Vaccine?

I was checking my mail today when I noticed a message from one of the CD boards I'm on. Here's the message:

"Apparently Dr. Anderson in Australia (Nexpep) is starting Phase 1
clinical trials early 2009 on a vaccine for Celiac Disease. Every
indication is that this will work on 80% of Celiacs worldwide.

If this is true, in 3 to 5 years the majority of us (fingers crossed I
and my family are in the 80%) will be drinking a real beer and having
our favorite meals again!

Though GF food has gotten better, it hasn't gotten much cheaper and it
still isn't very nutritious either - high in fats, sugars and starches.

So this might be the "hope" we have been waiting for?

In any case if you haven't read about it this will be your heads up to
start reading on the vaccine...."

My first reaction is total disbelief. I've not heard of many auto-immune diseases being "cured" by a simple vaccine. Treated, yes, but not cured. So let's assume this is for treatment.

What boggled my mind was in one breath the poster was talking about drinking beer and eating favorite meals again, and in the next talking about how GF foods are high in fats, sugars and starches. What do you think fast food is?? What is beer? I'm sure those "favorite meals" weren't Healthy Choice meals.

I've found I don't miss most of the glutened stuff, and most healthy, natural foods, like meats, fruits and veggies are naturally gluten free anyway. So what exactly is missing? Oh yes, all the fats, starches and sugars of pre-packaged convenience foods.

Anything that I have found myself missing, I can usually duplicate in a pretty tasty facsimile. All these people in mourning for glutened food could too, but it takes some determination and willingness to experiment. I mean, I just made dairy-free, egg-free Yorkshire puddings, which in theory shouldn't be possible, since it's made of eggs, milk and flour. That's it. But I did it and they were really tasty. Other people have done it, so it's not like I had to re-invent the wheel. A few minutes on Google for inspiration and then went to work modifying. That's it.

So I think it's safe to say I will be taking a pass on this vaccine. Good luck to those who want it, but I think I'm ok the way I am. :)

Is it Saturday yet?

Ok, I'm so ready to leave. I'm sick to death of being here, having to hide in the hotel room due to pain and having to watch out for more glutening. This sucks more than you can imagine. The "best" bit is knowing I get to repeat the joy of the excruciating 9 hour flight back home. Yippee fucking do.

I met up with my coworkers for lunch. I thought we'd be going just downstairs, but it turns out they wanted to go to the cheaper end of town for food. Which meant I couldn't go. I felt like the kid sister where all the older siblings get to go out and I have to stay home. I did eat (alone) at the hotel restaurant. I had rack of lamb with a balsamic reduction with a side of sauted veggies. The veggies were *swimming* in oil. Ew. But other than that, the meal was tasty, but still. I'm fucking sick of this albatross around my neck. Food is about sustenance but what happens when it's a prison? Try this experiment. Now, my allergies are as follows: No grain (bread, wheat, semolina, rye, etc), corn, rice, soy, eggs, dairy, tree nuts, and peanuts.

Now, think of a place you usually go to eat. You don't usually put a lot of thought into where you go, right? You just go. So, think of a place. Got it? Now...

Italian is ruled out completely. Most places are either pasta based (semolina/wheat based) or have brick ovens for pizza (I'm in the 5% with the airbourne aspect)

Chinese? Nope. Soy sauce has both wheat and soy in it. And rice. So that tends to rule out Japanese/sushi as well. Thai? You might have a snowball's chance there, but they are still a bit tough to come by.

Obviously, all fast food is out, as well as delis. WHy delis? Many cold cuts are cured with wheat or milk based products. So you have to watch out for those.

Mexican? Nope. No corn.

Vegetarian, right? Nope. Soy.

Steakhouse. Yep, if you can find one that understands cross-contamination, and will pan fry the steak or cover the grill in foil to keep it safe for you. Oh and no fries, because the fryers aren't dedicated to just french fries, but usually do multitasking for all fried foods.

See how it works? The next time you go out, really look at the menu. Would you be able to eat there if you were me? I end up on trips having usually two choices - eat at the high end, but safe place, or live on chocolate and gluten-free cookies til I get home again. Sound fun?

I honestly think the worst part is the social aspect. Like today, I couldn't go with them. Cheaper places usually simply can't accommodate me. Cooks don't know about allergen safety or cross-contamination. They just bang out whatever they've been told from corporate on their menus. No thought, no room for change. A few places have been revolutionary by offering gluten free menus, but it's still not widespread.

