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"There currently aren’t any cures. . ."

by Matthew Descoteau
Exchange Feature Writer

     “Keri, is that cheese?” he asks his girlfriend.  What was originally detected as a piece of lettuce seems to be something else.    

     “Yeah, was that on the whole sandwich?” she replies.  Sean hadn’t noticed any cheese on the first half, so he assumed the cook accidentally slipped one piece on.  Now Sean became annoyed because he already started to feel uneasy and would not feel good the rest of the night.  The pains in his stomach will be almost unbearable.  It feels like the insides are fighting a war with the cheese and no one is giving up.  Then there is the bloating, which makes doing any sort of movement feel like too much effort.  However the worst part is the gas.  He feels very embarrassed if he is out in public and this kicks in.  Being lactose-intolerant has been a part of his life since he was eleven years old.  It is a battle he wishes he didn’t have to fight, but he knows it is one he must. 

     There currently aren’t any cures for lactose intolerance.  Some companies offer enzyme pills that can be taken with meals to help.  For Sean, he simply refuses to eat dairy.  There’s no history of the intolerance in his family, and he has never seen a doctor about it.  He simply knows not to eat dairy food.  

     Without being able to eat ice cream, pizza, grilled cheese, and other popular foods, he feels left out sometimes.  There are products out there that he buys, like soy milk and tofutti (ice cream substitute) that help him.  Then this past holiday season he discovered soy egg nog.  He can now blend into the tradition of egg nog with Christmas.   

     The frustration of the intolerance is not only limited to Sean, but also the ones around him.  His family has also had to deal with this as well.  His mother Sue altered what she cooked for the family, which was a drastic change.  “He really misses eating pizza and ice cream, but it was a good experience for all of us experience new foods,” Sue said. 

     His brother Brian was disappointed after Sean could not eat dairy anymore.  “It was a bummer for me because I couldn’t get pizza and other stuff as often because we had to account for my brother.  But I realized I like other foods more now, so I guess it worked out fine.”     

     Sean’s longtime girlfriend has been the most affected by this while they are at college in New Hampshire.  “We have a hard time going out to eat at non-chain, local restaurants because he might have a difficult time finding something on the menu for him to eat,” said Keri Ellis.  Keri has been with Sean for three years, and is very much accustomed to concerning him when deciding what to do for dinner. 

     For the last twelve years, it has been tough at times.  The most difficult part is making sure there is nothing in the food that will upset his stomach.  It’s a process of trail and error as well, sometimes a small amount of something will be okay and other times it won’t.  The most frustrating part is eating food and finding out there’s dairy in it without knowing it.  It’s a constant struggle that goes on everyday for many people, with no cure in the near future.