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!