I read several gluten free blogs, and while I love how they say how freeing it's been to be healthy and eat well, I just don't see it. I see prison bars. To be fair, they don't have the list I do. They only have to avoid gluten.

I'm off, but needed to get this rant off my chest.

I've found Celiac Hell...

and it's Vienna.

I'm here in Vienna for a business trip. I left a day early so I could see some if it before work starts. Nope, didn't happen. Turns out United, in their quest to improve the "vomit comet" experience (otherwise known as airline food), they've "upscaled" their menu. And that means fresh bread being heated up in the galley. Now for most folks, this isn't an issue, but a) I'm one of the 5% who is prone to airbourne gluten and b) I was in the rear of the plane. Nine hours is a long damn time to fly in that kind of pain, let me tell you. So today was just resting.

The Austrians love their bread here. It's as much a part of their life as beer and coffee. People have been shocked, dismayed and appalled that I can't eat bread. They even asked why I didn't bring my own from home. :) Or if I had contacted them a week in advance, they would've. They can't entirely wrap their brain around it, but they have been more than accommodating. They have a hotel restaurant called S'Park. When I checked in, they talked to the chef, who has the list written in the kitchen. All I have to do is tell them who I am (Or like this evening, the tattoos gave it away I think and they knew right away who I was) and the chef sorts me out.

For lunch, the meal was uninspired, but a solid choice. He played it safe. I went with veal (medium) and salted veggies, that I think were boiled. Very tasty, if a little ho-hum. The veal was just a touch over-cooked, but was still very moist. The itty, itty micro carrots were a bit silly. He likes his baby veg. The rest was carrots, what appeared to be yellow carrots, and broccoli. Dinner was grilled turbot with cep (porcinis) and potato hash for lack of a better word. Very tasty stuff.

I've noticed prices over here are insane!!! Nine euros for a bloody bottle of water?! I don't want to risk anymore digestive malfunction, so I'd rather pay than drink the tap water, but still... OUCH.

Weekend cooking

Every other weekend, or more often sometimes, we spend a day in the kitchen cooking.

This isn't just cooking up a quick meal, or anything like that, but serious levels of preparation, shopping, trashing out and cooking up.

As you may know, Dancer has many intolerances and allergies, which makes eating out tricky. Not only that, but eating out is expensive, less healthy and less convenient during a work week. So we cook up enough food so that we can take both lunch and dinner to the office.

Today we were marinating chicken breasts, pan frying potatoes, we had halibut, steaks, home made tomato basil soup, stew, mushroom soups, home made gluten free bread.

We started the first chop at about 2pm today, and packed away the last container about 10pm today.

This is what the interior of our fridge / freezer looks like after that kind of damage!



It's hard work, but frankly I love spending the time with Dancer in the kitchen, we put on a few movies (6 hours of the BCC adaption of Pride and Prejudice this time around!) and we usually get through a bottle of wine (to drink)

And we're set for the week. No more cooking now for another two weeks (we have a couple of things to finish up this turn though)

Pain

Oh man. I woke up in the worst pain today. All of my muscles felt like they were on fire, especially my back. It hurt to touch, even lightly. It was one of those "I could've laid there and cry" moments and would've if I had thought it would help. I've only had that level of sensitivity a few times and it's not pleasant. It started last night when the muscles in my chest started spasming, and would ease up. If I were more paranoid, I'd think heart attack, but I could tell it was muscular.

I tried stretching this morning (didn't help) and the shower really sucked. I'm praying for the painkillers to kick in, or for someone to shoot me, whichever comes first. Because I'm telling you right now, this pain needs to go away. I'm at work flinching if something touches my back or my arms, that includes air from a fan. If it wasn't for the static, I'd leave my fleece on just for padding. Ouch!!

I've been in one of my moods with the Celiacs again. It sucks that I can't just get a birthday cake or just go out to eat, but rather it still takes all this planning and hassle. I did compensate a bit by making some brownies, but still, I miss the days of just being able to DO things and EAT things without all the hassle and bother that goes with it some days. Even so, the brownies rocked. :)

On a happy note, yesterday was Brutus' birthday!! He's 4 now! I can hardly believe it. So I made doggie cookies last night for them. They seemed happy enough wtih it. ;) They also got a nice walk yesterday afternoon, and tons of cuddle time. I think Brutus had a good birthday.