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          Hi my name is Tina. I live in a big house with Mommy, 

Daddy, and my little brother who always calls me Tiny. It makes 

me very angry.

***

          For a few months, my tummy has been hurting a lot. It 

rumbles, and grumbles, and makes me want to go to the 

bathroom all the time. It is really strange. It only happens to me 

when I eat pasta, pizza, crackers and all the other 

good stuff.

So mommy took me to a special doctor called a gastroenterologist. 

He asked me a lot of questions.

 Does your tummy hurt a lot?

 Do you vomit?

 Do you ever feel like not eating?

 Did you lose weight?

 What foods make you sick? 

I had to do two blood tests. 

One was to see how many anti-gliadin antibodies I have because 

having too many of them might be a problem. The other test was to 

see what nutrients I have enough of, and which ones I don’t have 

enough of.

The doctor also did a small intestinal biopsy.

This biopsy test helped the doctor look at my intestine more closely, 

to see if there was a problem.

What’s an antibody you ask? It is a special protein that attaches onto anything unfamiliar in the body.

          At first I was scared to do the 

tests, but the nurses always gave me a big 

hug which made me feel happy.

***

The doctor told me that I had celiac 

disease. 

I asked him, “What is celiac disease, 

doctor?” 

            He explained to me: 

“Usually, all the nutrients from the foods that you eat are absorbed 

into your intestine. When someone has celiac disease, a protein called 

gluten found in yummy foods like pizza, pasta, and crackers can now 

damage the intestine. The food will stay in your colon and will be eaten 

up by bacteria. This might explain why sometimes your tummy hurts 

and you need to run to the bathroom. 

When this happens, your body can't take in nutrients like you used to. 

So, you might not be able to grow as tall as some of your friends.”

When I go grocery shopping with Daddy now, he helps me read the 

food labels so that I know how to buy foods that are "gluten-free".

This is what they look like:

          Sometimes I would feel very sad or moody, but Mommy says 

everything will be okay and she would bake me gluten-free cookies to 

make me feel better.

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