I cant quiet believe its been three years…. I don’t remember the exact date, I remember the hospital stays, the dehydration, the coming home after, the vomiting, the diarrhoea, the wasting away, the screaming. I remember the heartache, I remember being absolutely numb. I remember not functioning for any other purpose then to hold my so obviously miserable daughter. I was at the end of my tether…. she was to young to tell me where she was. We were all suffering on a daily basis. Our life was awful. I remember the April school holiday, searching every shop in Dubai for gluten free foods, I remember learning to bake.

Its been 3 years since we got our lives back. Its been 3 years, since we were able to finally, on some level, relax.

Our life is talked about in terms of ‘before diagnosis’, and ‘after diagnosis’. Before diagnosis it was almost like we were somehow paralysed. There were days when I would walk with her for hours, and if I stopped, at any point, she would scream. So I would do circles in the mall, never stopping, just walking. I say WE were diagnosed, because Celiac disease affected all of us so very much, and still does. This is our life, as a family we are in this together, and we are a Celiac family.

Its been 3 years, since we got our lives back.

The road is still not always easy, but we do our best. Incidents of contamination are far and few between as we have all learned to avoid it best as we can. The battle now is with weak lungs and a crappy immune system that took a hard hit from a delayed diagnosis.

The battle now, is to help teach the world about Celiac disease.

Its been 3 years, and it feels like forever.

I cant remember us being a ‘normal family’ before diagnosis. Sure, we had our good days, and bad, but its only really since diagnosis that life has made sense. If someone is going to scream and cry fore a whole day, then its really better and easier for those around if they know why.

Its been 3 years, and we just keep smiling 🙂

-Linda