An Introduction to My Inspiration

When I was pregnant with my son, the usual questions flooded my thoughts: Will he be healthy? What will he look like? Will he inherit my blonde hair, or my husband's dark brown hair? Will he have green or blue eyes? Will he be creative or intellectual? No matter what, I was going to love this little person with every fiber of my being.

During your pregnancy, ultrasounds make sure the little one growing inside of you has all of his/her fingers, toes and other necessary body parts (if you are so inclined to find out). But, to be diagnosed with food allergies comes later. There isn't a test that lets you know so you can prepare beforehand.

Finding out your child has a food allergy is like the world's worst surprise. You think that you're doing the best you can by giving your son healthy food options: whole milk (vitamins and fat he needs to grow); eggs (protein); cheese (calcium). But after eating these foods, he gets irritable: complaints of a tummy ache, complete with tears and folding his chubby little legs to his belly to try and alleviate the pain. Then, his eczema flairs up (originally thought due to to his sensitive skin. We would later find out that food allergies and eczema often go hand-in-hand). He gets red and itchy. His eyes are watery. His lip puffs up so much that he looks like he has a duck's beak (funny to picture now, six years later. Not so funny as it's happening and you don't know why).

Food allergies never crossed my mind until his pediatrician brought it up and recommended us to an allergist. The tests were worse than the shots at a well-child visit. This was like getting poked by multiple needles all at once. This test involves placing drops of the supposed offending foods on the tip of a needle. Also included is histamine as a control spot (this will definitely flare up) and a drop of water as a placebo. The foods we tested for at first were milk, egg white, egg yolk (different proteins -- some are allergic to both, some to one -- and if only one, it's usually the yolk). All of these are placed on the tips of needles that are attached to a square plastic piece. It's then pushed gently onto the patient's back for a couple seconds, then released. After that, the waiting game begins in office to see if hives appear (a definite sign the body is rejecting the food).

If there has to be a "worst" part of being a parent, it's watching your child suffer. Knowing that you have to be the one to hold him tightly against your chest as an unfamiliar nurse pushes five needles simultaneously into the skin of his bare back (made cold as it is by the temperature in the doctor's office) is heart-wrenching. Cries and screams of protest still ring accusingly in my ears as I recall those visits.

On my son's back, hives appeared almost instantaneously (even the water placebo made a small red mark -- that's how sensitive his skin was). Immediately, he attempted to reach the middle of his back with his little toddler arms. You know how hard it is to reach that one spot on your back when you have an itch? Magnify that by 10 and times it by not being able to vocalize your discomfort.
The verdict was clear: my son had food allergies. We were to avoid egg and dairy completely. Soy milk was recommended (which can be expensive, but he took to it pretty quickly). I discovered the KFA Network, an online community of parents with kids who suffer from food allergies. There, I found a wealth of information, including dairy and egg free recipes that were lifesavers, especially for my trepidation on what I was going to do for subsequent birthdays (wacky cake became my go-to cake recipe).

Over the years, we would discover that not only was our son allergic to dairy and egg, but that his body rejected peanut and shellfish too. We discovered his peanut allergy at 5 years old when we were given the OK to try a peanut butter sandwich and he got watery, itchy eyes. Another test confirmed that to be positive. We did shellfish along with it for curiosity's sake and that was positive too. Amazingly, he is totally fine with tree nuts (many kids who are allergic to either peanut or tree nut are allergic to both).

We've done both skin tests and RAST blood tests (which give us a number on which to base the severity of his allergies). All of his allergies are on the mild side, and his allergist is confident he will outgrow at least the dairy and egg before he turns 10. In fact, a couple years ago, after unknowingly ingesting a baked good that contained egg, it was discovered that the breakdown of the egg when it is baked in an oven at a higher temperature is okay for him. We also discovered that he is not allergic to egg yolk, only the whites (remember earlier when I said that "it's usually the yolk" that most kids end up being allergic to if it's either the white or the yolk? Of course my son would be the one to break that trend).

While the past almost seven years have been full of trial and error, yearly allergist visits, one call to 911 (he ingested string cheese and became very listless and lethargic and nearly scared me to death when he was about 3 years old) and occasional doses of Benadryl (mild hives are usually the extent of any accidental contact, aside from the scary "string cheese incident"), I can honestly say that I'd be okay if he ended up having his allergies for life.

We've learned how to be more conscientious at the grocery store. We're masters at reading food labels, checking and re-checking ingredients and trying to find safe yet healthy foods for our son to enjoy. We have become braver and more outspoken in our attempts to allow our family to go out for meals at restaurants that are filled with cringe-worthy food options like macaroni and cheese, pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches (I'd like to believe that the kids of today's society have a more sophisticated palate than that, but I digress and save that rant for another blog post).

Our son probably eats a wider variety of foods than most kids (and even some adults!). He loves salmon (any kind of fish, really), lima beans, salad (he eats romaine lettuce straight out of the bag), cherry tomatoes, blueberries, cucumber, jicama, pomegranate-flavored anything and sunflower nut butter. 

He is also a voracious reader, is very outgoing, loves Star Wars, Weird Al, Disney World and The Wiggles and wants to be a construction worker, a pilot, a Disney Imagineer and a movie director when he grows up. His best friend is an 8 year old girl who is more tomboyish than he is, and says he will marry her someday. He loves computer games and the Wii and gets upset if he doesn't get to read a story before bed. He is just like any other 7 year old boy, and his food allergies do not define him. They are just another part of who he is.