CeliacCamp: Odysseus’s job is never done
2 years ago, we wanted to do some camping with the kids and since Gillian has Celiac disease, I wanted to see if anyone had anything up about camping with kids with Celiac - tips, recipes, must haves - things like that.
What I hadn't considered was what came as a surprise when I googled a bunch of terms together - a Celiac CAMP! We found it, checked it out, were really nervous about sending our 8 yr old, etc. She had an absolute ball. She was already talking about next year on the way home last year.
The forms had to be in by July 15th - medical, the registration forms, plus the check for the camp(which is TOTALLY cheap for a 6 day camp) - and around the 1st or 2nd, I was getting the rest filled out and getting the medical forms back from the doctor. Gillian came to me around the 5th and said, "Daddy, did you send in the forms for camp? I would be really sad if I couldn't go because you forgot to send them in."
My daughter is 9, going on 30, and yes, more organized than her 40 yr old father. "Yes honey" i said as I showed her the envelope I was just licking and stamping. "I'm all set. Dropping it in the mail this afternoon". Needless to say, she was pleased.
Aidan and I were at Kendo camp this week (see my blog posts tagged with kendocamp), so Fae took her shopping for a few new things and helped her pack. Aidan and I got home Saturday night, washed all of his clothes, re-packed them, and woke up Sunday and left around 10am for our trek to Rhode Island. Yeah, the camp is 4 hours from where I live. So we hiked out there, got a little lost, made it before checkin time, and got in line to get her all settled. Got her medicine to the nurse, had her checked for lice (yes, you'd be amazed at how fast it can spread in a camp if ONE kid has it), and we brought her stuff to her cabin.
She was a little bummed, thinking she'd see her counselor from last year, but Tracey was in charge of the older girls this year. She asked if her two friends from last year were in her cabin, and it turned out they were in the other 7-9 yr old girls cabin. She turned and smiled, a little disappointed, but still in a great mood, "Maybe I'll make some cool new friends this year". She's such a trooper. I could tell she wanted to be in the other cabin, but was determined to make the year fun. She unpacked and set up all her stuff just so (she is SO organized - each outfit was in it's own pile). When she was finishing up, I thought I would just see if it might be possible to switch her over to the other one. I walked out side and saw the counsellor talking to two mothers with two little girls who looked PETRIFIED.
"Hi, I'm going to be <girl 1>'s counsellor. <girl 2> is going to be in the other cabin, is that okay?" As soon as she started saying it, both moms said NO rather vehemently and the girls turned even paler.
"Hey, I can move Gillian's stuff to the other cabin, let them stay together, would that be okay?""
"Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah, lets keep the girls together, Gillian doesn't mind. Do you honey?" I said to the figure shouting NO as she ran thru the door to repack her stuff.
Needless to say, we got it all straightened out, both Mom's thanking me profusely and offering to help me pack. We brought her stuff over to the other cabin where Andrea, the counsellor of cabin 4 said that "Two of the girls were asking if Gillian was coming back, did they mean you?" she said, trying not to grin. Gillian just smiled and nodded, pushing open the door.
I still have most of the skin on my face, and the holes in my ears are slowly closing from the squeals of three 9 yr olds reunited fr the first time in over a year. Needless to say, I think everything worked out. When she was in the other cabin she kept hugging and kissing me, storing it up for the week.
When we moved everything over, I got a quick hug, kiss, and"Bye Daddy" and she was gone. Got profuse thank yous from the moms in the other cabin again, and drove to Long Island in a very good mood.
AND we stopped at Friendly's on the way there, so everyone was happy 
Celiac Camp
It's that time again! Okay, it's not for me, but I'm excited as hell for my daughter. It's sign up for Celiac Camp time.
Let me take a step back...
In May of 2007, Gillian was diagnosed with something called Celiac Disease, we noticed that she hadn't been gaining weight, or growing at all. Then when my niece was diagnosed with it, we took her to the doctor about it. Strange thing is, the Doctor came in saying, "I want to take some blood and test her for Celiac disease" before we could even tell her our niece had it. Nice thing about it is with a proper diet, she's pretty cool now. Stomach aches every once in a while, but otherwise normal happy kid.
