When I tell people of Mark’s food allergies often they look at me in horror. “Oh my God!” They say, “What in the world do you FEED that poor child????” or I hear, “That’s terrible! He can’t eat anything!”
Marks allergies are a hot topic with neighbors, friends and family. No matter what the conversation starts with it usually ends or is at least sprinkled with something about the food allergy. And I have to say when we got the diagnosis it was totally devastating. I was thinking “No really, what the hell are we going to FEED this kid?”
Let me back up. When Mark was a baby he was really fussy. Right around 3-4 months old he started getting horrible skin rashes on his face. I called it “Face Funk.” He was strictly breastfed at that point, so (upon advice from the pediatrician) I took out dairy from my diet to see if that helped. It really didn’t. I remember being in Maine to show off our new baby boy and Mark had a horrible rash on his face. We took him to a doctor in Portland and he told us to use Crisco and a mild steroid to clear it up. And it worked. Every time Mark started to get the rash on his face I whipped out the steroid cream.
I just thought Mark was a fussy, colicky baby. Looking back there were signs early on he was having reactions to food. It just took us a while to connect the dots. At about 9 months, after visiting the pediatrician who gave me the “all clear” to feed Mark egg yolk, one morning I did just that: I fed him scrambled egg yolk. I then proceeded to load him in the car, and off we went to my dentist appointment. Ten to fifteen minutes into the trip I heard a SPLASH!!! I immediately pulled over and jumped into the back seat to see what had happened. He had puked everywhere. I thought, ‘That’s weird? He must be carsick.”
At 10 1/2 months old Mark got invited to his first birthday party. He played with the other kids; we sang and danced and played games. And then the mom brought out the birthday cake. I gave Mark a tiny lick of frosting from my finger. Within minutes he was sneezing and his eyes were swelling. Hives were forming around his mouth. He was sneezing so bad he soaked through the cloth diaper I had been using as a burp cloth. Mike and I whisked him out of the party and called our doctor…who seemed unalarmed. “If he’s breathing and just sneezing, give him Benadryl and watch him. If he seems like he can’t breathe take him to the closest ER.” That’s when Mark projectile vomited all over me.
And then when Mark was 11 months old, on Thanksgiving morning, 2009 our world came to a screeching halt. There was something wrong with Mark. I mean really wrong. He was curled up screaming in pain and then either projectile vomit or diarrhea followed. We rushed him to the closest ER. They put an IV in and pumped 2 bags of fluid into him and he produced no wet diaper. They scratched their heads, talked amongst themselves and after nine hours of waiting with a very sick baby “they” finally transferred us to a hospital with a PICU. (Note: not all hospitals and doctors are created equal. The first hospital we went to had NO PEDIATRICIAN ON CALL. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS go to the hospital in your area that has a PICU or is a children’s hospital.)
I remember calling my mom and telling her about the two bags of fluid and no wet diaper. I had no idea that was a major indicator of kidney failure. Needless to say she jumped on a plane and the next thing I knew she was walking through the door to his hospital room. We spent the next six days feeling completely hopeless and watching our baby boy in so much pain. Just thinking about it makes my heart hurt. I actually had the thought, ‘I’m going to lose this baby.’
We didn’t lose him, thank God. After days of waiting and not knowing anything we finally got an answer. Turns out he had a severe case of salmonella. So severe that in a week Mark went from the 95th percentile in weight to the 1st percentile. But what was so surprising was the severity of the salmonella. It was as if Mark’s body was unable to fight the infection. (It should be noted that Mark’s play buddy came down with bad diarrhea the same week, but she bounced back pretty quickly.)
So why couldn’t Mark’s body fight the infection? After many, many follow-up appointments and more testing, we finally had an answer (sort of). After one simple blood test, our new* pediatrician told us Mark showed “sensitivities” to egg, wheat and peanut. (*We fired the old one for a variety of reasons but that’s a whole different story.)
Upon hearing the doc read the test results my mind flashed to Mark’s daily diet, which at 13 months consisted of chicken nuggets, Cheerios and an occasional fruit or veggie sprinkled in. I made his baby food from scratch but as he grew into toddlerhood we were starting to explore all “soft” foods. I steamed carrots and made him mashed potatoes and stuff but I had also given him cans of Spaghetti-O’s and Ramen noodles. I had no idea I was poisoning him.
