"I won't get sick, Mommy. I won't!" he said with courage.

I don't think anything could have prepared me for the overwhelming feelings I have right now. I guess I should start at where this all started.

Since our Year in Review, The Mister and I have noticed that reactions are few & far between. Our largest offense is the seasonal sniffles and the contact milk reactions have all but disappeared.

I belong to an online community of mothers. They are a great group of women whom I've been lucky to be a part of since The Mister & I became engaged. We've all gotten married together, been through births, milestones, illness and death. Needless to say we've formed a very special bond. Some of us have stronger bonds than others based solely on our personal experiences as mothers. A few of us have been blessed with food allergic children. Those trials, that constant fear of the worst, and those victories have brought us all closer.

One of these fine women mentioned that her milk allergic daughter caught a sneaky bite of her FroYo and hours later showed no signs of reaction. The hope that this chance encounter sparked, grew and grew over the next several weeks.

As I mentioned previously, we had been foiled by illness when we had last planned to have Mason's allergies tested by the lab. I had been meaning to follow up and get that rescheduled, but this new found hope took me in a different direction.

Instead of asking to reschedule the tests, I asked Dr. H if a food challenge would be unheard of. The Mister & I had some Stay-cation time set aside and what could be a more perfect time to challenge the milk allergy, than mid-week when the doctor is readily available. To further my hope, I had devised a plan of attack and with the doctors blessing, convinced The Mister we should go for it.

Why not start with the very thing that led us to this journey that is Food Allergies? We purchased one single Organic Vanilla Yogurt cup. I swabbed a bit on Mason's inner elbow with explicit instructions not to lick it or rub it in, and then set the timer for an hour. Benedryl at the ready and Dr. H on speed dial, the waiting began. We all tried to busy ourselves, to avoid causing panic with the obessive checking of the arm, his eyes, mouth and skin for any signs of reaction. Each time we checked we were met with disappointment - nothing was happening. We were all expecting something to happen, and in a strange way, missed the call to action. There was nothing to do. We had never experienced nothing before. This was new territory for us all.

So the hour passed and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We dodged a bullet. Surely this was a jinx, a hoax. Did I really buy the dairy blend or did I, out of habit, reach for the soy. Nope, it's cows milk, says so right on the label. What's the next logical step when laughing in the face of danger? Get closer to it, of course!

"Mason? Would you like to try some Cow's Milk yogurt?" I said, trying not to sound scared out of my head.
"You mean, Daddy's yogurt?" with a bright eyed smile. The kid will do anything to be like his Daddy.
"Yes. Like Daddy's yogurt, but there are some rules. If you start to feel sick in your tummy, or itchy on your skin or in your mouth, we have to stop eating - take medicine - and call Dr. H. We don't want you to eat this if it makes you sick. Do you understand?"
"I won't get sick, Mommy. I won't!" he said with courage.

And so we served him half of the yogurt cup, with a gulp, some prayer and many crossed finger & toe. Luckily, we had plenty of things to distract us this day. Only when Mason reached for a cheek to brush off some new-bit, or scratched at his head, or sniffled once too often did we barrage him with questions. Every time we were answered with, "I not sick. I not."

The challenge was a success. But I was not yet ready to claim a full victory. I still cannot quite release all my worry. Even after corresponding with Dr. H, where he said he doesn't often call an allergy "outgrown" until a child is 4 or 5, but given the severity of past reactions and the lack of any such reaction for this challenge he's willing to declare Mason "outgrown". The best way to describe how both The Mister and I are feeling is Cautiously Elated.

We continued testing the waters two days later with more yogurt. Nothing. We tested again with cheese on his pizza tonight (placing this order was strange, both for us and the staff). Nothing.

The possibilities for our family are endless. I'm excited for all that Mason will get to participate in now, but mourning that he hasn't gotten to before now. I feel like we've deprived him, even though all we were doing was protecting him from harm.

So we will continue trialing new dairy foods. Dr. H said it wouldn't be necessary for us to really trial anything, but if it made us feel better it was fine to do so. After all, Mason is. . .

