If you type Celiac Disease into the search bar on Google homepage and click any of the links that come up, it won't take you very long to come across story after story of person after person who started their Celiac journey feeling alone. Feeling stuck. Stuck in an endless pit of questions, doctors who don't believe them, tests, tests, and more tests. They feel like the only person in the world who has this problem. Until one day they realize they have Celiac. And on that day, all of a sudden, a whole new world opens up to them. It's like they were walking around New York City trying to find a quicker way to get places, and not realizing that below them was a whole network of underground tunnels with trains that will get you to your destination in lightning speed.
That's why we picked Celiac. I know Ellie touched on why we chose Celiac in the last post, but I want to touch on it again. Because honestly it wasn't our first choice. It was always an option, always thrown around, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon stories filled with words and phrases like "alone," "no one believed me," "I was so depressed and lonely," and "I thought I was the only one," that Celiac really struck a cord in my heart. Imagine going to 3 years worth of doctors appointments and getting misdiagnosed at each one - never getting better, only getting worse. Imagine how depressing that would be? How alone you would feel when the doctors diagnosed you with a simple "vomiting disorder" when you KNEW that was not the issue and you tried to tell them but they didn't believe you. It was stories like those, stories that involved 2 year old children who are literally wasting away because they can't eat anything because no one knows that gluten is what is literally killing them, that drew me to have a heart for Celiac Disease.
Our goal for C4 is simple - we don't want you to feel alone. You. Yes. You. You with Celiac - we want you to know that we are here. We care. We want others to care. And we want to let people know that this disease you have is real - very real. We are a platform. A platform to make your voice known. A platform to share your story with the world. A place where you can come and see that someone who doesn't even have Celiac cares for you. Because we do care for you. We might not know you, but we care. Deeply.
May is Celiac Awareness month, and throughout the month we will be doing different activities to raise awareness for Celiac. One of the ones we have already signed up for is The Celiac Walk - it takes place all over the country, but the one we have signed up to serve at is in Baltimore. Ellie and I will be there all day and we would love to see some of you there, whether you have Celiac or not. We will be volunteering the whole day, so feel free to either run, walk, or volunteer.
Let's together unite and shout out for those who feel they have no voice.