At first it was devastating to think about all the ways Mark wouldn’t be able to eat what the other kids eat. Every birthday party, play date, family gathering, holiday party and school function from now until forever would be affected. Would he get made fun of? Would he grow out of them? Why was his reaction to the salmonella so severe? We had so many questions . . .
I tell you this story because Mark’s diagnosis marked the beginning of our education on food and exposure to chemicals. It forever changed how we viewed food because we were forced to figure out how to feed Mark and not make him sick.
I will have LOTS more to say on this in the future but to answer the question, “What in the world do you FEED that poor child?”
The answer is organic whole foods.
Mark can eat as much fruit and vegetables and meat and cheese as he wants. What having a food allergy really means is he can’t eat processed food. For anyone not dealing with food allergies that statement is scary because your pantry is stuffed full of processed food. It’s what you feed your family every day. And honestly I’d probably be feeding my kids chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and spaghettios IF Mark wasn’t allergic. I mean, I’d like to say we’d be eating all organic but, truthfully, its not easy to do.
The other question I get often is “What do you think caused his food allergy?” I have a few theories . . . and I can tell you they all go back to the chemicals and unnaturally occurring food we expose ourselves to. I’ll blog more about these “theories” in the future, but the point here is for us Mark’s diagnosis was a gift. We had no choice but to examine the food we were eating and feeding to our family.
As we march down this path as a family, we continue to learn and are very open to sharing and hearing your stories and challenges related to food and clean living.
I look forward to starting a conversation with you.
~ Christy
I live in Cocoa Beach, Florida — the best place on planet Earth — in a neighborhood where I know my neighbors, and we all look out for one another. I am the oldest of four children. I think my mom was the perfect mom and my dad fought hard to provide a good life for us all. I try everyday to instill the values they taught me into my own kids. I’ve been married to my husband for 6 years, I’ve known him since I was 15 and we have three kids. I stay at home with my kids, write a blog about becoming a locavore, run a small business marketing company all while attempting to keep the house clean and my family fed. I try to be as ‘green’ as possible, except I drive an Expedition. We eat organic but I love junk food. I struggle to find balance. I’m exploring my spirituality. I sing. I yell. I’m not really crazy about my dog. I love being with friends. I love to laugh. I love to love. Mark, my oldest son, who is now four years old, has food allergies. He is allergic to eggs, wheat and peanuts.
Your topic based on food allergy is rely informative . Some times 6-8 year children affect by food allergy. So in this situation we need to provide organic food for healthy life.
Food allergy affects an estimated 6 to 8 percent of children under age 5, and about 3 to 4 percent of adults. While there’s no cure, some children outgrow their food allergy as they get older. It’s easy to confuse a food allergy with a much more common reaction known as food intolerance. While bothersome, food intolerance is a less serious condition that does not involve the immune system. `”`*
My very own web page http://www.healthfitnessbook.com
The most powerful statement in your post for me is:
“What having a food allergy really means is he can’t eat processed food.”
It’s the wake up call that many parents often miss.
As the parent of a teenager who was diagnosed with a severe food allergy before the age of one, and a serious digestive illness as well as a severe food intolerance 10 years later, I can tell you that any food sensitivity is a sign that your immune system has been compromised; and the first line of defense is to clean up your diet.
I used to think that all I had to do was keep my daughter away from traces of the food she was allergic to, but I learned the hard way that many processed foods (anything that comes in a box, bag, or can) contain food additives that have been banned in Europe and other countries because they are potentially harmful substances. If your child eats the same products on a regular basis, that’s a lot of the same type of toxins that could be slowly building up and making him or her sick.
So, it’s wonderful that you realized something that doesn’t occur to many food allergic parents. Any diagnosis, whether it’s for a food allergy or a chronic disease, is a wake up call that you need to transition away from processed foods. So I LOVE the title of your post, because it IS a gift when you find a way to transform your lifestyle after going through such a struggle. Congratulations! You’re an inspiration to us all.
