Henry’s perspective

I don’t remember ever not having coeliac disease—my earliest memories of it are when I was in hospital and the staff gave me Jaffa cakes to eat before I was diagnosed and when I played with Lego while I was having a blood transfusion.

My nursery report says I said to my teacher after returning from being diagnosed, “I can’t eat cup cakes anymore” so I guess I understood what had happened.

It is annoying not being able to eat cake and other foods at birthday parties and other celebrations, but most of the time I don’t feel any different from other children. My primary school won’t cook me a gluten-free lunch and has stopped letting me take a flask of hot soup in my lunch box, which I miss. I hope by the time I am older there will be more gluten-free foods like doughnuts. Bakeries smell so good. I often take my own food to barbecues, parties, aeroplanes, etc.

I am very rarely unwell but do get tummy aches every now and then. It is difficult to tell if this is because of my diet or just a tummy ache. The one thing I do really hate about having coeliac disease is the blood tests. I am not sure I will ever get used to them.

My aunt and two of my cousins also have coeliac …