Happy Birthday to my teenager!!!, his first Great American Cookie cake, and then reality sets in.

Rich was so excited to be able to get his first birthday cake from a bakery! 

• Teenagers and young adults with food allergies are at the highest risk of fatal food-induced anaphylaxis. according to foodallergy.org.

The holidays are stressful for everyone. Having a food allergic child or teenager takes it over the top. There is food everywhere. Even at home, "safe" companies come up with new foods then send out cross contamination warnings for products you have eaten for years. We do everything we can to protect our children, train them to see the danger and how to react. This week, two older teen boys died from their peanut allergies. One had no Epi with him and the other injected himself in his car and tried to drive himself to the hospital and died in the parking lot.

This is my reason for doing OIT. The process of changing from child to adult is so full of new responsibilities. It is the time in a persons life that you are supposed to make mistakes and take risks so you learn your limits. I just can't wait for something bad to happen to my child with the opportunity of OIT so close to home, the only thing that can protect him besides Epi  (remembering to have it on him and following through with injecting himself and making a scene to call 911), I can hope and pray that he would do what has been drilled into him since he could talk, but he is now a teenage boy.

It has been a crazy month and a half. The vomiting got out of control and after going to school for several days with a plastic bag in his pocket, we decided that was enough. But, there is no way we are giving up on OIT without a fight. Dr. Seidu connected me with another OIT mom who has just been through the same stomach issues. Jennifer was patient, full of great ideas, encouraging, and totally validated every emotion we were experiencing. She explained how she, her son and Dr. Seidu had modified his treatment to get him back on track. We are doing the same.

We added the prescription Prilosec and Zantac, he didn't dose for three weeks, and still received his Xolair shots. We started back with peanut flour at .5 tsp. When he had his second dose of .5, I was in St. Jo's hospital with my mom getting her a new hip and Rich had a mild reaction. Mike was with him, but being 40 minutes away made me feel so helpless. He took Benadryl and his symptoms stopped. He will never dose alone. Dr. Seidu gave us a revised schedule and we are updosing in smaller increments now. The process will take longer, but at least we are not having to quit OIT.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Go Buckeyes!!!

10/17/14

Not the football team ;)

We can pick between peanut butter and peanut flour. Rich is tired of the grape juice and peanut flour. Dr. Seidu asked me if I had ever heard of Buckeyes. The past decade, I have made Buckeyes out of Sunbutter for Christmas. Rich was interested in trying them with peanut butter. I didn't realize that I would have to make them by hand INDIVIDUALLY. I measured out a teaspoon of peanut butter for each dose and added in the butter, powdered sugar and dipped them in semi sweet chocolate. I decided to make the next 5 doses one by one and put them in the freezer.

He has enjoyed being able to go to the freezer and get his dose. We still sit with him for 2 hours, but he gets to control this part without me standing over him asking if there is any residue left in the cup.

http://wildeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Prilosec and a plastic bag

10/17/14

This is the email I sent to Dr. Seidu last Saturday morning:

"Rich feels fine. He dosed this week at .5 tsp. We are still doing peanut flour. He dosed on Tuesday and Thursday with no problems. As he was dosing on Thursday, he said he had thrown up in his mouth on Thursday morning in class. He had only had a boiled egg for breakfast so it wasn't much. He said he felt fine.

Last night he vomited all over his bed at 12:45 am. He had Chic fil a, which he has always eaten (fried chicken strips, sauce, some fries, root beer, ice cream and several servings of Twix candy). I realize this is a lot of grease and sugar. He has enjoyed getting to try new junk foods, and just got straight A's on his report card so we indulged him (mistake). When he woke me up, he said he still felt fine. 

Rich hasn't thrown up in around 8 years. He had reflux over 5 years ago until I took him off of cow's milk. He still eats cheese on pizza or Mexican food, but drinks mainly Almond Milk. 

He is supposed to updose this weekend to 1 tsp. I figure we should at least wait until Sunday to let his esophagus heal a little. I realize the two times he has thrown up are after way too much sugar and grease. After the reaction (sneezing and nose running last weekend), I will always make him dose with a banana and crackers instead of doughnuts. The banana and crackers have worked every other time. 

I realize there are two options right now:

• make sure if he eats unhealthy, greasy, sugary foods, he is only eating one serving

and/or

• put him on Prevacid or another med for reflux (he used Prevacid before - about 6 years ago)

I cannot say for certain that he didn't catch a virus at school, but throwing up a week apart is strange.

I hope you are having a great weekend! Thank you so much! We are so grateful to you for this opportunity!"

He updosed on Sunday and went to school Monday morning. When he got off the bus, he started throwing up. He threw up all evening. We gave him saltines and diet Ginger ale to help settle his stomach. Per Dr. Seidu, we started Rich on Prilosec. I am also giving him Zantac in the morning before school. On Tuesday, I sent him to school with a plastic bag in his pocket, emailed his teachers, and went into school to meet with the nurse and explain what was happening.

He has been fine all week until last night. He took his dose and an hour into his rest time threw up again. He did have frozen yogurt with a ton of sprinkles. We have to stop the sugar! After telling him "no" all of his life, it is so freeing to let him enjoy himself. 

Rough Week

Sunday October 5th

Rich dosed on Tuesday and Thursday this week. I have to confess, I have enjoyed watching him eat the foods that he has never tried. I don't want him to be unhealthy, but after living in fear for over 10 years of every holiday, restaurant, birthday and class party, every team and family get together, I am going to let us enjoy our freedom. He really likes M&Ms so I bought him a tube of minis at Walmart on Friday. He threw them up. He said he didn't feel bad and still felt fine afterwards.