Wow, this is a great story! I like that at one side we see these children like Mark showing us how important it is to eat healthy organic food and that on the other side there are actually research out there training the body to tolerate food allergies. Thank you for sharing this important post!
Thanks for sharing tip on food coops. Nice informative blog post, I like your words, as we know well how baby food allergies one of the most worrying aspects.
At 2yo he was non-verbal, extremely sensory seeking, hyperactive, inattentive, unable to play/learn & always in a fog. In addition he was covered in ezcema, extremely constipated, loaded w gas that caused severe pain, and woke up all hours of the night. He was also addicted to milk bottles & carb-filled white food and he rejected new tastes&textures.
We implemented a biomed approach, incldg 100% strict GFCF diet, early on. A week later he sat on the couch for an entire 30min cartoon & actually watched it. Shocker #1! Slowly, everything started to improve. We knew we were onto something. Lil by lil, we saw more & more improvement across the board. So about a year later, there was way too much progress to even consider going back. But the biggest thing I noticed was the dramatic change in his appetite, food choices & digestive health. I have always said, even if that was the only positive outcome, it was well worth every effort bc NOW he has the healthiest appetite & eats everything!
Feeding him was becoming more & more easier too as both he & I got used to it all. He was around 3 & we were going to a play date at my best friends house whose NT son was same age. We packed his lil GFCF pizza, cut up fruit & GF cookie. I heated it up in her oven and he ate his food along side her sons chicken nuggets. In all sincerity, she turned to me & asked, “How long are u gonna make him eat this way? I mean, is this forever or does he go back to regular food soon? I know it’s helping him, I see it. But isn’t it SOOO hard?” I said, “Honestly I have no clue but at least for the next year we will continue.” And she says, “How is he gonna go to bday parties where they have pizza & cake, dont u think he will be tempted?”
I didn’t have an answer for her. Truthfully, it was something I worried about also bc the future was so unknown at that point. Her question caused me to wonder whether or not he would even be able to attend bday parties period bc going to a party w/him during that time was beyond difficult & exhausting. These thoughts haunted the back of my mind for the next couple of yrs.
When he was 5.5yo he was invited to a classmates 6th bday at a one of those ‘jungle gym open play but we do bdays on wknd’ kinda places. Lol At this point we had done plenty bday parties but this one was different. It wasn’t family or friends of ours and I didn’t know this kid or his mom. I had heard thru the grapevine that this party was just snacks & cake-no food. So I packed up his chip/pretzel baggies & a cupcake. Well, when we got there I was mortified. They had pizza. And I had no GF pizza for my son. Whoops! I was freaking out bc there wasn’t enough time or any way to get it. He was having fun bouncing around but would he want to eat the pizza w the other kids when we sit down? Are we in for a meltdown?
So its time for the kids to sit and eat. Shit. He follows them in to the room w/ tables. First he surprised me by requesting a specific table bc of who he wanted to sit with. Then he surprised me by easily understanding me when I explained he would eat his pizza after we left the party and being ok with it. Then he really surprised me by entertaining himself while the kids ate, saying silly things, playing with the party hats & laughing w/ the kids sitting with him. If that wasn’t enough he kept telling me “mommy these r my friends”!!! Whoa! Shocked, I tell ya. So the kids go back to climb, jump & play for another hour and then it’s over. The conversation my son and I had in the car going home answered all those questions my friend brought up yrs before.
Mom:Are u upset u didn’t have your pizza?
Him:No.
Mom:U must be hungry, don’t worry I’ll make ur pizza as soon as we get home.
Him:OK. U know what? The bday party was so much fun!
Mom:I’m so glad u had a nice time. Im proud of u. So what was ur fave part? The bounce house right? I know u love to jump…
Him:No, my fave part was when I sit at the table w/ all my friends.
OMG. Wow!! I learned alot that evening. I learned that the food at these parties is the least of what he wants. So much so, that he can sit at a table watching others eat food that he can’t have and not let it get in the way of him having a good time. Simply sitting at a table with a few chosen peers, feeling included, communicating in a silly way & having genuine interactions-that’s what he wants! Probably bc it took years of really hard work for him to finally be able to experience those things it is that much more special. Maybe he believes eating his GFCF diet (&other biomed interventions) is what made it all possible. I know I do.
