Sadness

We took the Big Boy to an allergist last week, and the results are much what we expected... He's highly allergic to eggs, nuts, peaches, and green peas (possibly beef, too, but the Doctor's not too sure about that one, because he's has never had a reaction before, and with as high as he tested for it, he should've had some type of reaction). He's moderately allergic to milk, soy, carrots, sweet potatoes, dust, and dust mites, and mildly allergic to chicken, pork, corn, oats, broccoli, tomato and white potato. They didn't even test him for dog and cat allergies, because we know he has reactions to both of them, and they had to test so much food that they didn't want to put him through that.

So, we're doing an "elimination" diet for 10 days to see if that clears up the mild eczema that he's had forever. If the diet works, then no more of those foods that he's even mildly and moderately allergic to. If not, we can reintroduce them into his diet, though carefully and not in combination. This is proving to be really hard, especially since he's allergic to both milk and soy. I'm running out of ways to serve beans, rice, and bread....

The Big Boy did really well with the test. He struggled while they were doing the skin pricks, and it actually took me and 2 others to hold him (he sat on my lap facing me, and I held his head and his body, while a nurse on each side held an arm and a leg). He did great during the prep and the waiting, though... he only tried to itch a little, but a Popsicle and Veggie Tales kept him pretty well occupied! The nurse said it's a rare 2 year old that acts so well!

We are learning to live with these allergies. We have been avoiding the main allergens already, but there were some big surprises for us (milk! chicken! carrots! oats!).

The sadness hits me when I think of his little body having to deal with all of this nasty stuff. And then I start thinking about all the joys I associate with food, and the things he could miss out on because of these allergies. A big bowl of ice cream... scrambled eggs on Saturday morning... peanuts at a baseball game... chicken casserole... a fresh peach straight from a farm...

We will have to decide in a couple of days if it is worth it for the Big Boy to have some eczema in order to eat some of the mild and moderate allergens. It's my feeling already that it is worth it. The eczema does not bother him right now, other than being slightly itchy at times. He is literally only eating rice and beans right now, with bread, fruit (pretty much anything but peaches), and green beans thrown in (they are the only veggies we know he's not allergic to). He's been such a good eater prior to all of this, and I don't think he's getting the nutrition he needs with this limited diet. If he was only allergic to either milk or soy, that would be a different thing, I think... but being allergic to both cuts out some huge sources of protein....

Man, this is hard. I'm so glad that he doesn't know all of what is happening right now...

Here he is with his "pirate finders" on his arms... he then tells me he's a robot.

Here's his super-advanced "karate robot" move. Hi-ya!

I love you, Big Boy.