However, following her premature arrival, their daughter, whom they named Chelsea, suffered an anaphylactic reaction to formula and her first days were spent in intensive care.

When she was two weeks old, after Linda began thickening a different kind of formula with barley on the advice of pediatricians, Chelsea began vomiting full feedings.

Linda and Chris did not know then that the barley, which contains gluten, had triggered celiac disease.

In people with celiac disease, gluten sets off an autoimmune reaction that causes the destruction of the villi in the small intestine, which leads to damage and malnutrition.

The disease affects both children and adults and can be life-threatening.

At four months, as she continued to vomit her food, Chelsea had an endoscopy, which failed to diagnose the malady.

At eight months, she was admitted to the hospital for a full nutritional rescue. To provide the needed nutrition, doctors introduced a formula directly into Chelsea's veins, bypassing her stomach. After six weeks she was sent home.

When she reached her first birthday, Chelsea weighed only 11 pounds, just a few pounds more than the average newborn.

Still, the vomiting did not stop and, at 13 months, doctors performed fundoplication surgery. The procedure entails wrapping part of the stomach around the esophagus and stitching it in place so vomiting cannot occur.

They also put a gastronomy tube in her stomach for feeding.

While the procedures curtailed the vomiting, they also created other difficulties. Chelsea developed what is known as dumping syndrome where undigested food, instead of being released from the stomach in a controlled fashion, dumps rapidly into the small intestine. The condition caused Chelsea to develop hypoglycemia.

In her first 3-1/2 years of life, Chelsea had 20-30 surgeries and still there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

Around the same time, Linda became anemic. Unlike Chelsea, she tested positive for celiac early on. On researching the disease, she learned it was genetic.

Putting two and two together, Linda and Chris realized that celiac was what Chelsea suffered from as well.

Removing gluten from her diet made an obvious difference in her health though she still suffers complications, including occasional seizures.

Two years ago, Linda gave birth to another daughter, Julia, and not surprisingly, eventually learned that she, too, has celiac.

Knowing more about the disease at that point, they discontinued foods containing gluten and Julia's condition came under control.

Linda and Chris have since learned that their three other children, Haley, 11, Casey, 9, and Nicholas, 7, also are carrying the gene for celiac disease. So far, none have symptoms, however.

Because there are no medications and no cure for celiac, maintaining good digestive health depends solely on avoiding gluten in the diet.

For those who have the disease, that means avoiding foods with rye, barley and wheat, a challenge that, for the Wheelers, requires reading labels carefully, making their own gluten-free bread, rarely going to restaurants and avoiding take-out.

Some medications, lotions and even Play-Doh, contain gluten, Linda noted.

Chris noted that he found a place in Waterbury that makes gluten-free pizza, which enabled Chelsea to enjoy her first pizza recently.

In fact, despite the seizures, which are triggered by the dumping-syndrome-induced hypoglycemia, Chelsea is doing well.

Once she went on a gluten-free diet at 3-1/2 she started growing rapidly, progressing from a size 2 T to a size 5 in one year.

Having endured many trials and tribulations as a result of the disease, Chris and Linda are anxious to help others in similar situations by promoting research of celiac.

Toward that end, they are organizing a fund-raising golf tournament Friday, May 15, at the Whitney Farms Golf Course in Monroe.

Proceeds will go to the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland and to the Greater New Haven Celiac Group, of which the couple are members.

The Center for Celiac Research is recognized as a worldwide leader in the field of celiac disease. It houses a comprehensive multidisciplinary program covering clinical care, support services, education and scientific research.

The Greater New Haven Celiac Group benefits all who have the disease, parents of celiac children and those with dermatitis herpetiformis.

The primary goal of the group is to make celiacs aware of the medical necessity of adhering strictly to the gluten-free diet by encouraging, educating and supporting them to accept a gluten-free diet as a lifestyle.

The upcoming Chip in for Celiac Golf Tournament will begin with registration at 11:15 a.m. and lunch at 11:30 a.m. A shotgun start will take place at 12:30 p.m.

Following the tournament there will be a dinner, awards, an auction and introduction to celebrity guests.

Fees are $175 for individual players, $700 for a foursome. The cost of dinner only is $75.

Sponsorships are available and range from $150 to $5,000.

Sponsorships and donations should be made payable to the UMB Foundation (a public charity under section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code) and sent to Chip In For Celiac, 26 Silano Drive, Oxford 06478.

Those seeking more details about sponsorships and to download registration forms, may visit www.glutenfreeinspired. com/?page_id=162.