Coeliacs and the Priesthood

[maryjk]

Are you aware the the highest risk of lymphoma comes from continuous exposure to gluten, at a low to medium level? It’s the people who cheat or aren’t as careful as they should be whose risk is much higher. I will have to look up the research but I remember reading this - that is one reason I always warn people NOT to go GF without testing - because unless you KNOW you need the diet, it would be very difficult to be 100% scrupulous about staying strictly GF.

Those people and those that weren’t diagnosed for a long time. I was sick for years and years before I was diagnosed. Although I have never cheated, I know there was a lot of damage to my intestine when they finally looked at it.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Those people and those that weren’t diagnosed for a long time. I was sick for years and years before I was diagnosed. Although I have never cheated, I know there was a lot of damage to my intestine when they finally looked at it.

But usually the small intestine starts healing as soon as the “poison” is removed. I know it’s slower the older a person is, but I believe that the small intestine is one of the faster healing areas of the body, like the tongue. When our son was diagnosed, the doctor who did his endoscopy said he had NO villi whatsoever, and very bad damage from his esophagus all the way to the other end. He had anemia, anorexia, horrible diarrhea, bloating, gas. He was so sick. But I still remember how he enjoyed his first GF meal in the hospital. He had only been GF for less than a day and he had more appetite than I had seen in 6 mos.

Well, here he is, with a smile on his little face… He had already gotten a little color to his face…but notice the cold sores on his mouth…He had horrible cold sores before he went GF. I had actually forgotten about them until just now when I looked at the photograph again.

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Here he is just before diagnosis, you can see how white he is from anemia.

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I have often wished that there was some way to install a window into the small intestine, so we could be sure it was healing…and that the celiac wasn’t getting some amount of contamination.

 

[ringil]

Yes, metal is safe. Who told you it isn’t? Non-stick pans are an unknown, but most celiacs don’t risk it. Cast iron cannot be shared, as it is seasoned and the seasoning is never fully removed. Plastic gets pits and scratches so it’s not safe to share.

Oh, if you mean the paten…Yes, they could use a clean paten, but then there would be the chance that there could be accidental contact between the GF hosts and the wheat hosts. Better to keep them in the covered pyx until they are received.

I think Father referred to a specific pyx used to store the gluten free hosts.

It could certainly be my misreading.

 

[LoyalViews]

But usually the small intestine starts healing as soon as the “poison” is removed. I know it’s slower the older a person is, but I believe that the small intestine is one of the faster healing areas of the body, like the tongue. When our son was diagnosed, the doctor who did his endoscopy said he had NO villi whatsoever, and very bad damage from his esophagus all the way to the other end. He had anemia, anorexia, horrible diarrhea, bloating, gas. He was so sick. But I still remember how he enjoyed his first GF meal in the hospital. He had only been GF for less than a day and he had more appetite than I had seen in 6 mos.

Well, here he is, with a smile on his little face… He had already gotten a little color to his face…but notice the cold sores on his mouth…He had horrible cold sores before he went GF. I had actually forgotten about them until just now when I looked at the photograph again.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/hey_mom/Jonathanhospitallast.jpg

Here he is just before diagnosis, you can see how white he is from anemia.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/hey_mom/Jonathanafterbiopsy3.jpg

I have often wished that there was some way to install a window into the small intestine, so we could be sure it was healing…and that the celiac wasn’t getting some amount of contamination.

Awwh Good he was diagnosed early! Isn’t it interesting how quick a “cure” could work? And he’s still doing well, now? Gluten-free? Bless him!

 

[maryjk]

But usually the small intestine starts healing as soon as the “poison” is removed. I know it’s slower the older a person is, but I believe that the small intestine is one of the faster healing areas of the body, like the tongue. When our son was diagnosed, the doctor who did his endoscopy said he had NO villi whatsoever, and very bad damage from his esophagus all the way to the other end. He had anemia, anorexia, horrible diarrhea, bloating, gas. He was so sick. But I still remember how he enjoyed his first GF meal in the hospital. He had only been GF for less than a day and he had more appetite than I had seen in 6 mos.

That was me. According to my doctor, my intestine was “slick as a baby’s bottom.” I had lost so much weight and I was terribly anemic. My doctor was originally convinced I had amoebic dysentery. But couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t absorbing any of the iron I was taking. Then it was cancer of the blood. I had pretty much a death sentence.

Then low and behold, some sanity. The hematologist did a simply blood test. Got to love those hematologists.

As an adult, it takes much longer to heal. And as I said, it isn’t something that I think about all of the time. Just something that lingers in the back of my mind.

And I am so glad your guy is doing so well.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I think Father referred to a specific pyx used to store the gluten free hosts.

It could certainly be my misreading.

Yes, that is just to keep the low-gluten (not gluten free) hosts safe from other contact with wheat hosts. IF you could guarantee that the pyx had been cleaned adequately after being used to transport wheat hosts to the nursing home, for example, it would be safe for the low-gluten hosts. But people who don’t have celiac disease don’t usually pay a whole lot of attention to those details. It’s not worth worrying about - and causing illness. You just keep a dedicated pyx that is only to be used for the low-gluten hosts.

When I was my son’s EM, I brought his pewter chalice and took it home after Mass. Father didn’t want to take the chance that it would be used for someone else if it were left on site.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Awwh Good he was diagnosed early! Isn’t it interesting how quick a “cure” could work? And he’s still doing well, now? Gluten-free? Bless him!

Yep, he’s now 18, still GF, healthy as a horse. He showed signs of celiac disease for a while before he got very sick, but the pediatrician didn’t flag his anemia and bloating as a problem. We didn’t have any idea what was going on until he did get so ill and start really losing weight. After that, it was about 3 mos. to diagnosis, a lot quicker than many people are diagnosed.

 

[Ben_Quincy]

And do you keep the hosts there at the church? How do you make sure they don’t have any contact with the wheat hosts?

The wheat hosts are kept in the upper cubbard and the low gluten ones are kept in a drawer.

 

[EvelynEVF]

Our pyxes have seams that could catch crumbs, so the gf one is kept separate. Low gluten hosts are kept in the freezer in the rectory, and if Father has been notified that a celiac will be at Mass, he will just bring one with him. Most of the time the only way I know that a celiac has been to Mass is seeing the pyx on the tray with the other vessels when I clean up. It’s done very discreetly.