We had wanted to go camping so I googled "camping celiac kid" and I got several hits, one for a Celiac camp in California and another one in Rhode Island. So we signed her up and off she went. You can read my old post: Gillian goes to camp
So we marked it off on our calendars and I just downloaded and filled out the registration form for her. $350 for a whole week at a cabin camp in RI with a lake and SO much to do. She's totally stoked already and the camp isn't until August. Anyway, thought I would pass it along. If you know anyone who has Celiac kids between 7 and 16, this is a very cool place. Neat thing was, Gillian's councilor was originally a camper there when they first started. She knows what she wants to do when she's 17
they’re back:)
In all of the hubbub of getting Gillian off to Celiac camp this week, I forgot to mention that Aidan was at Grammy Camp - my folx live on Long Island and he stayed here for the week with my sisters kids who are in from out of town. Nice, eh? So Fae and I had a week alone and what did we do? Worried about the kids.
Don't get me wrong, we did some stuff around the house, she scrapbooked for two days straight and we had some dates, it was nice. We missed them. Especially Gillian, because we could talk to Aidan whenever we wanted to.
So we picked her up today and honestly, I don't think she would have minded staying another week:) Did she miss us? I'm sure she did, but she had such a good time swimming, and hiking, and canoeing, and singing songs, and going to baseball games, and looking at boys, and learning new things, and rock climbing, and etc etc.
Yeah, I said looking at boys. She's 8! Henry and Jack were her two favorites. They're both 9.
She had a week where she didn't need to think about if she could eat this or that, a week of being 'normal' for once and not having to watch every little thing. Thank god for this camp. She's definitely going back next year.
Selling out with ads
Wow. I actually almost did it. I started googling about how to run advertising on my blog.
Low Cash, plus Cash Need = find a way to make more money
So, is advertising on my site selling out? Do I take a place that I enjoy slathering with my own bullshit and turn it into a money maker? Do I plaster it with so many ads it's hard to read?
I'm thinking no. I would like to advertise for stuff I like, but more so I can share stuff that I've found. I like the way Dooce does it, where she has her main posts, but also stuff about her dog, and fashion things.
Maybe I can do that kind of thing. I've been thinking of posting more stuff about Celiac that I've put together over the year she's had it. Cool, an idea
Around the world in a day?
Oye... Just woke up after dropping Gillian off at Celiac Camp. Place looks really neat. Big lake, lots of stuff to do, 139 campers.
Drove from Bridgewater NJ, dropped off Fae at our friends, drove to North Scituate, Rhode Island (which is NOT an island according to Gillian), then back to my parents house in Long Island. Going into work tomorrow and back to Bridgewater, leaving Aidan here for the week to hang out with my nieces and nephew.
The camp looks really neat, and Gillian had NO trouble saying goodbye. Got her in, made her bed, put her clothes away, and bing bang boom, we're outta there and she's jumping in to play go fish with her new friends. I marvel at the spirit of this little girl.
Anyway, here are some pics and movies I took yesterday dropping her off.
Excited about Camp from Matt Cushing on Vimeo.
Julie McCoy shows us around from Matt Cushing on Vimeo.
Celiac Dad to the Rescuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!
Gilli's pretty much packed and ready to go to camp starting on Sunday. Before I get into it, you might want to read the posts I've put up. Short summary -
Gillian was diagnosed with Celiac disease about a month before my accident, and thankfully with a change in diet, is relatively normal. As long as she is careful about what she eats, she's got a nice, healthy, long life ahead of her. No meds or treatments. Just can't digest gluten - makes her puke....spectacularly. I mean it - rainbows and everything 
So we were thinking of taking a camping trip this summer, so I wanted to look up information about anyone who had been camping with Celiac. Found a few places that had some tricks, a place that had all of the exact ingredients for a REALLY tasty gluten free s'more. Searching for other stuff, I came across the website for a Celiac CAMP! Originally I was going to volunteer, but they already had enough people.
The great thing about it is for a whole week, Gillian will not have to ask "Can I eat this" or "Does that have gluten in it?" She won't have to have special food, or have different plates, or worry about just being DIFFERENT!! For a week, she'll be just like everyone else and hopefully make a lot of friends and have a great freakin time.
