2018 Iowa Celiac Conference

On Sept 29th, my mom, Edie and Siouxland Celiac Group co-leader, Susie and I attended the 2018 Iowa Celiac Conference in Marion, Iowa. It was a small conference, but we were happy to get to meet and mingle with other Celiacs from not only Iowa, but even LaCrosse, WI and Ohio. We arrived Friday evening, checked into our room at the Microtel Inn and Suites in Marion and then decided on a destination for supper. The pamphlet about the conference listed several restaurant options that offer gluten free menus. We selected Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano. Oh my! Were we ever glad we chose to eat there! The food was amazing and neither Susie or I had to ask many questions of our server, as she was very knowledgeable and gave us all of the information we needed up front once she found out that we were gluten free for health reasons before we could even ask. My mom, who does not have Celiac Disease and doesn't have to eat gluten free had her pick of what she wanted out of the regular bread basket, while Susie and I each enjoyed a gluten free flatbread that was prepared to order for us. I was nice and shared a piece of mine with my mom, who is always game to try any of my gluten free food! The meals were huge and we each ended up taking a to-go box home with us.

My mom, Edie, me (Margo) and Susie outside of Biaggi's

Mom (Edie) and Susie by the fireplace.  Mom's steak and fries can be seen in this photo.

This picture doesn't do this amazing gluten free flatbread, which we dipped in EVVO and grated Parmesan, justice

Both Susie and I ordered this amazing sea food and gluten free pasta dish

There were only three vendors at the conference, which, Jill (one of the event's organizers) said is the fewest they've had. She told us that there were initially more who were going to be there, but didn't show up. That was disappointing, but it was still a great experience and I did check out the three vendors who were there and bought some items from one of them.

There were three speakers. The first was Dr Hilary Jericho who is the Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Clinical Research at the University of Chicago's Celiac Disease Center. She brought us the latest on Celiac standards for testing and research. A lot of the information she provided was stuff that both Susie and I already knew, having both lived with Celiac for several years now, but it was still interesting and informative.

Judy Fitzgibbons spoke next. She has been a registered dietitian for more than 40 years and has worked for the past 15 years as the in-store dietitian for Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids. She gave us information on Gluten Free labeling laws and what to look for as well as what to avoid. Susie and I were able to speak with her for a few minutes as the conference was wrapping up.

Our last speaker was Kristen Richardson, a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who created a Holistic Mental Health Care Private Practice in 2005. She led a thought-provoking discussion on the emotional side of Celiac Disease. Kristen gave us a fresh perspective on things, as well. So often it is easy for us, as Celiacs, to get our feelings hurt by well-meaning people who say or do the wrong thing. We often feel like they are being mean or purposefully disrespectful of what we have to live with. Kristen pointed out their point of view. They don't live with Celiac Disease, so it is difficult for them to understand what we go through. Each person looks at things through their own scope of experience. So, people who don't have Celiac tend to look at it through what their experiences with illness or possible food issues have been. They aren't purposefully, in most cases, trying to not include us or say or do ignorant things. They just don't have the experiences we do. It's funny because I've said many times that having Celiac Disease has made me more compassionate and understanding toward other people facing health issues. I haven't thought about the fact that other people also need to be treated with compassion and understanding, not just those of us facing chronic health problems. My mom spoke a little bit with Kristen after her portion of the conference.

We also listened to a panel discussion on Growing Up Celiac. Two school aged girls spoke about their experiences being kids with Celiac and their parents spoke about what they have to do each year in order for their kids to be kept safe from gluten at school. I hope to have a future post that will include first-hand experiences from a couple of young school aged girls that I know and from their mom.

Susie and I spoke with Betty and Jill, the two event organizers. These ladies lead the Waverly, Iowa Celiac Group. They didn't even know there was still a group on our side of the state. Jill explained that there used to be several Celiac Groups in the Western Iowa area, but one by one, they ended up folding. They were very happy to hear about our group and the hopes we have for expanding the reach of our group to help a greater area on the Western side of the state. Jill was able to share some tips and encouragement with me and Susie and she and Betty even suggested that maybe we would be able to have the 2020 Iowa Celiac Conference in Sioux City! Both Susie and I were stunned at that! There is a lot we would have to do in order to accomplish this, but I believe it can be done. Note - this is not something that is set in stone yet. It is something we are looking into and will work with the larger group in hopes of seeing this happen. I will keep you up to date with information as planning forges ahead.

The gentleman we met from LaCrosse, WI shared with us their group's newsletter and I mentioned something about the possibility of our group starting a quarterly newsletter to help keep our people informed. Jill told us that any Celiac Awareness or group activities/events that we hold could be included in the state newsletter, as well, so that our reach can touch many people throughout the state of Iowa!! They had little samples of several recipes included in this cookbook that they had put together years ago. This is actually the second edition. It sounds as if a third edition is soon to go to press! I was happy not only to taste the samples, but to buy a cookbook for myself. I also picked one up to include as a giveaway prize at the November meeting of our local Celiac Group!!

Okay, this post has gotten really long. It has been a long time since I've written much, so I may have gotten a bit carried away. It has been fun sharing with you our experiences from the conference..

Susie, me (Margo) and Edie (my mom)