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Welcome to
Kendra Nielsam's Janus Charity Challenge Donation Page
Thank you for your involvement!
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My Fundraising Goal:
$3,000.00
Money Raised to Date:
$3,657.00
About Janus
Help me raise funds for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness!
On November 7, 2009, I will be attempting my first Ironman triathlon. Starting at 7am, I'll swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run 26.2 miles - all before midnight, and all while avoiding gluten! As I make my debut at Ironman Florida, I'll also be raising awareness of Celiac disease. Please support my endeavor by making a tax deductible donation to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.
I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, a genetic autoimmune disease that causes my body to attack itself whenever I consume gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Post-diagnosis, I've learned how ubiquitous gluten is. It can show up in soy sauce, chicken broth, salad dressing. It's not always easy to spot on an ingredient list. It can be in "natural flavoring" or "modified food starch" or even "caramel color"! Even foods that don't contain gluten can be problematic due to cross contamination issues. The smallest crumb leftover on a cutting board can contaminate an otherwise gluten free salad, for example. A prepackaged snack that was manufactured on shared equipment with wheat could cause a reaction. You can imagine how difficult eating safely at a restaurant can be.
When a person with Celiac disease ingests gluten, her immune system responds by damaging the finger-like villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment. Left untreated, people with Celiac disease can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.
About 1 in 133 people have Celiac disease but most of them don't know it yet! Diagnosis takes an average of 11 years. The symptoms vary a lot and some people have no symptoms! My main symptom included an unexplained rash on my elbows on and off for about a year but I'd had years of unexplained iron-deficiency anemia and elevated liver enzymes. My primary care physician screens all her new patients to see if they have a gluten allergy and that blood test combined with a biopsy of my rash told me back in February that I needed to go gluten free. A recent genetic screen confirmed I have the Celiac genes, too. I've been gluten free since February. After a few weeks on a gluten free diet, I felt like I had more energy. Within a few months, my asthma also improved and I have normal blood test results for the first time that I can remember.
The only treatment for Celiac disease is a lifelong gluten free diet. This is both a blessing and a curse. Since I'm already on various asthma medications, I'm happy to not have to pop another pill to treat this. The biggest problem is that gluten is everywhere and there is very little awareness of Celiac disease. My goal is to raise awareness of Celiac disease because I believe awareness is the first step towards increased diagnoses and better quality of life for those diagnosed. It's really been amazing to me to learn about all the health problems that can be related to a Celiac ingesting gluten (for example, infertility, osteoporosis, and autism have all been linked) and yet people don't know about the disease!! You, or someone you know, could be suffering from Celiac's disease without knowing it because of the lack of awareness.
As a participant in Ironman Florida, I've decided to join the Janus Charity Challenge which lets Ironman triathletes choose a charity to raise funds for. I'm raising money for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. One challenge for me during the actual Ironman race includes having to carry my own food. Even a little bit of gluten can be problematic for Celiacs. I certainly can't eat the pretzels they'll have on the run course and unfortunately gluten free pretzels get stale quickly. But salt is what I'll need, and the hot broth that appears on the course after dark may or may not be safe for me. The bananas should be safe, as long as the volunteers who touch them haven't been touching pretzels and used a clean knife and cutting board to cut the bananas instead of the same one that cut the gluten-filled sports bars. On second thought, maybe I'll ask for a whole banana! You can read more about my training on my blog: http://flim09.blogspot.com
Please help me raise funds for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. They're educating healthcare professionals to increase the rate of diagnosis and promote appropriate care. They're educating food service professionals to provide safe gluten free options for institutions and individuals. It's really important to celiacs to have an organization like the NFCA working hard to achieve these important goals. I'm hoping that by raising money for the NFCA through my Ironman race, I can help NFCA continue to increase awareness.
