The accident

I'M BACCCCKKKK!!!!!! As you can see I'm very excited by this!

I begged my darling hubby to put up a post explaining my absence, just so you didn't think I'd fallen off the face of the earth.

For the past 3 weeks I've been bed ridden with horrendous neck spasms, several times a day! The pain is so intense, so severe and absolutely exhausting.

The most annoying, unfair, unjust thing about all of this, is it was all caused by a car accident in September last year. I was on my way to work, I'm a school teacher and it was the last day of term, my to do list was rather large, I was going to go the freeway to get there just that bit quicker to finish all my work!

This is rather hard but therapeutic to write.....

I was in the right hand lane, doing the exact speed limit 80km, when and I'll explain it to you as it happens in my flashback, I saw a car, and the drivers face, his face, come hurtling toward me from the left hand lane, coming on a 45 degree angle, I remember screaming, then he hit me. The air bags went off, they let off a smoke, I couldn't see anything and I was hurtled a couple of hundred metres up the road on the wrong side into oncoming traffic. The other driver, a green p plate driver, did not once come and see if I was okay, as the witness attended to me, while we waited for the ambulance.

But that is now a memory, a painful and heartbreaking one but a memory. It's the physical and psychological affects of the accident that I have to live with every day. I have permanent spinal injuries in my neck, back, a cyst in my spinal cord and quite extensive damage to my hip that has required surgery, oh and PTSD.  And now these hideous, horrible spasms, which are all a side affect of the neck injuries.

Everyday I thank god that I'm so lucky that I wasn't killed, that I'm not in a wheelchair. I'm so grateful that it wasn't so much worse!.

I haven't been back at work since the accident, we got married in December a few months after the accident. In whats meant to be a magical time, my husband has had to shower me, to hold my hand while I cry uncontrollably in pain, to wash my hair, to cook for me, to clean, to do so many things for me, which just don't seem fair. We were meant to be having a baby but the doctors won't even let us try at the moment because of the risk of potential surgery that my injuries pose! This is gut wrenching stuff!!

I have to have my mum come and stay with me when my husband is away for work because I'm just not well enough to be at home alone.

I wasn't going to write about this at all. But I'm writing about it in the hope, just a small hope that someone might read this, or pass it on to someone else and a young inexperienced p plate driver might just slow down next time they get in the car to drive, might pay that bit more attention. Because in a split second your actions can change someone else's or your own life forever.

Please slow down and drive with care. Although my injuries are permanent and have affected so many aspects of my life, I'm one of the lucky ones, I'm alive and I know so many people who have been killed or injured more severely then me by young inexperienced drivers.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart my friends and family who have been there for me through the ups and downs of this crazy time, who've driven me around to appointments, who've cooked us food, who've cleaned, who've ironed thousands of shirts, who've listened, who've cried with me. You know who you are, thank you.

This is the one and only post I will write about the accident and I wrote about it just on the hope that it might, slow someone down and save someone else from going through what we have.

Because of the spasms, which are on average 2-3+ a day, I won't be writing daily at the moment. But writing is my saviour, whilst lying in bed in a doped up state I have been thinking of many posts I can write about.

So the one thing that I want you to take from this is please slow down and drive with care. Although my injuries are permanent and have affected so many aspects of my life, I'm one of the luck ones, I'm alive and I will heal to some extent and I know so many people who have been killed or injured more severely then me by young inexperienced drivers.

I ask you to forward this on to as many people as you can, the more people read this the more people will be safer on the road and hopefully the less people will have to suffer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Missing in action

Hi all,

The husband here.......back in September your host had a car accident and is currently having some bad neck symptoms that have kept her off her feet. Bed rest and pain killers and muscle relaxants galore.......

Hoping to get back on deck really soon.

Regards,

The Husband.

Home brand or brand???

I don't know if it's in all countries but in Australia we have home brand or generic no name products that are sold at supermarkets. The non name brands cover a mass variety of products from milk to toilet paper and everything in between.

The most obvious difference between these products and name brand products is the cost. With some products it could be almost tripple the price to buy name brand products! That's a massive saving, particularly if things are tight with money this makes the weekly shop more affordable!