Thank you ..my son was eating crap also and I later found out he is allergic to Soy, Dairy, (no one should eat dairy just read Forks over Knives or Don’t Drink your Milk) Anything Red Anything Purple …MC Donalds is the equivalent to giving your child Windex to Drink …Everyone needs to Wake up about this sad sad situation !
Bravo !!
What a great article. Thank you so much. I am looking into allergies for my daughter, and was wondering what is the best test to have done? i have heard of many different types, blood, hair, etc. is there a standard test that is run?
Christy – I’m with you 100%. My son is allergic to eggs, corn, and dye, and possibly pit fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines, etc.). Eliminating corn from his diet – surprise – eliminated so many foods I used to think were healthy – like Cheerios. And the main source of our non-corn food is organic stuff. Even some of that has corn, but most avoid GMO corn, which means all corn, thanks to cross-pollination.
Recently we discovered that my son would react even to foods prepared in facilities that also process eggs; he still tests negative in blood tests to eggs, but if you come near him with them …. explosive reactions.
Good luck to you; I will follow your blog and we can learn together ….
Thanks for writing this column.
kzs
Thank you for posting. I understand, as my daughter is allergic to peanut, corn, wheat, (bovine) dairy, tree nuts, soy and eggs. It isn’t easy, but it has its blessings! Bless you and your family as you journey through this!
Thank you for sharing your story! I’m anxious to read more. We’re also very early on in our journey, and as Adrianne shared, I am finding all the blogs from TMR incredibly informative, and moving. My almost five-year-old son has a language processing disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder. I’m questioning SO MANY things – food/diet, vaccines, and more. As I shared with Saint recently, I’m finally stopping and starting to THINK!
Many similarities with our stories! My son is 4.5 now and has apraxia along with multiple life threatening food allergies to all fish (not shellfish), peanut, and almond. He used to be severely allergic to egg, but fortunately is just intolerant now. He has other intolerances to gluten, dairy, and pork. We had a forever rash on the face too at about 3 months old and yes, the doctors have been throwing steroid cream at me for years for his eczema. It wasn’t until I started bio-med with him in August of 2012 & eliminated the intolerances that his eczema finally cleared.
It’s very interesting to me that your son reacted so severely to the salmonella. I’m so glad we were not faced with anything life-threatening at such a young age. The steroid cream, antibiotics for ear infections, ear drops, vaccinations, breathing treatments, and bleach baths (only did that once & forced myself after 2 weeks to “follow doctor’s orders), I know now were just a recipe for disaster.
Last, I just wanted to say – You are so fortunate to have so many people around you concerned about your son’s food allergies! I feel like the majority of people around me just don’t get it. Many people who I’ve told multiple times about his allergies forget. So, I feel like I’m stuck telling the same story over and over again. Sometimes I feel like it’s just so much for people, they feel overwhelmed. Or, don’t care. I’m not sure.
I’m about to start acupuncture for my son’s food allergies & I am hopeful that they will at least improve & not be so severe. His speech has improved dramatically with bio-med and now I’m going to start working on his allergies!
Christy I love this!! There are so many things that I relate to. My three oldest children all suffered terribly with eczema. Through a wonderful naturopath (Doctors were clueless) we found our way to a whole foods based organic diet. Really it is the best thing that ever happened to us. The kids’ skin is perfect now.
I too am constantly receiving comments from family,friends and strangers. It is a warped world when people think your children are suffering because they can’t eat junk food. Can’t wait for your next blog!!!
There is daylight at the end of your tunnel! I went through this with my children 27 years ago. Our eldest was allergic to corn (oil, starch, sweeteners, etc.), citrus and apple. Fortunately, his never manifested itself in breathing difficulties, but instead in the rash, colic, vomiting, itching of extremities, and an earache. After several rounds of penicillin, the earache kept returning. An ENT specialist said we could put tubes in his ears, or we could carefully monitor his eating. We made everything from scratch from that moment onwards, and he never had another earache again! We had to take our own snacks to preschool, playdates, and even predelivered homemade pralines to our friends’ houses for trick or treating! It can be done. Our doctor recommended that I avoid those foods while I was pregnant with our second child. I ate a lot of oatmeal products and she came out of the chute with lesser reactions to corn, citrus and apple, but a pretty strong one to oats! I learned after the fact that rotation of foods no more frequently than every third day was preferable. I’m happy to report that my young adults are symptom free today. Good luck! It is well worth the effort!
