ElisaThe Voices of Celiac Disease

“I was in high school and I never wanted to tell my friends ‘no’ if they wanted to hang out, so I dealt with whatever came.”

A headshot of Elisa

Describe your life prior to diagnosis:

My life was incredible. I was living my best life until my father was deployed in the military. At that point, I knew something wasn’t right because I began to feel depressed and was constantly running to the bathroom and having stomach pain, but I had no idea why. I was in high school and I never wanted to tell my friends “no” if they wanted to hang out, so I dealt with whatever came.

How did you come to know (or suspect) that you have celiac disease?

My mom was diagnosed with celiac disease before I was. When I finally told her about what was going on, she informed me that I was showing the same symptoms that she had. After that it took maybe a month or so to get diagnosed. 

Describe your experience with living with celiac disease:

It is definitely tough at times. The amount of people that have asked me, “Is it just in your head?” or “Is it a preference or an actual allergy?” and many more aggravating questions makes me constantly wonder how many people don’t take celiac disease seriously. 

When I was 15 years old, I had to give up my title at a pageant and sit in a separate room by myself because the directors didn’t want the hotel to see me eating food that wasn’t sponsored by them. The directors thought it would have been disrespectful. Let me tell you, at 15 years old I was mortified…I would never wish that experience on anyone. 

Now at the age of 23 I have been able to share my story with people all throughout Pennsylvania as a title holder in the Miss America organization. With my social impact initiative of celiac disease awareness, I have been able to provide celiac disease survival kits to schools to support those children in schools who are suffering with celiac disease and educating those teachers on how to support those children with their invisible illness. You truly never know what a person is going through unless you walk in their shoes.