The price is definately a massive positive but the quality is often what people are reluctant about! There are some products that really don't taste any different or feel etc any different than the name brand but there is a big difference in some things.

Aside from the quality debate it brings to light how much we as buyers and consumers pay for advertising, marketing, packaging etc of name brand products! It's supermarket robbery!

Sometimes it's a choice, it may be about buying products made in your country, may be about money or quality. But remember there is nothing wrong with home brand so if your reluctant to buy because oh no what will people think, I can't possibly be seen with that in my trolley! Relax and don't worry about everyone else, guaranteed they have home brand products buried deep in their trolley!

Alternatives to takeaway

In the modern fast paced world we live in, take away and fast food is increasingly becoming a meal option that features not one but sometimes several nights a week in many households. We often work long hours and commit ourselves and our children to so many different activites, constantly running around trying to fit hundreds of things in a day.

Finally we get home or stop or finish the numerous things we were doing and then we have to think about what to cook for dinner. It's nights like this when your tired and exhausted that all it takes is the slightest hint of take away to jump on board the takeaway train!

We've all done it on plenty of occassions. And it's totally okay, quick easy and no effort can be your ultimate saviour.

But when you realise that you've eaten various forms of takeaway for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th + night in a row that you have had takeaway that it becomes a bit of a problem. It's not just about the health issues its rather expensive.

My solution is to have some quick easy options in the freezer. My favorite is ready made gf meatballs from the butchers, sauce and all. You just have to heat in pan and put rice in rice cooker. Sausages and frozen veggies is another quick option.

I'm not saying no to takeaway, I'm saying have some easy options in the freezer so you don't opt for takeaway for the 3rd night in a row.

What a party, what a friend

My oldest friend turned 30 last week! She had a great party with an awesome cake and a candy table!

As a coeliac you start to get used to going to party's weddings etc and not being able to eat the cake. That's one of the reason why I started baking more, so I can eat cake and take it with me to various functions. It makes me feel a little bit more 'normal' (whatever that may be).

Can you imagine my excitement when my oldest friend told me that she had ordered gluten free cupcakes, just for me at her birthday party!! She knew that I couldn't eat cakes at birthday parties etc and share in the celebrations and she wanted me to be able to celebrate just like everyone else. And I guess most importantly to celebrate with her, we have been friends since we were 8!, 22 years! Through good times and bad, laughter and tears, grief and loss. It's funny how you get a more symbolic as you get older, simple things like showing an old and dear friend just how much you care is shown in a cupcake!,

You might be thinking 'Woo bloody hoo' its only a cupcake! But this wasn't cupcakes that she cooked herself or even went to the local bakery, these were specially made Tiffany & Co themed cupcakes to match the gorgeous cake! An extra cost that really wasn't necessary and all the more appreciated because of the thought behind it.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due, Nicci from Cupcakes in Camden http://www.cupcakesincamden.com.au/ did an amazing job not just with the cupcakes but the main cake! The gf cupcakes were chocolate, they were awesome, so yummy and moist, and the icing, oh the icing was pure blue heaven! A true sign of a good gf cake is when you can't tell the difference between that and a gluten cake and when others eat it and can't tell the difference. Nicci has realised that there is a big market out there for not only gf cakes but gluten and dairy free (something which I will discuss in future posts). If you need a gf or indeed a gluten cake for a special occasion, I definitely recommend Nicci, not only are the cakes gorgeous, she is friendly and helpful. We are going to keep in contact and who knows what the two of us will come up with! Here is a picture of the famous cup cake.

