Limitations

Most of you all know my limitations in my diet. No gluten, no beef, no pork, no tomatoes, no complex sugars, no egg yolks, etc etc. (I don't have the energy to list them all!). If I eat chicken, to ensure I don't nauseated, I have to eat organic chicken because it ensures that the chicken wasn't given hormones or wheat products to eat! Just last week, I finally got over whatever it was I had. I wasn't or hadn't been feeling well for over 6 weeks, just after Thanksgiving. It was thought at first that I had sinus infection and bronchitis, but none of the antibiotics helped much. I mean, I am sure I didn't have it, but I still wasn't feeling not like myself. My stomach problems started flaring up again and I was constantly sick to my stomach and getting migraines. I finally decided to go back to get tested for more allergies to see if that was the trigger. Lo, and Behold! I'm allergic to dairy now! Grrreat I thought. I'm a lover of milk and yogurt. I can get by without cheese products or believe it or not ice-cream, but I'm not a happy person if I don't get my daily cups of milk and yogurt. Hmmm...this is one thing I'm going to have trouble staying away from. It won't kill me if I eat it, but my body has a harder time digesting the stuff I have allergies toward. For the MOST part, I'm good about sticking to my diet. It's hard especially when you are invited to go out with friends or family because you have to say "well, we can't go to a hamburger place, or pizza place, or ice cream parlor, or.........etc" I still wasn't feeling well after Christmas when we went up to NYC to see my grandparents. A lot of Chinese Foods (esp the way my grandma makes it) contains a lot of gluten, so I had no choice but to eat it). I really paid for that when I returned home! But I'm doing better now that since our return from NY, I've stuck to my diet (except for one or two small donuts I ate at my sister's home). It's kinda ironic though working where I work. Two of the clients I serve also have similar allergies like me, so I can relate to them and they can relate to me. We've even joked about forming an "allergy alert club!" One of my coworkers, bless her heart, has a culinary license and has made up gluten free recipes for me to try out. It's expense having this allergy because a lot of things are made with potato, rice, bean, or tapioca flour which gets pretty expensive! Just today, she made me some gluten free pancakes! Mmmmmm!!!!! The taste of "bread" like things again makes my mouth water! What an awesome co-worker!
I've pretty much got used to staying away from certain foods, but with this recent diagnoses of allergies toward Milk products, it will take a bit for me to get used to. I guess it's Soy Milk (fat free) for me now! And soy yogurt, which doesn't taste all that bad!