2007 - Grade 6

            I was a normal healthy human as far as I can remember. I had the typical 11-year-old issues; trying to do well at school, my friendship group had started to break apart at this point, and I was just generally trying to find myself. We were also looking at high-schools and which option would be best. The options were: to go to the local public school with lots of people I knew, or, go to one of the private colleges and not know anyone.

            I don’t remember exactly when I started feeling sick, but I do distinctly remember one day, being in so much pain, that I had to curl up on the floor and just try not to cry. I got sick. I got very sick. I lost a lot of weight, I was tired all the time, my hair started thinning and falling out. I was going to the toilet up to 40 times a day, with my appetite being minimal and often not much being kept down, I was feeling very very unwell. We started writing a food and poo diary to see if there was any correlation between what I ate and how many times I went to the toilet.

            The first time I saw a doctor, he decided that my gut couldn’t withstand solid food, so he prescribed me a ‘baby food’ type diet; mashed potatoes, well cooked vegetables, no meat or anything super fibrous, this didn’t help at all. I then went back to a different paediatrician who suggested lactose intolerance as an option. After a few months of a lactose free diet, and no real improvement I was right back where I started.

           A multitude of blood tests as well as an endoscopy finally showed that I had coeliac disease antibodies in my blood and intense inflammation in my gut. So that was that, a diagnosis. Day one started with a very strict gluten-free diet. This was hard for a 12-year-old. There wasn’t a lot of options for tasty gluten-free food, but we managed. We found gluten-free pasta and managed to modify our bolognaise sauce. A local gourmet bakery made gluten-free bread which tasted so much better than the store-bought stuff. My grandmother worked very hard to modify and experiment with cakes and slices and sausage rolls that I could eat. I was feeling a little better but still wasn’t well at all.

 These are photos of me at my Grade 6 Leaver's Dinner. This is probably the skinniest and sickest I have ever looked.

I almost didn't get the chance to go to my dinner. Earlier that evening I had vomited multiple times and Mum didn't want me going. But I insisted that I wanted to go and thankfully had a lovely night without incident.