So... we found out last Friday that Pax has an egg allergy. Uhh and ahh all at the same time. If you or your child has ever suffered from an undiagnosed allergy you know how frustrating the diagnosis journey can be and how much relief an answer can be - yet "devastating" at the same time.
It all started a few months ago really. I noticed Pax was breaking out in a little hives type rash on the back of his neck and a few places on his back. I truthfully thought it was dry skin from all the swimming we have been doing this summer. Then the dirty diapers increased from 1 a day to 4-5 a day, his appetite pretty much dissipated and he never seemed hungry nor ate much of anything (everyone else just thought he was picky). I took him to the doctor a few times because the symptoms seemed to not ever really go away and was told it was a "virus". After a few months of this, our parental instinct kicked in and we pretty much decided something else had to be going on... we were going to figure it out. We weren't naïve to the fact 2 year olds are finicky eaters... but eventually they get hungry and eat something... very few hardly eat anything but go to the bathroom constantly.
I had a deep gut feeling it was related to food so I started keeping a food diary of what I served him vs. what he ate, how many calories it was, what his output was for the day and any other symptoms I noticed. We took him in for his 2 year check up and the scale spoke for itself when it showed he had lost 2 pounds (within a few weeks). This, coupled with Matthew and I's concern, description of symptoms and persistence convinced our doctor to test Pax (which I didn't realize wasn't a common practice with kids so young). They tested him for lots of scary things - not a good feeling as a parent. He had to have a TON of blood drawn, which was a traumatic experience and a week later all tests but one was back and all were normal so far, THANK GOD. Of course we didn't want anything to come back abnormal, but were a tad frustrated that everything was normal yet not in our real life. We soon found out the incompetent, lazy lab staff had not gotten enough blood for the number of tests ordered and needed us to come back for a re-draw to complete the final test. Mama bear came out... it was ugly. The one test I was most curious about, the top 10 food allergy, was the one they couldn't complete until we took him back in. After waiting for his bruised arm to heal and waiting another 2 weeks for results we finally found out it was eggs.
EGGS?
Needless to say... I nor Matthew nor anyone I know has this particular allergy so I am way overwhelmed with this diagnosis (not in a frantic way just clueless way). Relieved that we have an "answer" yet a little freaked out by the lifestyle change. As of right now its considered a "mild" allergy... no epi pen or crazy instant reactions... but we do have to completely eliminate egg from his diet until he is symptom free. We can then slowly re-introduce egg into his diet to see how his system responds. He will likely grow out of this but as a mom and dad, you don't ever want your child to have something wrong and this was well more devastating to us right now than him - he is clueless, for now :P
I am super happy to report though, that in a week, most symptoms have faded or have drastically gotten better and Matthew and I are working on educating ourselves on things he can and cannot have. Bottom line... if you feel like something is going on with your child, listen to that little voice and stand up for them. We love our pediatrician but she sees him every couple of months for maybe 20 min at a time. I'm just thankful to have an answer and open to any and all help on embracing an egg free diet for little man!
PS. Please send me any yummy egg free recipes or products you find! I will love you forever!
Fun at Northshore park after getting his blood re-drawn! He was so brave the 2nd time around and thought the ducks swarming us, snapping at us and quacking at us was SOOO funny :)
Driving cars at Dr. Romero's office... he loves these ledges and all the construction going on outside!
Feeding the fish at the doctors office
Our first attempt at egg free Strawberry banana muffins... um, yum.... who needs eggs?? :)
That's right... Pax and I did a happy dance when we found EGG FREE waffles at HEB - no really, we did a happy dance in the aisle!
Katie, Allergies.... oh my, I consider myself an expert in this area! (Not by my own choosing!) My Emma Kate Suffered from severe exccema from birth-1 years old before we finally found out the cause.... food allergies. She was allergic to milk, soy, corn and a whoooooole list of nuts and outside things. Corn is like eggs... its in everything. corn syrup, corn starch... dextrin, monodextrin.. I really mean EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteWhile these food allergies are becoming more common, most of the market hasn't caught up with making alternatives for toddlers. (i.e. pax probably won't go for the pasta made from kale, trust me on this one lol)
If you want some suggestions, shop trader joes and similar places where the ingredients list is short and mostly 'whole' foods. search the internet and egg allergy websites for all the ingredient names that eggs can hide in....
Its tough at first, but after a while it'll become second nature. Emma Kate vastly improved with diet change. She will be 5 in october and just this past year, she has been completely cleared of all of her food allergies :)
Kids as young as Pax and Emma Kate go through so many body changes as they grow that he will probably grow out of his allergy by about 4-5.
Good Luck :)