Food Allergy Awareness Month
May is food allergy awareness month! If you’re new here, my boys are both allergic to eggs. If you’re a veteran of the StuCrew, thanks for sticking around. I thought I would use this time to give you an update on the Stu boys.
The blood results came back for both Riley and Remy.
I am not a doctor. I am an allergy mom sharing our story. Please consult an allergy specialist or your pediatrician if you have allergy suspicions.
Our doc explained the markers like this: think of them as soldiers. If your body has no egg markers, it doesn’t consider eggs to be a threat. The bigger threat your body anticipates, the more soldiers it will have ready to fight.
Remy’s Food Allergy Story
Remy has about 17 soldiers per unit for baked egg and egg whites. Seventeen is considered “highly sensitive.” He is not allowed to eat anything with egg or anything that has been prepared on shared equipment. Hopefully he will outgrow this. Our plan is to test his blood annually to see if the soldiers have been sent home, or if his body has recruited more.
I have previously written 2 posts about Remy. The first one is from when he was a baby and before my suspicions were confirmed. The second is from last month, when the allergist confirmed my fear.
Riley’s Food Allergy Journey
Riley is another story. Riley’s baked egg is at 11ish soldiers per unit, while his egg white is 37. It had been our hope that Riley would be eligible for Oral Immunotherapy (OIT). He is not. Riley’s doctor would like his baked egg closer to 3 soldiers per unit before he is allowed to attempt OIT. The plan is to test Riley’s blood every 6 months and watch for a decrease in markers.
On the surface I suppose this all sounds daunting and terrifying. But I have to say, I actually feel optimistic. Our new team of allergy docs is amazing! The OIT doctor was hopeful. And we have a long-term plan. Overall I got the feeling that they want to get the boys to a point where egg isn’t debilitating… right now everything is hard and scary. It’s scary to eat out – even if it’s a place we’ve been a million times (What if they changed the recipe? What if the kitchen is frying egg-battered things in the once egg-free fryers?). It’s frightening to put your kids’ lives in someone else’s hands. That’s not dramatic, that is the reality for all food allergy moms and dads.
The photo above is from Riley’s 8th birthday. An egg-free cake and some egg white decorations… ugh.
Final Thoughts
My prayer (and prayer request) is for my boys to be safe. I pray that their soldiers will go away. I pray that Riley’s baked egg number will have gone down the next time we check. My prayer is that Remy will outgrow this allergy altogether. I pray for all the moms and dads dealing with food allergies. I pray for all the kids trying to live with them.
Do you have any questions? Is there anything specific about food allergies you’d like me to cover this month?
