I guess I should probably go back to the beginning. DON'T WORRY! This won't be long and painfully drawn out, but I think we need to establish some background to understand how we got to where we are now. My middle daughter Abigail, who is now 9, has had eczema since she was four days old. I breast fed all my children, and thought I was careful about what I ate during that time so as not to make them sick. The pediatrician said she would probably grow out of it, but maybe I should stop DRINKING MILK for a while to see if it cleared up. Well, you probably already know, it's not as simple as that ! Dairy products are found in so many things! And besides, we did not know for sure that dairy was actually the culprit. If it was dairy, then was it the protein (casein) or was it simply lactose? Anyhow, I was inclined to believe what the doctor said and I stopped drinking milk, so guess what? Right, her eczema did not go away. Now keep in mind, as hard as it is to believe, the internet did not have a wealth of information on the subject of dairy allergies nine years ago. Doing research on the web is a daily part of my life and it seems difficult to remember when it wasn't so available to me. I went to the library, looked up magazine articles, took her to a dermatologist (who prescribed steroidal creams to mask the symptoms, without knowing the source). I kept hitting dead ends. Well, by the time she was six months old, I realized she was having difficulty hearing. Yes, six months old. Like I said previously, "moms know when something is not right with our kids" and this was one of those times. She did not respond when we called her name, especially if we were behind her. Her speech did not seem to be developing like it should, even the garbled sounds of a playful six month old just did not seem normal. So, on to the Ear Nose and Throat doc. Now, this may seem odd to some of you, but realizing she could not hear well actually turned out to be a blessing. The ENT we went to was the first medical professional to recognize her eczema as a possible food allergy, specifically a dairy allergy. However, no testing was recommended at this time. Just advice to get her off dairy, especially her beloved fish shaped crackers she was enjoying while we were in the doctors office :(
My experimenting with her diet went on for years. Making my own baby food, limiting ( but not completely avoiding) her dairy consumption. After all, she was a baby, and babies need milk, right? Not really, but I will save that for another time. Milk alternatives were not really available in "mainstream" grocery stores yet. I thought by just limiting her intake, it would be enough. It wasn't. Over the next few years poor Abigail dealt with terrible digestive problems, including constipation, diarhea, stomach cramps and so on. And to make things worse, she was not old enough to verbalize what she was feeling. By the time she was six or seven she was telling us almost daily that her stomach hurt. We would take her to the doctor, they would say she looks fine, give her some YOGURT to balance her system. So I did. Finally I took it upon myself to look for someone who could give us some answers.....You are probably saying, " IT'S ABOUT TIME, WOMAN ! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING FOR" I know, but I honestly thought I was doing the right thing by taking the doctor's advice. I found a Naturopathic Physician that set up a consultation with us to see if we could figure out what we were dealing with complete with blood tests, stool samples and a food diary of everything Abigail had eaten for an entire week. Soon after the initial visit, it was confirmed. She not only had a dairy allergy, but also a high sensitivity to egg whites. During the same time I myself had been dealing with digestive issues. So, while we were at the lab, I decided maybe I should get a blood test as well to detect any possible food allergies. Surprise!! I have them too. My list is a little more extensive including, milk protein, peanuts, walnuts,safflower oil, and about 10 other things that I won't drag on with now.
So, here we are at the present. Finally! We were told that if we kept Abigail completely away from dairy and eggs for at least 4 months, that her allergies may go away. So we did it. Cleaned out the pantry, ordered dairy free food online, researched hidden dairy ingredients and basically changed everything about how we cooked, ate, shopped, and even celebrated. It's been a year now. We both still have food allergies. But we are learning to manage it better. For instance, we can both tolerate goat cheese really well. Goat mozzarella is a great substitute on pizza.We know that Abigail can eat a little dairy if she takes a milk digestive enzyme, like lactase, and has little to no stomach issues. Eggs on the other hand still cause problems for her. I have tried only using the egg yolk in recipes, egg substitute, and just leaving it out. I have had some real baking disasters. But it is a learning process, and I love to cook. Experimenting with different recipes has been a fun challenge. Over time I will be posting recipes on my blog that our family has tried and hopefully perfected to the point of not tasting like it is dairy or egg free. I hope this introduction to my world has been somewhat helpful as you start a journey of your own into the food allergy realm. As I am new to blogging, I hope you will be patient with me as I muddle through the process and I look forward to sharing my family's food adventures with you. Thanks for coming!!
