I've been saying this a lot. "A lot" does not even describe it. He's probably so sick of hearing it, I'm saying it so often.
Two more weeks and I'm not sure I can do it.
Two more weeks and we should have the 2nd screening of Boomba's allergy tests back. In two week Boomba is expected to start his oral drops and that's when I'm expecting the magic to happen. Since we've been told of Boomba's whopping 20 allergen list, we've made a few changes to our diet only to see an INCREASE of reactions.
I can't handle anymore, God.
It was first Boomba's birthday a time of family and friends sitting together, laughing, sharing, and eating in our house. Then, Thanksgiving. Family came to our home to sit, laugh, and share. Oh and eat. Lastly Christmas. It's not just what happened with Christmas- the whole family coming to sit, laugh, share...and eat. It's the well-intentioned home baked (casein and allergy-filled) delights that were piled upon our counters one by one. Not to mention the fact Boomba reacted to a class 0 allergy on Christmas like it was a class III.
Point is it's been a long, allergy building season. And oh yeah,
I can't handle anymore, God.
Then Boomba got a fever. For three days. Then he got a rash. Was it the chicken pox? Was it Roseola- probably. That day every single thing I fed him, he reacted to. His unpleasant demeanor, him rubbing his head, and then him grabbing is throat was the last straw. We called the local clinic on a Friday at 4pm to see if they could squeeze him in. Thank God they could.
The rash, I'd never had guessed, was a reaction.
You'd think I would know a reaction when I saw it after 2 years of Allergy Momming.
Nope.
Steroid shot.
Oral steroids for a week.
The relief in our household was tactile.
Light hearts.
Smiles.
Dancing.
Praises.
Saturday morning we stuck with one of our 5 "safe foods" Rice. Warm rice with sugar and soy milk and craisins and raisins. MMmmmmmMMMmmm.
Go ahead.
Try it.
We slowly got dressed at our leisure, taking it easy and then when it was time I did the monthly grocery run all by myself.
Could this day get any better?
I returned home to a seemingly starving Boomba and a 20 minute wait on lunch, we served up a simple sliced cucumber as a hold-em-over and even splashed a little French dressing to dip!
And then he reacted.
To what? I suppose the answer is "french dressing". The real answer is "I don't know what ingredient it was and....
I can't handle ANYMORE, God!"
After a long talk.
After being showered with encouragement.
It seems true.
The devil is a tough opponent in a battle already won.
I've been feeling like a horrible wife and mother. Truth is I am. I'm a sinner. I couldn't save myself if I tried. Good thing I don't have to.
I don't know why God thinks(knows) we can live this way. But the only thing that I really do know- He's right.
God is omniscient.
Omnipresent.
Omnipotent.
This world is proof of the ugliness of sin. The corrupted disintegrating effects of sin.
It's hard living here (I want to be very pointed in saying that "here" means this world). But I think that's what makes Heaven so sweet.
We are forced to rely on our God and what beauty is that.
Everyone is talking about 2011 and what is to come in 2012, seeing it *is* after all, New Years Eve. All I can think about is the next snack/meal time.
2012 will come eventually.
God's got it handled.
So even though *I* can't handle anymore, God can. He knows what I can handle. It is purely through His grace I can "handle" anything at all. I don't know what 2012 will bring. It will most likely bring more reactions. God willing, it will bring good times too. The important thing is, soon all believers will be living in a much different place than this. I cannot even understand what a picture of perfection is. But I'm going to see it.
I think I'm going to like it too.
Everyone is baring a heavy cross of their own right now. I pray God's peace and deliverance for you. May God bless you as we see another worldly year plugging past.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
"It's the Most Horible Time of the Year"
Today is the day before Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve Eve.
Our door bell has rung multiple times today with thoughtful and loving people stopping by to bring thoughtful and loving Casein-Filled treats into our home.
As our Casein Pile grows and we wonder how to keep Climby Climberson out of it, I was inspired to write this version of the ole time favorite "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".
Please sit back, relax and enjoy...
Christmas Eve Eve.
Our door bell has rung multiple times today with thoughtful and loving people stopping by to bring thoughtful and loving Casein-Filled treats into our home.
As our Casein Pile grows and we wonder how to keep Climby Climberson out of it, I was inspired to write this version of the ole time favorite "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".
Please sit back, relax and enjoy...
An Allergy Mom's Rendition of
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
It's the most horrific time of the year.
It's the worst time of the year,
... It's the scare-Scariest time of the year!
It's the most horrific time
It's the scare-Scariest time of the year!