I did mention that my friend also had a candy table! Like me when I first heard of it, you might be thinking WTF??? It was a table that was styled by the amazing owner of 'Letter D Parties and Paperie. It was a candy or lolly table set up with the Tiffany colour theme, old fashioned bottles and some fantastic candy! The best bit, particularly for big kids like me, was that the guests got to fill up their own favour box (lolly bag) with the selection of fantastic lollies! This was honestly the hit of the party! Something that the majority of guests hadn't seen before but were amazed by it and enjoyed every part of it! I haven't seen a table photographed by so many guests before! The only candy that I really couldn't eat was the licorice twists, which I loved BD (before diagnosis) but otherwise the majority of other lollies were okay. But I'm sure if a candy table is something you wanted to have you could most certainly pick the lollies that were definitely gf so you could safely enjoy all the sweets! Here is the link of the birthday girls candy table! Amazing I know! http://letterd.com.au/inspiration/

I'm now equipped with some awesome ideas to start planning my 30th!

A GF weekly meal plan

I'm a bit excited! I've come up with some more ideas to share with you.....

I know that last post I put out a challenge for you to trial the gluten free diet. I know that the hardest thing to commit to something new is getting the ingredients and figuring out where to start. So I've done the hard work for you. I've completed a weekly meal plan for all meals, and the recipes can be found on the blog.

It's simple......Print off the plan (you may need to hi-light and control p to print) figure out what you need to buy, go to the supermarket buy the ingredients and your challenge can begin.

WEEK 1 GF MEAL PLAN

	S	M	T	W
B	Scrambled eggs	GF cereal	GF toast	Yoghurt and fruit
S	Fruit	Piece of GF cake	sultanas	popcorn
L	Potato and ham soup	GF toasted sandwich	Potato and ham soup	GF sandwich
S	Piece of GF cake	Fruit	Fruit	Trail mix
Di	Roast Beef and veggies	Creamy chicken pasta	Beef strongaff	Stuffed chicken breast
De	Small serve frozen yoghurt	Fruit	Fruit	Small serve frozen yoghurt

	T	F	S
B	GF cereal	Boiled eggs	GF cereal
S	Fruit	Carrot sticks	Trail mix
L	Rice cakes with ham cheese tomato	Rice with a small tin of flavoured tuna	Salad with meat or tuna
S	GF cake	GF rice crackers	Fruit
Di	Chinese Marinated pork ribs	Lamb in cranberry sauce	Sausages and veggies
De	Fruit	Small serve of ice cream	Chocolate mousse

Note: All recipes for the meals, soups and cakes can be found on the blog. Write your shopping list for the week based on the meal plan. The Saturday meal of sausages is just an easy to fuss dinner, you might choose something else you have in the freezer that won’t take long to cook. This is a guideline feel free to mix around as much as you like. It’s a good idea to make a pot of soup on the weekend and put in the fridge or freezer, they make great nutritional lunches through the week. Remember you need to drink at least 2L of water each day. Don’t forget some alcohol such as beer and scotch etc contains gluten! Any questions send me a message or email on mmoagflife@gmail.com

Evaluation of GF Diet

For each point use a scale of 0 for nothing to 10 being the worst possible. Bowel movements are affected by gluten in people who are coeliacs or have an intolerance, so although it may seem a bit too personal (this is only for you) record how many times you went to the toilet each day. This record is useful for yourself to monitor the success of the diet and very helpful to show you doctor or nutritionist if you want to seek further advice.

Day	Bloating	Bowel	Cramping	Tired
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

I will also put up an evaluation form if you are trying the gf diet for autism or behavioural issues. This will be added later in the week when I gather more information about the benefits of gf diet on autism and behavioural issues.

Please feel free to contact me to ask any questions and let me know how you go with this challenge.

Goodluck
xxxx

A challenge

I was out with my oldest friend today for her birthday and we got to chatting about gf food. Whenever she comes over to visit, she will generally bring some tasty goodies for me! She actually said that she has developed a taste for some of these foods and that she feels better when eating gf products.

It's not wise to completely remove gluten from your diet if there isn't a dietary need, but certainly reducing the amount of gluten you eat or removing it for a short period of time, will definitely do you some benefits.

So I have decided to put it out there to my lovely readers, I challenge you to remove gluten or as much gluten as possible from your diet for a week! This is a fantastic idea for those of you who my be experiencing some symptoms that I have mentioned are related to coeliac or you just simply feel yuck after eating certain foods.