While we sit in an empty house, pining for them both. Oh yeah, forgot to mention. My sister is in town from Chicago and Aidan is going to my Moms in Long Beach to hang out for the week. I'm leaving Sunday morning, dropping off Fae at a friends house, taking Gillian and Aidan with me to drop Gilli off at camp in Rhode Island, turning around and driving to Long Beach to my Mom's house. I'll work from my Aunts house (right across the compound) and then go into the office from there on Tues am and go home afterward.
Going to be a quiet week
Don’t want her to
So my little girl is going to camp. For a week. By herself. SHE CANT CALL HOME!!!
Do I think it'll be good for her? Absolutely. I just think it'll be harder on Fae and I than her.
Till Now…06/06
Okay, I was trying to be good, but too many things happened.
Gilli Update: Gillian is a new person and it's not even been all that long for her new diet. She's gluten free now and she's got 1000x more energy and pep. Nice to have my little girl back again. Her cheeks are filling out, and she's running around like a looney. She started the fitness challenge at the gym this month and after a few days is feeling pretty darned good.
Cheerleading Update: There is someone out there listening to me:) No only did they decide to have Aidan's team not travel next year, they also decided to have their practices on the same weekend day, so our weekends during the season are not going to be completely shot anymore. Hopefully, my parents won't disown me now:)
Aidan Update: He's moving to another school next year, Eisenhower Intermediate, so they're getting them ready to move up. They had all the kids try several different instruments and they decided that Aidan will play the Baritone, based on how he did with the other things. Hate to tell him that he's going to have to lug that thing to and from school!! At least he doesn't have to walk to school, uphill both ways, in the snow to get there, the bus comes to the corner at 8:45!!! Talk about a sleep in!
Fae Update: She's been a tagging fool! She's set up a lot of locations for the kids at the gym to tag at, which puts money into our account. Woo! She's also become the goto person at the gym for anything having to do with tagging, which is cool. Still losing weight too:)
Me Update: Well, if you've been following along lately, you've seen that I was in a serious accident last Thursday. My shoulders are still hurting, my neck is still and driving is not a fun chore, especially since I rolled my car three times. Driving 1.5 hours each way is not fun at all. I'm getting through it, but I'm going to see the doc about my back, and another one about how to deal with some of the stress of the trauma.
Yesterday was better, hopefully tomorrow will be good too:)
Gillian – updated
So Tuesday was a fun day. We took Gillian to the hospital in Morristown and had her endoscopy.
If you ever have to have one, it's QUICK! By the time we had time to start freaking out, they were wheeling her out. Oye. My brother was right, it is harder on the parents.
So, we'll have to wait till wednesday, but at least we've started her on her new diet.
She's having bad stomach cramps, reflux, and burping incessantly. The nice thing is, she's not burping nearly as much as before. I'm hoping that she'll bounce back quickly.
More info as she progresses. Until then, her diet is totally restricted. What a pain in the ass man...
I'll do a lot to make her feel better tho:)
Celiac’s and Gillibird
First and foremost, before you continue reading, Celiac's disease is a reaction to anything with gluten in it. Gillian's okay, so don't worry.
Well, at least now we know. For the last several months, Gillian has been looking kind of pale and withdrawn. My niece was having some similar problems and her doc recommended some Iron supplemented vitamins to help out. We talked to our doc and he ended up giving us the same thing. Really worked well - she started eating a lot more, had more energy, etc. It was good.
Well, it lasted for a little while, but she's been looking more withdrawn lately and having problems with heartburn now too. My niece has already been diagnosed with Celiac's and the doc want to do some blood work on her.
Came back positive for Celiac's. What that means is that she could be miserable for the rest of her life with her current diet, or live a normal one with a significant change in her diet. In the majority of the cases documented, a simple glutenfree diet usually takes care of almost all of the problems and symptoms.
Initially? "There's something wrong with my daughter, and it's probably my fault" ran through my head a bit. I have a feeling that it's coming from my side of the family, but Fae had some problems as a kid, so it might be from both sides of the family. Who knows. I'm probably going to get tested just to make sure.
Now? We're going to a pediatric gastro doc tomorrow and probably going to schedule an endoscopy to make sure. After that, gluten free diet. One of the bigger things that happens with celiac's is height and weight problems. Honestly, I can see maybe her weight, but I have a feeling that her height is all my wife's fault All I care about is that we found out what might be wrong and the solution isn't going to be too bad or painful or anything like that.
Just makes you thankful for small miracles:)