So, we did it - we finally let my daughter sleep over at a friend's house. It was her first time sleeping over at a friend's house whose family is not also gluten-free, and today E is home sick, feeling the repercussions. I knew that there was a high chance of her being "glutened" as soon as she asked me if she could stay at her friend's house; but she's been having so many issues with mean girls in school lately, and I really wanted her to just have a good time with a nice girl and enjoy being a kid for a night. Is that so bad? So I packed her up with gluten free snacks, we gave the friend's parents a brief synopsis of what gluten is and what foods to avoid, and sent them on their way.
The friend's mom and dad are great - They were very receptive to E's dietary needs, bought special ice cream that she could eat for that night and even cooked her eggs for breakfast the next morning. However, using my mad detective skills I have determined a couple of areas where the gluten may have sneaked in:
- They went out for dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant where E had corn tortilla chips with melted cheese. I must admit, when I found out that they took my daughter to this restaurant I was immediately excited because it is one of my favorites in the area and we haven't been there since E's diagnosis (because we haven't verified if they offer gluten-free items). But then I remembered why we haven't been there in almost a year and E admitted that they don't have a separate GF menu, she just ordered corn chips with melted cheese. When we asked her if she asked if the chips were fried in oil separate from everything else, like any 10-year-old she admitted she did not inquire.
- During breakfast E tasted some frou-frou drink from Starbucks because she has never tasted "coffee" before. E said, "it was a drink so it should be gluten free, right?" So there's that.... And really given that E was so blase about tasting the beautiful Starbucks drink, I have no idea what else she actually consumed.
Anyway, regardless of where the gluten came from, later this weekend E started to feel dizzy, really sleepy and then her stomach started hurting. Today she is home with a tummy ache, constipation, and can hardly keep her eyes open. But at least she had a great time at her friend's house!
I think the lesson we've learned is that, at least for the time being, any sleepovers are going to have to be at our house :-(
-Jackie
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