Before you ask 'how can I possibly do that?', I would like to draw your attention to the various recipes that I now have on my blog. There is a variety of main meals, soups, sweets, cakes and desserts that you can try. The only meal of the day that I haven't got recipes for is breakfast. My advice for you while your on the challenge as gf cereal is rather expensive eat porridge (oats) there isn't conclusive medical evidence that they contain gluten or eggs or yogurt.

I know there is lots of cakes and yummy food in my recipe collection but please make sure you eat your daily serve of fruit and veg!

Also to follow this challenge correctly you will need to remove packaged food that contains gluten, remember to read the label of everything you eat and wheat from sugar is okay (that means most lollies) but wheat starch or anything else is not!

Please keep me updated on the progress of your challenge, I'd love to know how if works for all of you.

Any questions just comment or email me and I'll try and answer it asap.

Don't procrastinate another day, give it a go.......

p.s recipe of the day will be in the cakes and sweets section!

Fart humour

One of the side affects of being a coeliac, when you eat gluten you can have some rather bad wind! Now I know this might be taboo but it's a side affect and you need to have a good laugh sometimes!

I might be pushing 30 but I still find fart humour amusing. It's hard sometimes when you're a teacher and your trying to chastise an 8 yr old boy who has just 'let one rip' and you have 26 little people laughing and holding there noses, I've tried to be serious but many a time I have just started to laugh with them! Yes I am a child!

I remember talking to a girlfriend when I was waiting for test results and asking about coeliac, she had some family and friends who had it and she said you have really really bad wind! Now I wasn't as close to this friend as I am now, and I didn't feel comfortable saying 'oh god yes! That's me all the time!', I just nodded my head, interested, pretending that I didn't have that at all!!

But yes, yes, yes that definitely is me! I'm not talking a bit of a smell, the farts of a coeliac are potent, wipe you out, gas you out, make you gag! And not just for a minute, when you get the first whiff, I'm talking it lingers for ages!

My husband has walked into the bedroom and I could have let a sneaky one go at least 20 minutes prior and the smell is still lingering. He will refuse to come to bed until the smell has disappeared.

I think sometimes he forgets how potent they can be, and he will think that he can win in a farting competition. I remind him that all it takes is for me to have a mouthful of bread and I will win hands down!!

The good news is that the stinky farts go away when you stop eating gluten! And if you accidentally eat gluten the farts are usually a good indicator that you have eaten something that you shouldn't have. Unfortunately not eating gluten doesn't diminish the need to fart, that is a normal bodily function!

Apologies if my fart humour isn't to your taste, but I bet it made you smile a bit!

The recipe for the day will be posted later in the main meal section, I am a clever duck!

Ask before you eat

BD (before diagnosis) I would enter a party, baby shower etc, and go straight for the food table and nibble away at the food, without any concerns (obviously it would effect me later if there was gluten in it, but I didn't know, so ignorance was bliss!).

Now when I enter a party etc I do still gravitate to the food table and peruse the food to see what, if anything I can eat. I ensure that I take some gf food, as it may be the only food that I can eat.

At this particular friends baby shower, I said my hellos to everyone and gravitated to the food table armed with my gf brownies. I scanned the food table to determine what I could eat. I soon spotted some rather yummy looking thai fish cake balls (I'm sure its not the correct name), they looked sooo good! I asked the sister hosting the party if she knew who made them and if there were breadcrumbs or flour in them. 'Ahh no I don't think so'.

Now logic should have prevailed and I should have found the lady who made them to double check.....But.... I just wanted to eat them and I was taking any little hint I could that I was able too! They were delicious and I must have had about 5 or 6 before I wandered up to the cook to ask what was in them. I was having fun guessing the different ingredients until she told me there were breadcrumbs!!

Holy Crap!!!!!

I'd just ingested a fair amount of gluten filled food, particularly considering a previous reaction I had to 1 chicken nugget, I was crapping myself!.

After the initial period of stressing, I figured there was nothing I could do about it but wait for the reaction.

Amazingly I only had a mild case of the puffer fish, with no massive ramifications! Very lucky for me.

The morale of the story, no matter how much the food looks good, check the ingredients with the cook before indulging!