It doesn't really fit in with the main point of this blog, but I feel that I absolutely must share the experience we had with our first allergist visit. We went for his skin scratch test and not surprisingly, we were told that he was allergic to peanuts. Much to our surprise, we were told that he was also allergic to milk and wheat. Our child literally lived on milk and wheat. I had just talked to his pediatrician at his 2-year checkup about how all I could get him to drink was milk, and the only foods he wanted to eat were cheese and yogurt. He occasionally ate macaroni and cheese and other noodles and bread/crackers (wheat). The allergist specifically told us that he did not test allergic to eggs. So being completely bum-rushed by this information, we didn't know what to feed our poor child. We were told to completely exclude the milk and wheat, even though he had never shown an obvious reaction to either. We had to take away his sippy cup full of milk, and it was the strangest feeling ever, because he went through multiple gallons of milk every week. So not knowing what else to do, we decided to give him eggs for breakfast. Afterall, the allergist had just specifically stated that he was okay with eggs. So imagine my surprise when his mouth starts erupting in hives as we watch him eat it. I stopped him and called the allergist back to double check and clarify that I had not misunderstood. She confirmed that she had documented him as allergic to only peanuts, milk, and wheat. I told her that he indeed did just react to eggs, and so she ordered blood tests for all four: peanuts, milk, wheat, and eggs. We went shopping and bought a bunch of weird foods that we never would have eaten otherwise. Cheese made of rice? Eww. It was disgusting. But Sean liked it, so that was the important thing. A week later, the blood tests were in. He was indeed allergic to peanuts, eggs, and milk. He did not test allergic to wheat. I do believe it was a mistake in interpreting the skin test by the allergist. I'm just glad that his reaction to egg was not more severe. I'm irritated that she told us the wrong allergies, but had the incident resulted in a life-threatening reaction, I would have been livid.
The terrible thing about food allergies is that you can not predict the severity of a reaction based on previous reactions. Although his previous reactions were relatively mild, it is expected that future reactions could increase in severity. We are to treat his allergies as potentially life-threatening, strictly avoid his allergens (even items "processed on shared equipment" with peanuts), and carry Epipens at all times. Peanut allergy is the #1 food allergy linked to severe allergic reactions leading to death due to anaphylactic shock. People have accused me of being a paranoid mama-bear. I just feel that I'm doing what is necessary to keep my son safe.
Fast-forward to December 2012. Sean had spent almost a year and a half avoiding all traces of dairy, and thankfully, he eventually outgrew that allergy. The day we got the call that his test indicated that we could reincorporate it freely into his diet was an amazing and joyous day. It makes cooking a million times easier when you can include milk, cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, etc. You get the idea. But the tears started to flow when I imagined us going as a family on a hot Summer day to buy our children ice cream. It had been heart-breaking for me to imagine not being able to take my little boys to enjoy one of life's simple pleasures due to a food allergy. Yay for ice cream! I cried tears of joy... A small victory!
And fast-forward once again to today. I made the phone call that may very well lead to another victory for us. Only this one would be a huge victory. I called the office of Dr. M. in Michigan who came highly recommended to me from other people in online food allergy groups. Dr. M. has personally dealt with food allergies and is deeply invested in OIT (oral immunotherapy) as a treatment for food allergies (more on that later). I originally planned to wait until Sean was 5 years old to begin this treatment, but for many reasons (more on those later also), I decided to take the leap sooner. When I spoke to the woman on the phone, I was absolutely shocked when she told me they had an opening for an appointment this Thursday! I was looking at my schedule, expecting it to be weeks out before I could see Dr. M. I think Tom was ready to kill me when I told him we have an appointment in three days! He had just told me last night that he would leave the "when" and "where" up to me, but I really don't think he expected us to find ourselves in a doctor's office to discuss it this week! To be honest, I didn't expect it either.
He ought to know by now that I'm the impulsive type. I do things on a whim... Sometimes, those things happen to be amazing, huge, life-altering things that involve hours worth of driving when we have no plans for baby-sitters and no freaking CLUE what we're in for. Sometimes, those things end up unbelievably beautiful, and I can only hope this is one of those times. I want to send my child to school and not worry that he may experience a severe, life-threatening reaction. I want to send my child to school without having to hide my tears when he asks me why he can't sit with the other children at lunch. I want him to go to birthday parties where he can enjoy the cake and not have to bring his own "safe" treat so as not to feel entirely left out. I want to eat at restaurants without feeling like I have to stare at him the whole time, poised to stab him with his Epipen should he experience difficulty breathing.
Was the lollipop processed on equipment that also processes peanuts?
Let's read the fine print before we buy it!
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