“A beautiful bunch o’ ripe banana. Daylight come and me wan’ go home.” Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), Harry Belafonte
Talking About the Challenges of Celiac Disease
At some point I came across a blog where the author was expressing the woes of living with Celiac disease in a comedic way and they mentioned the “emergency banana” that often gets carried around in bags of those who suffer from the illness.
As far as food goes, a ripened banana is a pretty neutral go-to that can serve as a relief to someone in the throes of a battle with a disruptive belly.
It had not occurred to me that the banana was something of a beacon of hope for more than just me and my unstable stomach, but for many people living with various dietary troubles. I thought of my friend Michelle and how it must be a challenge to communicate the details of her disease to others when the time comes for her to speak up concerning her health.
Michelle was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2016 at the age of 27. I remember her sharing the news with me and the feeling of knowing there was nothing I could do to ease her pain. Although Michelle is someone who now lives with Celiac disease, that is not all she is. Michelle is a creative. She’s a photographer, blogger, travel enthusiast and she enjoys the occasional comic and pop culture convention. Dragon Con, hosted in Atlanta, is where she and her spouse place their cosplay ideas on display each year.
Beetlejuice and Bananas
Not much time had passed between reading that emergency banana blog and renting a copy of Beetlejuice. I danced along to the famous dinner scene featuring Harry Belafonte’s Day-O (Banana Boat Song). There it was again, the idea of that ripe banana! It was about that time I also thought to myself Michelle and her husband would be great in Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin cosplay.
I plan to keep working to convince her that it’ll be the perfect couples costume. In the meantime, I’ll be supporting her in whatever ways I can because I empathize with her and the struggles she has faced as a result of her illness. If anyone knows the value of a ripe banana, I do. Below are a few insights Michelle shared with me during a conversation we recorded.
You can view the entire conversation with Michelle on my YouTube channel.
On challenges she’s encountered since her diagnosis:
“With celiac, one of the biggest challenges has probably been any and every social get together. Whether with family or at work parties, or with friends, I’m already an introvert but now I have to be an introvert who has to explain why I’m not eating anything or how I’m feeling etc. The other challenge I’ve been experiencing is figuring out if I feel sick because I ate something or because something is wrong and I need to go to the ER.”
On resources she has found:
“Most of my support comes from reddit, I can post whatever I want in the celiac subreddit, get advice pretty quickly, and learn from others’ mistakes. The other resource I found super helpful are two apps, findmeglutenfree, and gluten free scanner. Both of which have saved time while shopping, and trying to find a place to eat.”