It's the most horrific time of the year
There'll be buttery baked goods and
Casein-y taste-goods
And contaminates on ev'ry plate.
There'll be scary reactions
and tales of survival
And we'll try'er again in a year!
It's the most horrific time of the year.
It's the worst time of the year,
It's the scare-Scariest time of the year!
It's the most horrific time
It's the scare-Scariest time of the year!
There'll be much Bendryl-ing
And throats will be swelling
When loved ones are near!
It's the Scare- scariest time of the year!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Banana Hors D'oeuvres
This has been sitting in a file waiting to be published for a while now.
Let's get on it!
When sweet craves salty.
When toddlers want fancy.
We make Banana Hors Doeuvres!
Ps- I'm not so familiar with fanciness in toddlers but I'm assuming daughters might appreciate that. Boomba, all boy and all, likes 'em too.
(I am hoping to soon learn how to spell "Hors Doeuvres").
Hors Doeuvres
Hors Doeuvres
Hors Doeuvres......
Hors Doeuvres.
Those letters don't even belong together.
Here's what I'm talking about.
Oh jeez. I mispelled the title on the picture!
Those letters -don't- even belong together!
The fancy How To:
1. Slice a banana.
2. Stick it with a (Casein Free) pretzel stick.
Wheeeew! After all of that, you deserve an Hors Doeuvres!
Hey! I spelled that one without looking!
Let's get on it!
When sweet craves salty.
When toddlers want fancy.
We make Banana Hors Doeuvres!
Ps- I'm not so familiar with fanciness in toddlers but I'm assuming daughters might appreciate that. Boomba, all boy and all, likes 'em too.
(I am hoping to soon learn how to spell "Hors Doeuvres").
Hors Doeuvres
Hors Doeuvres
Hors Doeuvres......
Hors Doeuvres.
Those letters don't even belong together.
Here's what I'm talking about.
Those letters -don't- even belong together!
The fancy How To:
1. Slice a banana.
2. Stick it with a (Casein Free) pretzel stick.
Wheeeew! After all of that, you deserve an Hors Doeuvres!
Hey! I spelled that one without looking!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
And Then There Were 20
It's been much too long.
There are so many Blog-Abouts listed on my To Do list but first thing is first.
Yesterday was Boomba's Allergist Appointment. The appointment in which we would find out his test results!
We drove the almost 2 hours to get to town.
We walked around Wal-mart and the mall and finally it was time.
Appointment time!!!! We've been waiting 6 weeks for this!
We were called into the room sooner than later the Dr opened a folder to a sheet of unreadables as if we could understand what it said.
I searched the paper looking for words I knew among all of the symbols and numbers.
Casein of course jumped out first. What else? Beef?
What does this mean?
He sat back in his chair and said "You have a very allergic kid." He continued "See this number? It's the specific number as to how allergic Boomba is to these things- his allergy number."
The number meant nothing to me. Was is high for a 2 yr old?
"This number is higher then a very allergic adult's number would be."
Ah. That was simple. Wow.
As we asked questions we discovered more and more. There were 20 allergens he tested positive to in this screening.
They are each asigned a "count"-a specific number that explains how allergic Boomba is to it. Those "counts" as classified into a "class" to denote how severe the allergy is. Classes are as follows from least to highest: 0, 0/I, II, III, IIII, V. I don't know if it gets worse than a class V.
As predicted Boomba's worst allergy is to Casein. The question was how severe is it?
Class III is the answer. Class III allergies are very severe and it is something we cannot allow him to come in contact with. This isn't new information- but I'm glad to know it's not a IIII or a V.
Second is his Beef allergy which is described as a Class II.
Beef?
Beef.
We eat beef a few times a week and we asked if it was something we needed to wipe from our diet too. Dr explained it's not about treating numbers, it's about treating a sick child and depending on how sick Boomba is will determine if we are eating beef or not. Makes sense.
So that's 2 of 20....
There were 2 Class I's:
Kentucky Blue Grass
Gluten
Next are his Class 0/I:
Box Elder Maple
Cat hair
2 grass molds
Egg
Wheat
Dog
I'm soon going to be googling the difference between Wheat and Gluten especially because wheat was not listed as a plant but as a food.
Class 0 allergies were:
Johnson Grass
Common Short Ragweed
English Plantain
White Oak
American Elm
Mites
Chocolate
Corn
White Potato
This is all a lot to take in. They drew four vials of blood last time and so they confirmed they have enough blood left over to do additional testing without having to draw more. They will test for additional common environmental allergies along with 20 additional food allergies. We were responsible to picking out the 20 food allergies to test for.
