Carol Tansey should be happy. Five years ago, she spent six months lying in a hospital bed after seven different strokes took away all movement and reason. Today her hands shake and she has to use a wheelchair, but her speech has returned, she\u2019s able to write again and she\u2019s taught herself to use a computer. \u201cMy brain came back,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Since her recovery, she\u2019s written two popular recipe books for those who suffer from gluten intolerance: \u201c100 Gluten Free Soups,\u201d which came out in April 2010, and \u201c43 Gluten Free Dinners,\u201d which came out in April 2011.<\/p>\n
Yet financial and dietary struggles sometimes become too much for her. \u201cFifteen times, I have stopped eating and drinking,\u201d she says. \u201cI simply did not want to live anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of her frustrations came from a struggle to obtain a balanced gluten-free diet at the Father Dowd Home, where Tansey has lived for the past four-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n
Tansey began a gluten-free diet in 1994, after a dietician recommended the move to eliminate stomach pain, gas and alternating diarrhea and constipation. When she was moved to the long-term health facility after her strokes, however, the facility demanded a doctors\u2019 certificate to maintain the regimen, something Tansey had never received. It took months for the senior to find a doctor and submit to tests. She finally underwent a gastroenterology last January, without medication because doctors were worried that anesthesia would trigger another stroke.<\/p>\n
Since the Father Dowd management got the results from that test earlier this year, meals have improved, although Tansey still receives bread on her plate occasionally. \u201cOne day, I was served a lunch of a large white round bun, which was replaced by a long white bun, which was replaced by a brown bread sandwich.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInstitutions like this need in-service information to make sure that everyone knows the importance of providing gluten-free food to people who need it,\u201d says Margaret Duthie, a volunteer from the Celiac Association of Canada, who occasionally visits Tansey with gluten-free goodies. \u201cEven when kitchen staff is fully trained, someone else might add a roll to a plate not knowing that it can cause severe health problems in some people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that employees at the Father Dowd Home have learned to be more careful about Tansey\u2019s meals, she fears that she might be moved from the full-care centre to an intermediate centre elsewhere in the system. \u201cThe kitchen here usually does very well by me at last,\u201d she said. \u201cI just can\u2019t face beginning the fight for gluten-free again.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note: This story appeared on p10 of the Suburban on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After years of effort, Carol Tansey, the 82-year-old author of two gluten-free cookbooks, finally has access to gluten-free food at her seniors\u2019 residence. Now she worries that they\u2019ll move her and she\u2019ll have to start training staff all over again. Carol Tansey should be happy. Five years ago, she spent six months lying in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gluten-free-living","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-kx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2363,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/tim-hortons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1273,"position":0},"title":"Tim Hortons Introduces Certified Gluten-Free Macaroon","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"July 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Hortons new gluten-free coconut macaroon offers celiac and gluten-intolerant guests a tasty treat\u00a0 OAKVILLE, ON, \/CNW\/ - For the estimated one in 133 Canadians affected with celiac disease, grabbing a quick prepared snack when they're on-the-go is not a simple task, as hidden sources of gluten in product ingredients\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"GlutenFreeSnack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TimHortonsMacaroons-300x217.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16588,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/senior-with-food-intolerance-struggling\/","url_meta":{"origin":1273,"position":1},"title":"Senior with food intolerance struggling","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"July 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, Margaret Duthie, the president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association, contacted the Suburban to ask for help for a senior with special diet requirements who relies on social welfare and has been facing difficulties finding an affordable place to live. 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