It's Personal: Food Allergies

Have you ever experienced a child being so sick that his body didn't function correctly?  He couldn't eat.  He couldn't drink.  What if life was like that all of the time?  Such was the case with our Bulldozer.

Many feel that food allergies aren't real, or that people take them too seriously.  Well I'm here to tell you it's personal for us!  Food allergies changed our lives forever.  Here is our story.

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Bulldozer was 9 days old when diagnosed with a severe milk protein allergy.  At 9 months old, due to continuous health complications explainable by several other specialists, he went through more extensive allergy testing, which showed the results below:

Bulldozer's Allergies

Severe Allergies

Watermelon

Apples

Oranges

Casein

Alpha-Lactalbumin

Egg Whites

Wheat

Beef

Oats

Peanuts

Tree Nuts

Soy Beans

String Beans

Carrots

Celery

Cucumber

Peas

Tomatoes

Strawberries

Mild Allergies

White Potatoes

Rice

Corn

Approved for Consumption

Cantaloupe

Peaches

Bananas

Chicken

Anything not on these lists was left an unknown.

Our life changed forever that day.

One could say I've become an expert at being a food allergy mom.  We carry Epinephrine and Benadryl everywhere we go.  My knowledge of packaged food ingredients and food processing plants is out of this world.

I've developed another personality.  My husband calls it "The Wolverine."  This is when I'm in panic and defense mode, trying to protect Bulldozer from more severe reactions.  Non food allergy parents tend to call me crazy when I'm in this mode, usually because they don't understand that food can actually kill my child.

Bulldozer was sick from birth, taking a prescription formula.  He couldn't try solids until he as 9 months old.  His main source of nutrition was his formula until he was about 2 years old.

Some of my scariest memories include Dinomite being a kind big brother, giving Bulldozer, age 1, a muffin from the counter.  I was in another room.  When I returned, Bulldozer and Dinomite were soaked in vomit. This didn't include the large puddle of it on the floor around them.  Bulldozer was struggling to breathe.

Most of Bulldozer's symptoms were ones I could not see.  As an infant and toddler, he couldn't tell me what was wrong.  It was a very scary thing to watch him react so severely to so many different foods, but the worst days were when I didn't realize what was happening.  We celebrated with vigor that  Bulldozer survived his first year of life!

Over the years, Bulldozer has grown out of some allergies including most grains, dairy, and eggs. At the same time we've discovered other food allergies along the way.  Some he's had since he was a baby have become more severe.  We are very thankful that Bulldozer only reacts when these foods are ingested.

At the age of four, Bulldozer's list of foods he can eat, is longer than the list of foods he can eat for the first time ever.

Allergies at Age 4

Almond

Blackberry

Blueberry

Brazil Nut

Carrot

Celery

Chili Powder

Coconut

Cranberry

Cucumber

Cumin

Curry Powder

Fish

Garbanzo Beans

Grapefruit

Hazelnut

Kidney Bean

Lemon

Lentil

Lima Beans

Lime

Oats

Orange

Pea

Peanut

Pineapple

Pinto Bean

Pistachio

Raspberry

Strawberry

String Bean

Sweet Potato

Thyme

Walnut

Any foods even processed in the same plant can cause a reaction if ingested.

Food Bulldozer Can Eat at Age 4

Apples

Bananas

Barley

Basil

Beef

Bell Peppers

Black Beans

Broccoli

Butternut Squash

Canola Oil

Cauliflower

Chicken

Cinnamon

Cloves

Coriander

Corn

Egg

Garlic

Ginger

Gelatin

Grapes

Milk (Cow)

Mint

Mushroom

Nutmeg

Paprika

Parsley

Peaches

Pepper

Pork

Potatoes

Plums

Pumpkin

Rice

Rosemary

Tomato

Turkey

Onion

Oregano

Spaghetti Squash

Summer Squash

Sunflower Seeds

Sesame Seeds

Soy

Watermelon

Wheat

Zucchini

Vanilla Bean

Update (1/20/15):  Adam tried and can now eat asparagus, carrots, coconut, acorn squash and pineapple.

Updates (9/26/15):  Adam has officially outgrown his allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, and oats!

Though Bulldozer continues to have allergy testing every two years, the best way to test out his food allergies has been through trial and error, with the guidance and direction of his allergist. There are foods that we are told to not test out AT ALL, because of the severity of the reaction, which could lead to death.

There are still many foods he's never had, and so when Bulldozer is ready and shows a desire, we attempt something new.  If Bulldozer has a horrible reaction, he usually takes a break from trying new things for quite some time.  When he discovers something else he can eat, mot often he wants to try something else new sooner than later.

How do we survive this?

Over the first six months of Bulldozer's food allergy experience, our grocery bill tripled.  I was purchasing all of these special diet cook books and trying to use ingredients I'd never heard of before, which usually Bulldozer ended up being allergic to.

Over time I changed my plan.  I hosted a contest on facebook, for anyone who wanted to participate.  The goal was to find as many recipes for meals as possible that Bulldozer could eat, using everyday ingredients.  This contest helped me put together a month's worth of allergy friendly meals for everyone in our family.

My grandmother is a big magazine subscriber.  She would save all of her magazines that included recipes. When I'd come to visit, I would pick up the large cardboard box. My husband and I would then go through every magazine searching for recipes we could use.  We also used the Internet, but found it to be a little overwhelming with so many dietary needs.

I'd go to the grocery store for hours, reading the labels of every food I could find, starting with the health food isles, and then work my way to the other isles.  This was how I discovered a dairy free margarine that didn't cost an arm and a leg.  I realized that there are many cereals Bulldozer could eat, as replacements for crackers and other snack foods.  The grocery store itself made a difference.

Over time, our grocery bill lowered to about $200 a week for our family of six.  There are definitely some foods that we have to buy special for Bulldozer, due to contamination etc. but for the most part, with the exception of sunbutter and Ener-G egg replacer, I shop in the regular food isles just like everyone else.

I am very thankful that I have been blessed with a love for cooking and baking.  It brings me pleasure to make a fabulous meal from scratch.  Otherwise I feel this road would have been much more difficult.

All of our kiddos have lunch boxes for when we're out and about.  Eating at restaurants is a bit difficult.

At home, to make sure I don't mix up Bulldozer's food or contaminate it with foods he's allergic to, I use color coded plates, cups, knives, forks, spoons, etc.  Bulldozer's are green. Dinomite's are blue.  Princess' are pink. Sunshine's are purple.

When we do travel, we rent a suite or a rental home for a week, so I always have access to kitchen.  We prepare meals there, having brought our food with us, and do pretty well.

Food allergies have changed my life forever.  Dinomite, Princess, and Sunshine also have some, but nothing in comparison to Bulldozer.

More than anything else, I've learned that each day I can keep Bulldozer safe, is a day to celebrate.

Do you have a food allergy story? I'd love to hear it!

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