Food Allergy 101

Two and a half years ago, our world changed when Stephen was diagnosed with allergies to milk, egg & peanut. While it was frightening at first, we were amazed to see the changes in our child that occurred overnight. His skin looked normal (no more rashes or oozing or scales) and he was pleasant and content. Who would have known that the foods that were supposed to be nourishing his body were in actuality hurting him?

Since then I have become somewhat zealous in the fight to recognize, diagnose and live with food allergies, a task that became a little more difficult with Matthew's arrival and additional offending foods (wheat, banana, soy, beans).

So when our newspaper's food section requested the help of parents of food allergic children to be interviewed for an upcoming article, I immediately called - you can find the article here. (There are a couple of points to clear up: (1) I eliminated all dairy, not just milk from my diet - milk or its relatives can be found in many unusual places such chewing gum, candy, tortilla chips;
(2) Stephen definitely does have a peanut allergy and it is listed as the highest class possible; (3) Lactose intolerance is completely different than a milk allergy although both cause great discomfort; (4) Celiac disease and its gluten-free diet has to be one of the worst chronic diseases).

And in the spirit of overkill, here is another article that I have been wanting to share for a long time. The author does a wonderful job of explaining the real-life implications of food allergies.

We would covet any prayers for Matthew as we take him to the allergist on Friday to be retested. There is a little concern over his small size (though he is exactly the same size as Stephen was), and we are hoping that the tests may show that he can tolerate a few more foods. Our doctor, a mother of 3 boys (at least one of whom has food allergies) and a cancer survivor, just started her own practice so she would be able to pray with and for her patients. At our first visit in 2006, she said that there was One who could heal him. Praise the Lord for Christian doctors!