WHOA!
Where do we start?
We looked at the paper and asked how to choose 20 out of the three columns looking back at us. The trick was to choose the things we most commonly eat and enjoy eating. Black pepper, chili powder, garlic, chicken, pork, bananas, apples, grapes, on and on.
That was the weirdest feeling- putting an "x" next to a food we wanted him test for. I wished I could check all of them.
After they get the results from this second test Dr will order an Oral Drop that will protect Boomba against the environmental allergens he's allergic to and thus make his food allergies more tolerable. His body wont constantly be fighting the environmental allergens and they wont be built up in his system, leaving more leeway for his food allergy exposure. I'm glad this is all happening during the winter months as we're inside most of the time anyway.
We ran through a lot of possibilities anticipating the results we would read. We did not anticipate learning of 19 additional allergies to be aware of. We will get the results of this next run in about a month.
Will they have a list of 20 more allergies for us?
Will the do ADDITIONAL testing?
There are so many Blog-Abouts listed on my To Do list but first thing is first.
Yesterday was Boomba's Allergist Appointment. The appointment in which we would find out his test results!
We drove the almost 2 hours to get to town.
We walked around Wal-mart and the mall and finally it was time.
Appointment time!!!! We've been waiting 6 weeks for this!
We were called into the room sooner than later the Dr opened a folder to a sheet of unreadables as if we could understand what it said.
I searched the paper looking for words I knew among all of the symbols and numbers.
Casein of course jumped out first. What else? Beef?
What does this mean?
He sat back in his chair and said "You have a very allergic kid." He continued "See this number? It's the specific number as to how allergic Boomba is to these things- his allergy number."
The number meant nothing to me. Was is high for a 2 yr old?
"This number is higher then a very allergic adult's number would be."
Ah. That was simple. Wow.
As we asked questions we discovered more and more. There were 20 allergens he tested positive to in this screening.
They are each asigned a "count"-a specific number that explains how allergic Boomba is to it. Those "counts" as classified into a "class" to denote how severe the allergy is. Classes are as follows from least to highest: 0, 0/I, II, III, IIII, V. I don't know if it gets worse than a class V.
As predicted Boomba's worst allergy is to Casein. The question was how severe is it?
Class III is the answer. Class III allergies are very severe and it is something we cannot allow him to come in contact with. This isn't new information- but I'm glad to know it's not a IIII or a V.
Second is his Beef allergy which is described as a Class II.
Beef?
Beef.
We eat beef a few times a week and we asked if it was something we needed to wipe from our diet too. Dr explained it's not about treating numbers, it's about treating a sick child and depending on how sick Boomba is will determine if we are eating beef or not. Makes sense.
So that's 2 of 20....
There were 2 Class I's:
Kentucky Blue Grass
Gluten
Next are his Class 0/I:
Box Elder Maple
Cat hair
2 grass molds
Egg
Wheat
Dog
I'm soon going to be googling the difference between Wheat and Gluten especially because wheat was not listed as a plant but as a food.
Class 0 allergies were:
Johnson Grass
Common Short Ragweed
English Plantain
White Oak
American Elm
Mites
Chocolate
Corn
White Potato
This is all a lot to take in. They drew four vials of blood last time and so they confirmed they have enough blood left over to do additional testing without having to draw more. They will test for additional common environmental allergies along with 20 additional food allergies. We were responsible to picking out the 20 food allergies to test for.
WHOA!
Where do we start?
We looked at the paper and asked how to choose 20 out of the three columns looking back at us. The trick was to choose the things we most commonly eat and enjoy eating. Black pepper, chili powder, garlic, chicken, pork, bananas, apples, grapes, on and on.
That was the weirdest feeling- putting an "x" next to a food we wanted him test for. I wished I could check all of them.
After they get the results from this second test Dr will order an Oral Drop that will protect Boomba against the environmental allergens he's allergic to and thus make his food allergies more tolerable. His body wont constantly be fighting the environmental allergens and they wont be built up in his system, leaving more leeway for his food allergy exposure. I'm glad this is all happening during the winter months as we're inside most of the time anyway.
We ran through a lot of possibilities anticipating the results we would read. We did not anticipate learning of 19 additional allergies to be aware of. We will get the results of this next run in about a month.
Will they have a list of 20 more allergies for us?
Will the do ADDITIONAL testing?
Interesting fact:
Human milk does not contain casein like goat and cow's milk. That's why casein-allergic kids can be breastfed as long as the mother does not eat casein products.
Cool, huh?
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