Rich went to his first Bake Sale yesterday. It was a fundraiser for a little girl in our community who had a bone marrow transplant for a rare blood disease. There were items there with peanuts and peanut butter, but Rich was still able to pick out sugar cookies with icing and rice krispy treats. Something else I never would have let him do before.

Copied from
Juliette's Fight Team Facebook page 

Mike went and got doughnuts for breakfast. He ate a few munchkins and took his dose at 10am. We are planning on seeing Mike's parents today so we dosed instead of church. By 10:30, he started sneezing and his nose started running. With OIT, the rules about reactions are different. Personally, I do not give Benadryl with mild reactions, but we are supposed to with OIT. We gave him 4 children's fastmelts at 10:45 and put a trashcan beside him on the couch in case he got sick to his stomach. By 11:15 he was feeling better.

I am typing up an email to send to Dr. Seidu in the morning. I just want to keep him updated. I know if there was an emergency or if Rich threw up with the sneezing, I would have to Epi and call 911. Thank goodness we aren't there today :)

First Up-Dose

Sunday September 28

Rich had his shot on Thursday after school. We are to wait 3 days after his shot to up-dose.

Mike and I went to dinner with friends last night to Henry's Louisiana Kitchen. It was wonderful, but I had so much leftover I brought it home. Before OIT, I would never let Rich eat from a restaurant that he has never been to much less, one that I didn't grill the manager about what dishes had nuts and how they could make the food safe.

So for Rich's dose this morning, he had a pork chop, corn bread, potatoes and broccoli before up-dosing to .5 tsp of peanut flour.

He still can't taste the peanut flour in the grape juice so that is still working.

First Dose - Home alone

Sept. 17

We are out of school for fall break this week. We thought this would make a great time to start the actual peanut dose because I could have my eyes on him 24/7. My husband is in Vegas until Friday for his company's user conference and my teenage daughter is of course asleep.

So Rich and I get his jar of peanut flour and the grape juice he picked out. I also had an Auvi Q and a box of fast melt Benadryl on the counter. I had already made sure I had a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon. I gave him a stack of club crackers and a banana. Even if I am told that we don't need to eat it, I don't think I would dose him without it. I have read too many blogs and helpful Facebook posts from more OIT experienced parents than me who swear by the banana before. I took the peanut flour in the spoon and made the top level with a knife. As I put it into the grape juice, it started clumping. I didn't think it was going to mix in, but it slowly disappeared.

I could tell Rich was nervous as was I. To think that I am sitting in my kitchen alone with my 12 year old so many emotions racing through both of us. I didn't know if I was going to laugh, cry or throw up. So many years of avoiding the poison that could take his life, and I am sitting in my kitchen acting like everything is going to be ok.

Of course he grabbed the glass and drank it down quickly. I had told him I was going to put another swig of grape juice in his cup to get any residue. There was nothing in left in the cup, but I did it anyway to set a precedence.

Two hours. Two hours away from video games on his break. Two hours he must sit and be watched by his mother. We set the timer on my phone. He has a couple of projects due in October for school so I made him sit downstairs with me and work on them. I think this will be a positive routine for him when school starts back. He usually knocks out his homework on the bus (where he sits behind the driver who is trained and knows Rich has at least 2 epis on him). This will be his study and project time.

Four hours after his dose, he came downstairs and said he couldn't believe nothing happened. He didn't taste the peanut flour, his nose didn't run and he didn't need the epi or even the Benadryl.

GREAT DAY!

Peanut on Purpose

Long post warning... After 3 months of Xolair shots, my 12 year old had his first reaction to peanut since he was 3 and a half.

First taste of peanut on purpose!

After sitting for an hour in Monday morning Atlanta traffic, we got to the office right on time. They took his blood pressure, weighed him and put us in a room. He started with 1/8th tsp of peanut butter mixed with honey. Since his first reaction when he was 18 months old, we have been instructed to keep him away from peanuts and anything that "may contain" or is "processed with peanuts". Watching him ingest peanut butter for the first time made me feel like I was punched in the stomach. He quickly grabbed the stick and shoved it in his mouth. After making faces and swallowing he said it tasted bitter and then it got "stuck" in the back of his throat. Thanks to my Facebook groups and other blogs, I knew this was common. He drank several glasses of water. By the 3rd dose, the doctor gave him the option of peanut flour mixed with cranberry juice. He liked that much better, but then he started sneezing, his eyes started itching and his stomach started hurting. The doctor gave him benadryl, Zyrtec and liquid steroid to stop the reaction. He was ready to Epi him if needed, but Rich quickly recovered. Dr. Seidu has assured us that this should be the worst reaction he should have.

Rich has been concerned that if he were to accidentally eat something with peanut over his dose that he would have an even more devastating reaction than before treatment. Dr. Seidu explained to us that with Xolair, his reactions would be so minor compared to without. That is why he uses the drug. He said that since he can tolerate almost a teaspoonful of peanut butter, cross contamination should not be a problem so we took him to Menchies for the first time tonight!

Menchies Cake Batter Yogurt and sprinkles

Tomorrow will be our first at home dose. He will have .25 tsp of peanut flour in grape juice. Per doctor's orders, we will dose him 3 times a week. I know most dose at least once a day and some twice, but we trust our doctor and will do as he says. He says he has noticed fewer GI effects with this timing. He has an appointment for his next Xolair shot on Thursday 9/25.

Mike wanted to make sure no one got into the peanut flour.

Rich loves Minecraft so I made sure he knew this was his ;)