Food Allergies

DISCOVERY of  FOOD ALLERGIES

When our oldest son was around 6 months old, he was chewing on a teething biscuit at the kitchen table.  We noticed his mouth and chin breaking out in welts.  We weren’t sure what in the world was going on. We gave him other kinds of teething biscuits and he didn’t break out. We narrowed down the problem to a wheat ingredient. Whenever he ate wheat, he broke out.  Eventually, we took him to an allergist in Austin and had him tested for other allergens.  We found out he was allergic to Egg, Wheat, Nuts, Soy.  He has severe anaphylactic reactions to egg and nuts, and he carries an epi pen all the time.

When our third child, Avery started eating solids we had him tested and realized that he was allergic to eggs as well.  It was a huge relief that he didn’t share the other allergies.

Since our daughter (oldest child) was fed through a feeding tube and not on a regular diet we had never thought of food allergies with her.  One day when she was around 10 years old, she was working with her teachers at school on a food project.  They noticed her hands were breaking out in welts.  Later that day, we tested her at home and found out that she shares an egg allergy with her brother.  As odd as this sounds, we actually liked this connection she shared with her brothers. Here is a blog we wrote on that day’s discovery.

DAILY LIFE with FOOD ALLERGIES

Making sure that our two boys don’t encounter food with the wrong ingredients is a DAILY grind.  The older they get the easier it is because they are now actually reading the ingredient list on packages themselves.  They deal with it differently because of their personalities.  One is more cautious and particular and the other is more risky and unaware.  That makes for some interesting stories!

Most other people forget about the real-life dangers of food allergies for our kids and that makes us have to be constantly reminding and making it a central issue.  This is unfortunate because we come across as being anal (we are) and pretentious (we aren’t).

Eating is a very public thing! We all eat and we love to eat together in groups.  It seems that Americans love eating food with all the ingredients that our kids can’t eat.  Think about what doesn’t have eggs, wheat, nuts, or soy in it.  NOT MUCH.  This is especially true with kids’ menus.  Pizzas, hamburgers, cookies, birthday cakes, sandwiches, peanut butter, pasta, bread…the list goes on and on. Therefore, whenever we are going to a group event where any of this food is served, we have to make the equivalent or something like it so that they can eat, be safe, and sort of fit in.  Birthday parties, church events, and school parties are the most difficult.  We have to pack them a lunch everyday for school since most items in the cafeteria are off limits.

Thankfully, we live in Texas with a lot of wonderful Mexican food. Most mexican food is corn based (without eggs), so they are able to munch away!

SOME OF THE FOOD WE EAT