Thank you for this, Christy! I had to laugh about your Expedition. With all the “green” and good eating posts around TMR, I am kinda embarrassed to tool around town in my Tahoe. And I love that your mom posted a comment! Awesome!
The Diet seems to be a blog theme this week. I’m doing a whole series about GFCFSF over on my blog. my can still have eggs, but still we are very similar to you in our approach. Its not rocket science…
Our story is very similar! While it can be daunting and frustrating, my daughter’s food allergies changed our lives for the better.
My oldest, youngest and I are both unable to tolerate gluten. Right now we do not know if it’s just wheat or all gluten, as we are avoiding all of it as well as a few other things to try to heal our guts. Later we may try to add in other things like rye… JUST one thing at a time.
I know for a fact that I have suffered from gluten intolerance if not full blown celiac all my life and that it runs in my family. My husband’s mother and grandmother both had a hair analysis done and both came back that they need to avoid wheat because they were allergic or sensitive to it. So, my kids get a double whammie. That’s ok. For us, I look at this as a gift too! With my son on the spectrum, homeschooling not only him and my other one still below the age of 18 (oldest is 21, we graduated her a few years ago), but also my best friend’s kids (aspergers & adhd, another with autism, the other 2 just fine though youngest seems to have issues with different foods). …. LOTS of research going on in this house regarding therapies, food intolerances/allergies, etc. LOL It’s amazing how much research can be done in the wee hours of the night as you are up with a sick child!
Your son (and your family) are so blessed that you discovered his allergies as early as you did. Thanks for sounding the alarm bell for others who are in similar situations.
We have a smilar story with our youngest – rash at about 6 months, not sleeping through the night (still at 16 months), and a full breakout in hives from getting into his sister’s peanut butter. We now know he’s allergic to peanuts and eggs, with sensitivities to apples, wheat, oranges, tomatoes, bananas, chocolate, dairy, oats, beef, and a few others. We get the same question all the time – What do you feed that child?! It’s challenging, but we’re learning to navigate this new diet. Thanks for sharing your story – it’s nice to know we aren’t alone.
Thank you for sharing your story. My two sons sufferer from food allergies and chemical sensitivities(food coloring preservatives etc.)
They do not have severe food allergies but suffered from execema, chronic diarrhea nd projectile vomiting ear infections and colicky behavior
Their allergies were wheat, Milk and corn.
My sons have SPD ADD and learning and speech disabilities.
I took them as toddlers to an osteopathic allergist. She did muscle testing to help with their sensitivities. She tested them for heavy metals and yeast they were both very high.
She said theirvallergiesvwereccaused by system overload of all their vaccines. It made perfect sense they were always so sick after their shots. My oldest son reacted with a rash at 2 days old. Probably was from the hep b shot. My youngest daughter was my healthiest on a delayed vaccine schedule. She has no food allergies and developmental delays.
Some children are more sensitive than others and can not handle all the chemicals their bodies are given from birth on!
Enjoyed your post. I love your answer to the “What does he eat?” question. Severe food intolerances have definitely changed the way our family eats – for the better. I sometimes say that if it weren’t for my son, I would be 30 pounds heavier as fast food would be so much easier!
As I read this my mind was screaming, did this baby get vaccines? Vaccines causes food allergens because of the damage it does to the body. http://www.drcarley.com explains completely the truth about vaccines.
My son was home birth, no ultrasounds, no vaccines, and (aside from one DPT I received at 6 weeks) I’m unvaccinated. I’ve never taken antibiotics. I thought we were protecting our kids from allergies, asthma, ect. unfortunately, here we are. I know other children who are unvaccinated with severe allergies. It’s just not that cut and dried.
