Porridge

 

I tried some porridge today. Celia thought some might help her too!

I used this which I got from Waitrose. If I can believe what it says on the tin, then it is probably pretty gluten-free. I am not super-sensitive and I haven't had a problem.

Coeliacs of the World Unite - Part 2

 

I posted the previous message with the same title on the UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group.

I got lots of replies wishing Celia well and it goes to show how groups such as this are valuable in the fight against disease.

Celia's cancer was caught early and I only posted because of this bizarre image of everyone sitting eating gluten-free ginger cake. Hopefully all will be well. Note that the chemo is at home. Insist on it as it’s going to be the way forward!

The key to it is catching it early. Just as it is with coeliac! I suffered a bit because I didn’t get diagnosed until 55!

Do Other Animals Have Coeliac Disease?

 

Do other animals such as dogs, cats and horses suffer from coeliac disease?

The reason I ask, is that I was in Waitrose in Newmarket today, when I bumped into Greg Chung. Greg is an affable guy who trains racehorses in the town. He asked what the cakes were in my trolley and I said that I’m a coeliac and they were gluten-free.

So we got chatting about nutrition and especially horses. Traditionally racehorses are fed on oats, bran, hay, flaked maize (Corn Flakes to you and me!) and sugar beet pulp. The latter puts on weight. But now most of the trainers in the town feed using prepared balanced feeds or nuts, which are much easier to get right. But what is in them? Barley? Wheat? He also said that horses are often injected with B12 to improve their appetite. Take out the bran from the traditional diet and it’s gluten-free.

All very interesting and perhaps a curiosity, but then he said that the only trainer in the town who uses traditional feed is Sir Michael Stoute. And he’s one of the most successful!

I tried to follow this up on the Internet, but find no references to coeliac or celiac in horses.

So that’s why I asked the question. Are we all the same, with some of us suffering from coeliac disease?

Update October 19, 2006

We have a visiting broodmare on the stud, who has the worst case of dandruff, I've ever seen!

Coeliacs of the World Unite

 

My wife, Celia, has had breast cancer and is now going to have chemo-therapy at home.

The nurse came today to check everything out and put Celia at ease. She is a bit apprehensive to say the least! But wouldn’t everybody be?

Anyway what broke the ice and got everybody on a sound footing, was the fact that the nurse was a coeliac and Celia produced a gluten free cake (Village Bakery). We spent more time discussing mine and the nurse’s problems than we did about the real patient.

The chemo starts on Friday and she’s got a ginger cake in.

Let’s hope it all goes well!

Village Bakery Ginger Cake

 

Waitrose in Newmarket has a large gluten-free section, so my wife bought a Village Bakery gluten free ginger cake yesterday.

Now, I’ve never been a lover of cake all my life as perhaps my body knew better, but nearly all of the cakes I’ve tasted since diagnosis have been rubbish.

This one wasn’t! In fact my wife, who likes her cakes, said it was one of the best ginger cakes she’d ever had!