I’ve been putting off writing about this, because it just seemed like such a huge topic… But here goes!
We’ve known for quite some time that Brady had some sort of food allergy. He has had a million symptoms of food allergies basically his whole life, but we didn’t know what it was. Because none of the symptoms were severe enough to be life-threatening, I’d put off figuring it out.
The elimination diet is a daunting process! (We’d done one round of it earlier and it was very difficult. I blogged about it then here and here.)
A couple of weeks ago, when the weather started getting REALLY hot around here, Brady started wheezing. I knew it was time to figure out his allergy once and for all. I’ve read enough to know that if you continue to give the child the allergen, he can develop full-blown asthma. If you eliminate every trace of said allergen, he is much more likely to outgrow it! So, the wheezing scared me into a much more active search.
I’m so happy to say that we figured it out this time!
My boy Brady is allergic to milk / dairy in all its forms. Every tiny trace ingredient causes a bit of a reaction from him — thankfully not anaphylaxis! But every little speck does seem to make a difference.
So, last week, Brady mourned the loss of Ranch dressing, milk chocolate, and frozen pizza. He’s been drinking rice milk for a long time, so that hasn’t been an issue. I knew I’d be able to find ice cream alternatives. The cheese was going to be the hard part.
I’m happy to say we have really good health food stores around here! Last week we bought some rice-based ice cream and dairy-free bread. I found soy pudding and tofu cheese (it’s vegan.) The thought sorta makes me cringe, but he’s young enough not to care and I won’t teach him any differently.
Today I found a dairy-free ranch dressing (Brady’s ecstatic) and an all veggie pizza that has no cheese! I can always make our own pizza, but this frozen kind will be great for days when we’re overloaded.
Many restaurants have their allergen information on their websites, so if we plan ahead, we can still partake. The part that scares me is the upcoming pitch-in dinner at church. I’ll have to pack him his own special meal, I guess.
He’s been such a trooper. I’m so proud of him! It’s going to be hard for awhile, but just having it pinpointed helps. I’m breathing a sigh of relief … and so is Brady. Wheeze-free!
GOOD FOR YOU FOLKS, CHRISTA.
We’ve recently discovered that my daughter, Mackenzie, is allergic to oranges. Sounds simple enough but that actually includes ALL citrus fruits, like pineapple, lemons, limes, grapefruit. I really feel for you and little Brady as I know how hard this transition has been for Mackenzie. For me too, grocery shopping has been difficult. It seems like most every juice concoction contains at least one of those fruits! Not to mention all the foods that I have to look at the ingredients list for those hidden flavorings. She loves orange juice so she is struggling. Thankfully she only gets hives when she eats those things and we’ve decided that oranges and lemons are the strongest culprits. I’m glad you finally figured out what he was allergic too! It was a relief to finally have our’s figured out too
Good luck!
Daddy mentioned that Brady even sounds so much clearer on the phone. So, of course, Nana had to ask to speak to him last night on the phone. After waiting quite a while for him to get on the phone, I hear “Hi Nana,” when I replied “hi, what’s going on?” etc… after a couple of minutes of thinking wow, I didn’t realize how much he sounds like Andy. I finally asked “Who is this?” To which the reply comes “I’m Andy.” Brady didn’t want to talk right then. No wonder he sounded so much like Andy.
I am really glad he is on the road to recovery.
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