Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Meet Lucky our Dog and Dealing with Celiac Disease

Our dog Lucky,

This is Lucky. He is almost two years old and is 102lbs the last time he went to the vet. He is an Alaskan Malamute.  He is also one of the friendliest dogs you will ever meet. I remember when I was doing the research to see what kind of dog we were going to get. There were two things that were clear. First is that this dog is not watch dog. Second was that he was going to shed more hair than you would ever think was possible. William even told me yesterday that he thought Lucky was trying to get naked. He is so friendly that he will walk right up to most anyone and wag his tail and try to get to know you. He really loves going for walks and going the dog park. He also loves playing in the water.

Our Dog Lucky
I got Lucky for William for his fifth birthday. We drove all the way over to the thumb area of Michigan to a city called Ubly to find this kind young dog. William had just been diagnosed with celiac disease. If diabetes wasn't enough for my little man to deal with we now had that too. Sometimes I wonder which one is worse. Diabetes could kill him at any moment of his life so I guess that makes it worse but then there is the other side that is celiac. He can not eat the same food as the other kids in his class and forget all of the nice treats that he used to love or stopping for fast food. I have to plan even more than I did before for class parties and the unexpected ones too. I keep a stash of frozen gluten free cupcakes at home and at school so he can participate with class parties. Every meal is a thought about the carbs and also about what is in the food.

I remember when I told William about celiac. He seemed not to care until he found out that he couldn't eat his favorite doughnuts any more. I think that was a defining moment in a five year olds life. He cried for a while but has never looked back. His diet is limited but I am always looking for new things to make it better. It is a really good thing that I love to cook. I try new things for him all of the time and I am learning how to use all of the new ingredients that are required for a gluten free diet. I have been trying most of the food that I make just to see how it tastes. Sometimes you can not tell the difference and sometimes I feel sorry for him that he has to eat this stuff. Lucky for me he was young enough that he likes some of the stuff that I think is terrible. He has gotten used to the taste of the new food and I am happy for that. I still try to slip in a treat once in a while and it is also so nice to see everyone around him treat him with respect and love. He went to a birthday party for his "girlfriend" and her parents bough him a gluten free pizza from Domino's. They got the rest of the pizza for everyone else from Little Cesar's. The fact that they made that kind of effort to make my son feel just like everyone else made me cry.

Lucky and William are figuring out their relationship with each other. I hope that they become best friends and that they make each other happy. I found out shortly after getting Lucky that he has trouble with wheat products too. So our dog is gluten free too. I guess that God has a way of reaching out even to a five year old to let him know he is not alone.

Pray for us all,

His Loving Dad


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