OUTGROWN!!!

Apologies to all who follow this blog. I am the first to admit I'm a horrible blogger, but do realize that this may be an important resource for some and so I continue.

Living day to day with a food allergic child becomes second nature. Always reading labels at the grocer for fear that because the package has a new badge on it, that they've gone and changed the ingredient listing too. Always washing hands and face after every meal or cup of coffee. Never letting your guard down or getting too comfortable. SCCCCchhhhhrreeeeeeccccchhHHHH!

What was that I said? Never? Well, almost never. See when you're on vacation, your every being goes on vacation. I've come to learn that as long as we have reactions, I will never be on vacation from my son's food allergies. Mason is almost 2 now and I'd like to think that his father and I have a handle on what's safe and what isn't. What we've come to learn time and time again, is that we can never be perfect. We cannot protect him from everything. We cannot avoid exposures 100% of the time. Even we slip up.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we traveled to The Sea Ranch to enjoy the sand and sea with family. It was a very relaxing vacation, enjoyed by all. Especially Mason! He's enamoured with the Ocean. Couldn't get enough of watching the waves crash on the rocky shore.
Mark & I left Mason with his grandparents so we could have some quality time together, being thankful. As always, even though the grandparents are well aware of the "rules", we left the rules with them and flitted off into town for lunch. The time away was nice. We breathed sighs of sheer relaxation and before heading back, stopped into the local market to replenish snacks for the rest of our stay.
On more than one occasion I've picked up some Snap Crisps. The original version, I first found at our favorite - Trader Joe's. It's a salty, but milk free crunchy alternative to a cracker and delicious all on it's own.
Well, in my bliss of relaxation, I spotted some on the shelf at this small market and snatched them up, not realizing the packaging looked a little odd than I remembered, and home with us they went.
Fast forward to a few hours later & Mason was asking for a snack. I obliged happily as I served him a small bowl of Snap Crisps for us to share. I don't know what made me think twice, but after about 7 of them had made their way into his mouth, I decided to look at the bag one more time. Yup, I grabbed the Caesar variety, which wouldn't ya know, contains milk in the ingredient list. After a quick assessment of Mason for any signs of reaction (the salty residue was all over his face & fingers), and before the guilt for having such a cavalier lapse in judgement, we found no reaction at all.

You see, Mason's milk reaction is a little different than Joe Blow would assume. He doesn't experience upset stomach or lots of gas. His is a skin contact reaction. Where ever he is exposed to the ingredient, his skin reacts. It becomes puffy and red, eventually gets bumpy, then whiteheads appear - I'll spare you the rest, just trust me, it isn't pretty and it isn't comfortable. And because what goes in, must come out, we have the pleasure of treating two reactions with one exposure.

Back to the story. I figured playing with fire was dangerous enough and didn't allow Mason any more Caesar Snap Crisps. He wasn't too happy about it, but it was soon nap time. Time for him to rest and time for me to worry imagining the worst waiting for me come diaper change time. Mark & I decided that with such a small exposure and with plenty of Benadryl on hand, that we would treat this as a Food Challenge, so we did not dose him before his nap. Much to our surprise, grandparents included, there was no reaction in sight when he woke up. Nothing on his face, nothing in his diaper.
Whew! Crisis averted. Since then, I haven't been brave enough to challenge again. Especially not with pure dairy. I'll leave that up to his Pedi or Allergist. My heart can't take the stress I inflict upon myself.

So there's hope for the future. Lots of hope that Mason will grow out of his Dairy Allergy before he starts public school. Hope that his Peanut Allergy won't grow at all. Hope that we can eventually take that well deserved vacation from Food Allergies.

Until then, I've got big plans to help my Food Allergic community. Since our household is already set up and dealing with Dairy Allergies, and because I've always longed to stay at home with my children, I've found a way to use what we've got to suit my desire. I plan to open up and run a Family Childcare accommodating children with food allergies. It's so far been a long process, but that's my own doing. I'm never one to jump head first without a helmet and paramedics standing by, just in case. Considering the rising statistics of infants and toddlers with food allergies, I figure my target audience will be an appreciative one at the least.

