...he is allergic to wheat. For those of you who know us; we eat organic, whole-wheat, whole-grain, fresh food...you get the picture. A staple in our house: whole wheat pancake/waffle mix. The kids LOVE it. I am now on a mission to find a product just as good tasting for my little man.
About a week ago out of nowhere Nate developed a rash; which became hives. A little Bendaryl and he's good as new. Then a day later, his first asthma attack after eating dinner. Great, what a way to end the evening. I immediately write down everything we had the day before as well as that day. Apparent this is an allergy, I call a pediatric allergist, make an appointment and they tell me to keep a log of his food, but honestly I am not willing to "wait it out" as the specialist told us 'til the appointment. If he has another bad reaction we can go to the ER. HELLO?? I want to be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE!! I am by no means satisfied with this approach so I call his regular MD (who is a family practitioner...he's been going to him since birth, we adore Dr. Stastny, he truly is the BEST). Dr. S tells us to come in asap and not to wait it out with a food journal, so off to the doctors we go.
They draw blood and run all kinds tests on environmental and food allergies (over 250 to be exact!). My baby's first time having blood drawn, only his 4th time being at the doctor's office for anything other than a well-child visit. (His fabulous health makes up for the lack of mine...)
So now we know, wheat is the culprit. His allergy is only moderate, but the dr. said with this sudden onset of this allergy to be extremely careful, it could go from moderate to severe overnight. My night yesterday consisted of analyzing labels, reading new recipes, and more label reading. I used to study labels at the store for protein, sodium, fiber, & additives...so what's one more thing to add to that list?
This morning as we're getting ready he looked at me and said, "I'm so glad you make homemade potato bread without wheat, and banana bread too." Then a panic look comes across his face, "I'm not allergic to Tilapia am I? 'Cause that would really suck!" After a quick repremand for his language, I put his worries at ease by letting him know tonight's menu consists of Tilapia. So wheat allergy he's ok with...if it had been Tilapia, I'd still be mopping up the tears.
If any of you have wheat-free recipes you'd like to pass along, please do!
Blessings!
Oh dear...I'm so sorry to hear this, but so glad that you did discovery the wheat allergy sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still teaching, I had a very skinny 3rd grade boy. Mom and sister were also very thin so I didn't think much about it. He was also very athletic and I figured he just had a high metabolism.
About midway thru the school year he started having frequent bouts with diarrhea. He was out of the classroom more than in it and was often in the nurses office.
Come to find out, that he also had a wheat/gluten allergy. Probably had it for quite some time. It was discovered when mom took him for his 4th grade back-to-school check out and he had NOT GROWN an inch or gained a pound over the course of 3rd grade and summer. :(
Spencer is now doing much better now that the culprit has been discovered...allergies can do nasty things to our bodies!!!
Good luck finding recipes and if I run across any that folks have tried I'll certainly pass them along to you!
There was a short period of time we thought Hunter was allergic to wheat. We had the tests run. I thought I was going to have a melt down when I really started thinking about how much our lives were going to be impacted. The other thing I was worried about was how much would she work on avoiding those things herself. She had a habit of thinking it was worth the pain just to have something she shouldn't for a short time.
ReplyDeleteBut lucky for us, she tested negative for wheat allergy.
It was a great lesson in label shopping and menu thinking though. I know the road you are about to travel is going to be hard sometimes. It means literally thinking about food all the time. I think about that enough already!!
Shoot. That really stinks. But at least you've found out what the culprit is, and I hear there are a lot of good recipes. Look on the gluten-free sites. I've seen a lot of them around.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
=)
That is no fun! I had wheat allergies as a child, but grew out of them as an adult. If I find any recipes I will pass them your way. As of now, I am not help at all.
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