Blog 43 - Nick has Coeliac Disease - 6 years

Nick was always a small baby and toddler. In both height and weight. The paediatrician had even mentioned in passing, growth hormones, in Nick's future if he did not grow enough.

We started to notice that he was complaining nightly of a sore tummy. We put this down to anxiety.

We also noticed that he was having daily diarrhoea. He did not complain about this so we think he thought it was normal. He has told us that it started in Prep when he was 5 years old.

We also noticed that Nick was getting a pot belly and his ribs were showing and even his vp shunt line stood out.

We were feeding him plenty of food and he never went hungry so we didn't understand what was happening.

Low and behold to our bewilderment Nick looked like this because he was malnourished. He had an allergy to gluten and wasn't absorbing any nutrients from food that contained gluten (wheat, rye, oats, barley). When we looked in our cupboards/fridge at the foods he was eating, and we read the ingredients on the packets, the majority contained gluten.

Nick had Coeliac Disease.

How Nick was Diagnosed

The children had their regular paediatrician appointment and when it was Nick's turn we explained  about his constant sore tummy complaints and his diarrhoea. The doctor looked at his exposed ribs (and vp shunt line) and his pot belly..and of course his lack of growth.

The first thought was a lactose intolerance and we were told to take him off dairy. This did not change any of his symptoms.

He also had to have a blood test which indicated that he may have Coeliac Disease. He was booked in to have a biopsy of his small intestine and the gastrologist would have a look to see what was going on.

The operation confirmed that yes Nick did have Coeliac Disease.  The villae were lying down and black. He would have to go on a strict gluten free diet straight away.

We saw the dietitian at the hospital and we contacted the Coeliac Society who supplied us with resources.

We had a friend a church whose son who was the same age as Nick, also had Coeliac, so they were a fantastic support and source of information.

This was another whole new world of learning. Scary at first. And also for Nick to come to terms with.

It has taken him about 1 1/2 years to be truly comfortable with not being able to eat the food that most kids take for granted.


(After the diagnosis I found out from my mum that there were cousins on both sides of the family who had Coeliac Disease. It had come down the family line on either Mum or Dad's side)

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