I hope to continue posting here with our experiences. I hope that some will read and learn. I hope that some will read and know they aren't alone. I hope that some will read and teach me. I hope that some will read and I'll know we aren't alone.

And the Heaven's Sang, well a little bit...

IT'S NOT WHEAT!!!! Thank goodness, it's not wheat! I was so worried that we would have to turn our entire kitchen upside-down to rid our pantry of wheat based products, and now we don't.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to what the SPT revealed.

What we aren't allergic to: Soy bean; Egg White; Corn; Rice; Whole-wheat; Orange; Apple; Tuna; Tomato; Beef; Chicken; Pork. The two in this list that were of most concern to me were the wheat & tomato. Wheat because that was what we had assumed was the cause of all those horrible rashes. Tomato because as a small child, I developed an allergy to tomato & strawberries (both are along the same lines). At first glance, Mason seems to be in the all clear, but there are two more possible offenders, and unfortunately we drew the short straw.

What we are allergic to: Cow's milk & Peanut. His reaction to the milk was much worse & way more apparent than the peanut, but the peanut is a popular allergen on the rise.

Mason did very well for the actual test. The nursing staff was short handed that day, so they seemed to be rushing things along, which didn't help what little anxiety Mason had to begin with. The actual pricking of his back wasn't so bad, until the sting set in, which resulted in about 20 seconds of crying & a couple of large tears. We had to sit, without rubbing his back or letting him run loose in the hospital for 20 minutes. Any one who's ever had to keep a 1 year old corralled for 20 minutes without running, bumping or falling down into something is near impossible. Almost instantly the milk spot began to grow & radiate red. It became larger than the control Histamine spot, which is supposed to envoke a reaction as a baseline. The Peanut bump was significant, but not as extreme as the milk.

Then we met with the Allergist, Dr. H. A very tall gentleman & Mason was very distracted by the large size of his shoes. :) Dr. H explained that we didn't have to worry at all with wheat, but couldn't rest completely because of the milk. We should continue to read labels & avoid all milk products. If Mason should become exposed, over the counter anti-histamine should ease the symptoms (and the biggie) his allergy isn't life threatening! Dr. H also suggested that we treat the peanut, and nuts in general, with the same kid gloves, but didn't think exposure would be anything to warrent a trip to the emergency room. We are to continue to introduce new foods with at least a 3 day, but more like 5 day waiting period in between to be sure of no reaction. Should something spark a reaction, we should call him to discuss the possibility of another SPT. If nothing new presents, then we don't have to see him again for another SPT until Mason is 4 years old!

Such a weight has been lifted from our home. We still have to be careful & read food labels & ask for ingredients at restaraunts, but we don't have to live in fear of what the reaction might lead to. We will get in the habit of bringing Benadryl everywhere & keeping some at the homes we frequent (Grandparents, this means you), as well as a cortizone cream should we accidently have an exposure.

Oh, Dr. H did suggest that if we have peanut butter to wash our hands & mouth before interacting with Mason. So far, the peanut hasn't caused a major reaction, but food allergies aren't predictable & warrent an extra step or two.

With much delight in the fact that wheat came back negative, Mr. & I headed to the store to collect some bread! Turns out the store brand is milk free, made with soy, so we snatched up a loaf & headed home. I tested out a quarter of a slice of dry toast(Food Challenge). Mason was so happy to see it, I felt awful for having deprived him of it for so long. We kept a close eye on his legs, and diaper area & to our delight, there was no reaction. Before this test, it was noted he had two slight patches of eczema on each thigh, and I can only assume it was from the SPT. Since then the two patches have all but disappeared & we have no recurring affects from the toast.

I'm going to continue this blog as a journal to our food trials & as a resource for anyone else who may be battling milk & peanut allergies. Thank you for being my sounding board.

**Did you know, that McDonald's, uses milk in their french fries, fish sandwich, and nuggets of all things? We won't be visiting Ronald any time soon.**