Generally, newly diagnosed adults with celiac disease are advised to create a safe environment at home and focus on recovery. Be cautious when going out and traveling, and take it step by step. First, explore your neighborhood, then your district, and finally the entire city. This way, you may create a safe circle.

If you have celiac disease, leaving the house requires detailed preparation, much like going out with a small baby. You need to research “celiac friendly” places, prepare your own bread, and organize gluten-free snacks. Spontaneity is no longer an option. You no longer have the luxury of uncertainty.

So, what did I do?

After staying home for a long time, I suddenly WENT TO MALAYSIA from Istanbul (In February 2024) for a work trip. No big deal, right? In the most uncertain period of my illness, I was going to fly for 10-11 hours to a country I knew nothing about, with people I didn’t know.

And it was one of the best decisions of my life.

AM I CRAZY?

I received an invitation to Malaysia for work for a 4-day trip. I told the organizers about my illness, and they said, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” While my gastritis complaints were still severe enough to keep a Coca Cola factory running, and my gluten symptoms were still unclear, I did something crazy and said, “Okay, I’m coming!”

Of course, lots of questions were swirling in my mind:

• The flight was very long, what would I eat?
• If I became a victim of cross-contamination, would there be an unpleasant incident requiring an emergency landing?
• Would I become the news instead of reporting it?
• Would I starve in Malaysia?
• Would I disrupt the group’s schedule and become a burden?
• Did I completely go mad, making this decision?

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT

Fortunately, my dietitian Merve, said, “You can trust Turkish Airlines’ meals.” The initial worries were eased. Indeed, two meals were specially brought to me, along with gluten-free bread. Great.

But was the food tasty? I have no idea. My relationship with food is currently in the “It’s not like it could get any worse” phase. However, to make this happen, you need to select “gluten-free” meals before your journey. Saying “Where’s my special meal?” after boarding is not an effective way to become a popular passenger among the flight attendants.

Here’s a tip: it’s helpful to remind them about your meal when checking in your luggage and boarding the plane. I’ve heard that they sometimes forget to put the meal on the plane. Especially on long journeys, it’s better safe than sorry.

A HORROR MOVIE: THE MIDDLE SEAT

Although Turkish Airlines handled the operations, the flight was with Malaysia Airlines. The only problem was that I watched a Netflix documentary about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 the day before I found this out.

An even worse surprise awaited me on the plane. MY SEAT WAS IN THE MIDDLE. And our vehicle was only as wide as a plane suitable for taxiing. This plane should have been planned as a land vehicle. 

The seats were so narrow that even the armrests were gone. The journalist friends on either side of me fell asleep as if there was no tomorrow. I was left staring into space like Vahe Kılıçaslan, who became famous in Turkey for acting like a mannequin. After the 4th hour of the journey, the possibility of the plane disappearing didn’t seem so bad anymore.

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF NORMALITY

Fortunately, time passes somehow. After 10-plus hours, we arrived in Malaysia. The most gratifying part was that none of the misery I experienced was due to celiac disease. I had suffered like a normal unlucky person. Feeling normal is the most important thing for someone with celiac disease.

Our reason for coming to Kuala Lumpur was a cybersecurity event. As soon as I arrived, I felt that my situation had been carefully considered. The hotel kitchen offered gluten-free options without cross-contamination. The chefs and waiters prepared GF-labeled tags for me to see the foods I could eat at the buffet. When we went out to eat, the chef immediately came to me and asked, “Are you the one?” and I said, “Yes, I am,” hoping we were talking about the same thing. They then explained the different gluten-free menus they had prepared for me. I had to restrain myself from hugging them.

Result: For 4 days, I forgot about my gastritis, and I didn’t experience any gluten symptoms.

During all this, no one did anything to make me feel bad. On the contrary, my overflowing gratitude made them happy too.

The Kaspersky team, Malaysian waiters, chefs… For the first time since my celiac diagnosis, I felt like a normal person, and the people who made this happen were people I met for the first time in my life. While most of my close circle put on a show of indifference and apathy, why were these people so kind?

What was happening? Was I dying?

As I emphasized in my previous article, after “upsetting developments” in our lives, some people we are very close to can disappoint us, but unexpected people can pleasantly surprise us.

For me, Malaysia meant a new possibility of happiness outside the home. Malaysia meant that I would be writing about other trips that will “bore your head” on this blog.

Could Turkey become Malaysia?

I don’t know yet.

If I hadn’t sat on the aisle side of a seat (with an actual armrest) on the return flight, would I have been this positive?

We’ll never know that either.