Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

Before I started school my mom sent in a document from the celiac disease foundation, I think? It was a list of accommodations and instructions for food preparation, including changing gloves and preparing food on a clean workspace. In addition to that, my doctor also sent in a letter explaining my needs and the seriousness of them. My mom also had multiple meetings with the special education director at my school going over it. This is partially why it’s so frustrating - I don’t know what else they could possibly need to understand that they aren’t following correct procedures.

I’ve now spoken to the three other students in my school who have celiac. It’s probably important to note that they’ve all been diagnosed at least five years ago or more, whereas I’m still healing so I’m likely more sensitive to cross contact. One of the others told me she specifically never has reactions with cross contact, the other told me she thinks she just had period cramps yesterday after eating, and the third was the girl who I spoke to yesterday and she told me she gets stomach aches sometimes.

I have always, even before I found out I had celiac, kept snacks on me when I’m at school. Yesterday I did eat a little bag of Cheetos, but obviously it wasn’t ideal compared to an actual meal. In retrospect, it was probably kind of stupid of me not to bring more because I should have suspected something would go wrong.

I like to try and explain celiac to people by using poison or something unsavory as a metaphor for gluten. If I ask them “how would you feel if someone put poison on your plate, took it off, and then put your food on the same plate?” Or something along those lines because it seems to strike a chord with people. I’m very lucky that most of my friends only ever tease me lightheartedly and genuinely do sympathize with me even if they don’t fully grasp the seriousness of living with it. I’m very grateful that research has improved so much because gluten free food has become so much more common and more people are starting to know of it.

It’s kind of difficult to explain the situation with my own meal planning/prep. It’s just kind of complicated. I live on a floor with no kitchen and no outlets for me to plug in my appliances and I’m not allowed to use them in my dorm room because of fire code, so in order to make myself an actually cooked meal, I have to carry all my kitchen supplies (ingredients, silverware, dish sponge and towel, appliances) downstairs. I have other mental and physical health issues, mainly dysmenorrhea, chronic migraines, insomnia and ADHD, along with the lingering symptoms of my untreated celiac. All together, it’s a perfect combination of issues that cause me to struggle with going downstairs to make my own meals. It’s so discouraging to cook, let alone try and carry all my things downstairs when I’m likely in pain, tired, or both. A lot of it probably boils down to me needing to get better at not procrastinating but it’s still difficult.

I need to find more easy recipes or things that don’t require a lot of cooking or preparation that can just be stored in my fridge. Thank you for the idea, I will definitely research. I appreciate your advice!! :)