We have been on the move, busy in our lives these last few weeks...playing outside for more than 15 minutes at a time...I have several photo sessions scheduled in the next few week and am so excited how busy I will be with that...and about three weeks ago we had McKenna allergy tested as I was pretty sure that she might be allergic to dairy, it took three weeks to get the blood work back, so last night was our appointment to get the results back. Let me recap for you on what Griffin is allergic to in terms of food...
Nuts
Shrimp
Soy
Eggs
Spinach
and intolerant to cow's milk...
So let me now tell you what McKenna is allergic to...
Soy
All dairy and casein
wheat and gluten
and possibly pineapple, this was borderline so the doctor said it could be a false reading and to not give her any for one month then try and see if she has a reaction
(I am glad they share at least the soy allergy)
So as I read the printout at the doctors office, my eyes filled with tears and all I could say was "How am I supposed to feed these children? Seriously, What am I supposed to do?" Life has been difficult enough eliminating these other things especially soy, as soy is in just about everything, but now to cut out dairy completely and wheat, I just feel overwhelmed. It is times like this when I am glad that I am at home and can monitor their food and have the flexibility to explore and research for new recipes and resources for our food or lack there of. I am thankful that there has been a movement in the autistic community to go in the direction of removing dairy and wheat from their diets, so a great deal of options are available to us. But being the main grocery shopper and food preparer I am not willing to make several different meals to accommodate everyone, so this will be a way of life for all of us...(not to say that I won't keep bread and peanut butter in the house to eat it when the kids are sleeping, cause I am a peanut butter addict...) but frustrating none the less. So today's task will be to go through the pantry...grr...
I know that we are not the first family to deal with this, and so many people struggle with food allergies, it is just frustrating that the list seems to continue to grow... we will just grow and adapt with the new changes as well...
5 thoughts from you:
Gesh-- you poor thing. Those kids will have to find the other good things in life.. not peanut butter or ice cream! Good luck with that!
oh sweetie how frustrating. I know you are a good cook so you will get creative in the kitchen, and once you figure it all out it will just become normal. It's just the transition phase that's the hardest!!! I have heaps of Celieac reciope's (wheat free) because my mum and sister's are allergic so if you want some I will e-mail them to you. Good Luck
Hang in there Sara - this is definitely a tough thing to manage for sure and you have every right to feel frustrated and discouraged at times. We had some dear friends over this week for dinner and the husband is allergic to soy and nuts - I felt stress just cooking one meal for them and wanting to keep them safe. I thought of you of course and you deal with this daily with your precious babes. I'll be thinking and praying for you in esp. this over the next few weeks.
Sara,
Hi, my name is Katie and I am the "dear friend" that Melissa talked about in the comment above. My husband is deathly allergic to all legumes (anything that grows in a pod), meaning peanuts, peas, beans, soy etc. I on the other hand have no allergies and did not grow up knowing how to deal with allergies. My husband thought that he would grow out of these allergies as he has gotten older, but instead they have gotten worse, partly because as you said, soy is now in everything. So I make almost everything from scratch and we have the most simple diet ever. We eat the same thing every week, a lot of chicken and rice, vegetables, spaghetti (just have to make sure to check the ingredients), and cereal. I have had to drastically change my life. I now live and eat as if I am allergic to everything that he is because if I were to eat something and kiss him, he would have a reaction. The funny thing is that I was on a trip by myself a few weeks ago and tried a peanut butter granola bar and didn't like it! I do want to encourage you that once you get the hang of it it gets easier. You learn what they can and can't eat and you don't stray from that. You don't eat out as much and in the end you will actually be healthier. If there is anything I can do to help let me know. Let's just hope and pray that your children grow out of their allergies, in the meantime good luck reading labels... it definitely makes grocery shopping twice as long! =)
I can't even imagine how frustrating this must be for you. Hang in there! It will all be worth it in the end!!
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