten, the body no longer attacks itself and health is improved. With early diagnosis and management avoidance of many of these adult or complex juvenile conditions can be avoided. So assuring that you or your loved one stays gluten free is not only critical for long term health but also to avoid acute and possibly severe illness as a result of ingesting that tiny unintended grain.