Ah, yes. Food allergies. The story of your son is very much like my story with my youngest with life threatening food allergies. The rash on the face, the colic, not sleeping through the night. Add this the the fact that my oldest has Autism, EoE (linked to food allergies) and several other medical problems and my middle child has SPD (now recovered). Because of my daughter’s autism, I have been on the biomed journey for 10 years….so I caught on pretty quickly that something was wrong with my youngest too. Three weeks ago, on Easter evening… we had to call EMS because he ate some dark chocolate that had “may contain peanuts” written in small letters on the back. He could hardly breathe. My son’s story is here: http://autismroadtorecovery.blogspot.com/2012/08/food-allergies-xanders-story.html
Thanks for sharing!!!! Sounds like we have a lot in common!
Here’s the link to my blog too…
http://becominglocavores.blogspot.com
Well we are so proud of you! We give the writing an A+ and the content amazingly informative. You should be so proud of me(mom) for reading the blog which I will do now when I get home. Gram says you should write a book you already have chapter one. We feel a little guilty (not poppa) we just had egg casserole. Love you more than words can say. Mom
thanks mom and dad and Gram and Pops 🙂
Christy,
Just read your blog post from (?) Sunday morning, and I just wanted to say ‘thanks’! I’m just starting to stick my toes into this pool and I was encouraged by what you wrote. Y husband was prediabetic until about 6 months ago, when we switched to a low carb (ie low processed) family diet. He also has adult ADHD which for employment reasons he cannot use traditional medicines.
Our older son, age 5, has been flagged by his preschool director a possible ADD/ADHD, and I have been able to tell for at least a year how his behavior is directly linked to the quality of food he eats. He’s going to have to he tested prior to kindergarten admission for ADHD/autism spectrum, and although we’ve slowly begun changing our family diet, I’m scared that an official diagnosis will throw our whole family over the edge of food budget/choices/behavioral cliff into total chaos. While our older son has an idea about “good sugar/bad sugar”, our 2 year old is picky and doesn’t lean towards good food…
Anyway, thanks for your input; we are listening with appreciation!
Emma-
I know exactly how you are feeling. Once there is some sort of ‘official’ link to food and health and behavior issues its like “Ok. Now what?”
For us BAD FOOD = BAD BEHAVIOR and chaos in our home. I also have a picky 2 year old (i just posted a blog about him too lol)
I started a blog called “Becoming Locavores” to address the food issues I am dealing with. With so much information out there its hard to even know where to begin with any of it. And then the fear of changing your entire diet and your family’s diet seems so overwhelming…… but I knew for the health of my son and quite frankly for the sanity of our family I knew I had to start somewhere.
So I took a deep breath and decided my FIRST step towards ‘cleaner’ eating was to start buying more local organic produce. My new years resolution was to find a local organic coop and get one box of produce delivered every week and the goal was to use every single bit of it…. every week.
I’m in month 4 and couldn’t be happier. It has led to a lot of different meal choices for us and I no longer go to the grocery store with a list of things to get from recipes I’ve pulled but now I look at what I have fresh in the fridge and make my meal plan from that.
You can follow my journey through all of this:
http://becominglocavores.blogspot.com
Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss anything. I’m more than happy to listen and share 🙂
~Christy
Christy,
Thanks for the tip on food coops… heard a friend briefly mention one last week, so I know who to ask about a local one! I’ll be sure to check out your blog as well.
For us, the first step was to eliminate all refined sugars (also essential to combating diabetes), and since I’m a from-scratch kind of home cook, processed foods are rarely seen in my kitchen. The jump to organic local foods will require more planning, but I am greatly encouraged by the idea of the coop!
Thanks again, and keep contributing!
-Emma
I loved your blog just as I love all from the TMR! They all mirror some of the things I’ve been through with my own son. Sometimes I feel so alone but I know now that I’m not. If my son hadn’t had all his problems I too would never have opened my eyes to what’s going on, which is terribly frightening! How did we get to this point and how will it ever stop?! Thank you all..you are an inspiration to us all and I feel blessed to have found you.
Adrianne-
Thank you so much for the kind words. I know it can feel so overwhelming and isolating at times. Just know you are definitely not alone and we are all walking this journey with you.
Hang in there!
~Christy