For Taylor, Brave & Compassionate

Celiac Disease has been discovered lurking in my family.

About 10 years ago, my cousin Mark & his wife Maryann had their first kid, Kirstin. She was diagnosed as an infant with this "weird new Gluten (wheat) allergy." Poor kid, she's got to abide by a strict diet for the rest of her life.

Earlier this year, my Uncle Darrel, who's suffered for a while with stomach pain was hospitalized and they finally figured out what the problem was. Celiac! Because he'd gone undiagnosed and untreated for so long, his turned into peripheral T cell lymphoma. Keeping in mind the family medical history, bells and whistles started going off. First there was Kirstin. And oh, my grandfather's brother has celiac, too. My great-grandfather died from "cancer of the blood," and my grandfather from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was recommended that ALL of my grandfather's descendents get tested, and soon, for Celiac.

My uncle was the only one in his generation to have it.

On my level, my "twin cousin" Maryanne (not to be confused with Mark’s wife Maryann) and cousin Kelly (Mark’s sister) have it.

On the next generation down, there's Kirstin, of course, but now there's also Mikaela and Trevor (Maryanne’s niece and nephew). I've heard that Mikaela is adapting to the new diet like a trooper.

But some results have been "fuzzier" than others. My cousin Sam's son, Taylor's results, via blood test, were borderline. He's a kid about 10. He got sent to Portland for an endoscopy. His Mom said he came through the test with flying colors and she was very proud of how well he did. His doc thought it would pretty much be a waste of time, because he was so borderline. But, voila, he does indeed have Celiac.

Then there’s my sister, Nik. She was in the same situation as Taylor. She had borderline results that didn’t make much sense to her doc. She certainly seems to have a lot of Celiac’s symptoms. She and her doc decided it would be a good idea if she did the endoscopy, too.

As a kid, Nik was never too good with medical tests. The thought of an endoscopy wouldn’t thrill me either. But then I got an email from Mom & Dad, telling me Taylor called Nik to tell her not to worry. I thought that was so darned sweet, I had to thank Taylor.

From: (Michelle)
To: (Sam)
Subject: For Taylor
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:18:44 +0000

Hey Sam~ Please share this with Taylor.

Dear Taylor~

I got an email from my Mom & Dad today. They told me you called Nikki last night to tell her that the endoscopy test she had to have done was nothing to be concerned about. Thank you for doing that! I'm sure it made a huge difference for her. You know I love my little sister a lot, so I'm glad you were able to help her.

Nikki will probably kill me for sharing this story but it's pretty funny. When we kids, we had to have some blood test done. I can't remember how old we were. I was probably about 11, and Nik about 8. When it came time for Nikki to have hers done, she wouldn't do it. She turned to run out of the room, and I grabbed her coat and she started wailing on me. I was laughing hard, I thought she was just kidding, but she didn't have any intention of letting them take one drop of blood. She ran out of the lab, out of the hospital and across the bridge home! I don't know if you know where the hospital is in Fort Fairfield, it's not really a hospital anymore, but luckily for her, it wasn't TOO much of a long run. It was only about a mile! ;) I doubt she gets THAT SCARED anymore, especially for a little blood test. I know I would be pretty freaked out about having an endoscopy, though. Knowing how brave you were (your Mom told me you were FANTASTIC and how proud of you she was) I'm sure Nik tucked some of your courage in her pocket to pull her through.

Keep that in mind, dude. We're all very proud of you, and I'm so glad you could support Nik through that. I wished her well, but I don't know what I'm talking about, having never had the test. You, you DO know what you're talking about. Your support today was a big help to her! So, thank you; I'm proud of you (for both your bravery and your compassion in supporting Nik), and keep in mind that I'm here to support you, too, as much as I can down here, when you all need it. This Celiac thing... it's becoming the Page Family Diet, huh? Well, we'll eat together and stick together! :)

Love~ your cousin Shell

From: (Sam)
To: (Michelle)
Subject: RE: For Taylor
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2006 8:06:22 AM

Shell, What a sweet letter, I have printed it and I will share this with Taylor as soon as I get home. Thank you again that was so sweet. He is an amazing kid and he makes me so proud when he is as caring and brave as he is.

Love you~ Sam

From: (Sam)
To: (Linda)
Subject: FW: For Taylor

Mom, I wanted to share this sweet letter that Shelly wrote to Taylor. How sweet, huh?

Also, Nikki did great yesterday. Her procedure only took 20 minutes or so and the doctors said everything looked good. Keep in mind that is what the doctors said about Taylor. I talked to Nikki last night and she sounded great just sleepy.

Love you~ Samantha

From: (Nik)
To: (Michelle)
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2006, 8:57 a.m.

I barely remember talking to you last night. Sam just told me I talked to her but I don’t remember that at all. What a weird experience. I remember just after the procedure that took about 5 minutes I was with it for about an hour or two and the rest of the night is gone. No pain, I was out cold, ate like a horse after. I’m still a little foggy. Not eating didn’t bother me but no water was hard. My veins were dehydrated so they had a hard time with the IV. That was the only tricky part.