Bump in the Road

This past week, we encountered our first bump in the road.  Thankfully, it didn't involve breathing issues or epi-pens and because of that, it didn't feel like a major setback.  

Home Dosing

Giving Tucker a dose of diluted dairy in the doctor's office, under the watchful eye of the doctor and nurse, is one thing.  Giving him a dose of diluted dairy in my kitchen at home, is quite another.  

The Best in People

I feel it's important to take a moment to reflect on some of the truly remarkable people Tucker has in his life.  While we tend to talk about the negative experiences of food allergies, there is another side that shows the compassion and kindness of the people in our lives.

OIT Day 1

Tucker's first official OIT appointment was the day after the Fourth of July.  Friends were going to Cleveland on the fourth for an Indians game and we decided to join them and spend the night so we could wake up and drive the short distance to the appointment.  Nerves were running high the day before but I'm glad we did something fun to take our mind off it.  Tucker swam at the hotel with his friends, cheered on the Indians and watched a spectacular fireworks show.  It was a great night.

OIT

 At Tucker's yearly allergy appointment, I would tell myself not to get my hopes up.  I would think of all the skin reactions he had over the last year and how the chances of him not being allergic to dairy were slim.  Despite this, I still always felt disappointed when the skin panel would show a large reaction to dairy or his blood test indicated he was still 'highly allergic'.  Tucker's allergist always told us that 80% of dairy allergic kids will outgrow their allergy.  But as each year passed, I began to lose faith.

Stresses

   Living with a severe food allergy never becomes routine but it does become familiar.  You adjust your life and your way of doing things.  You know the foods to buy at the grocery store and the 'safe' restaurants to go to.  It becomes so familiar that you hardly notice the looks from other people as you quickly wipe down a picnic table at a park with a wipe or squirt anti-bacterial on your son's hands after another child touches his ball.  I know some people probably think I'm an overprotective parent or germ-o-phobe and in a way, I guess I am.  But ultimately it comes down to knowing just how destructive a drop of dairy can be if it comes in contact with Tucker.

Living With Allergies

 My son Tucker was diagnosed with a dairy allergy when he was 1 year old.  He was already on soy formula due to hives and rashes when I tried nursing or giving him formula with dairy.  It didn't come as a big surprise when we got the results of the skin test at the allergist's office.  I don't think my husband or I truly grasped the magnitude of how life changing this allergy would become.