(Written by Susan)
When my son Ryan was 6 weeks old, he was given a lollipop to taste. No harm in that, right? Within minutes he started developing hives on his cute, little face. Not sure what to do, since I was three and half hours from home, I went to the nearest pharmacy. The pharmacist recommended giving Ryan Benadryl and helped me figure out the correct dose to give him for his weight. Thankfully, this cleared up Ryan’s face and my husband and I could breathe calmly again. After speaking with the pharmacist and later Ryan’s Pediatrician, we learned that Ryan most likely reacted to the red food dye in the lollipop. Several months later I began to feed Ryan bread and noticed that he sometimes developed hives after digesting the bread. When Ryan was 9 months old I was out with a friend and I fed him a baby snack puff. Shortly after, Ryan started to get hives on his face. Within an hour they started to spread to his arms. I called Ryan’s pediatrician and brought Ryan directly to his office. The pediatrician had me pick up some medicine to give Ryan to stop the hives and recommended that we see an allergist. It has been three and a half years now since my son Ryan was diagnosed with a wheat allergy, peanut allergy and red food dye allergy.

I received a bunch of literature from the allergist and began to adjust Ryan’s diet to try to eliminate wheat, peanuts, and food dyes. In the beginning it was a challenge making sure that each food item was free from Ryan’s allergens. I had a list of ingredients commonly found in foods that the allergist said were not to be trusted as safe for Ryan. These ingredients could possibly contain wheat even though wheat was no where to be found on the food label. From time to time Ryan would have a reaction to something that he would eat and I would feel frustrated that I fed something to him that he was allergic to. Then Ryan began having skin problems and his eczema got worse. After speaking with the allergist we thought that Ryan might be sensitive to dairy. So Ryan went on a dairy free diet as well. For about two years Ryan avoided dairy until I decided to gradually start introducing it again. Thankfully Ryan seemed to do fine with dairy products which allows him to eat more foods and have a more balanced diet.

When Ryan was three he was retested to see if he had outgrown any of his allergies. Unfortunately, Ryan’s wheat allergy increased and we found that he is also allergic to tree nuts. One hopeful thing is that Ryan’s peanut allergy decreased. In addition to Ryan’s food allergies, we found that Ryan is also very allergic to dust mites. We continued with Ryan’s diet and made adjustments to reduce his exposure to dust mites. Thankfully there are many products on the market now to help people with allergies. We enclosed Ryan’s mattresses and pillow cases with dust mite covers to prevent the dust mites from escaping.

Ryan has been such a trooper with his limited diet. When we go out to dinner there are very few foods that are safe for him. We usually bring some food from home to go along with one or two things that Ryan might be able to eat. The one food that is safe for Ryan is salad without croutons and salad dressing so this is what Ryan is stuck eating each time. Kids always want a treat after having dinner so I pack treats that are safe for him. Almost every dessert in restaurants seem to contain wheat and/or nuts. Going to birthday parties has been a challenge. I bring food that is safe for Ryan to eat along with a gluten free cupcake. Our friends have been great supporters. They try to have foods that are safe for him to eat, so he is not left out. Ryan has become very aware of his allergies and always asks before eating something when at a party. This awareness is crucial in his dietary success along with possibly outgrowing some or all of his allergies.

I believe it is difficult for people, including myself, to truly understand what people with food allergies experience on a daily basis. Recently I read an article in the magazine Living Without about a dad whose son has Celiac disease. To experience his son’s diet the father ate gluten free for a week. I was inspired to try a gluten free diet so that I may experience a little of what Ryan has dealt with over the past three and a half years. I will also avoid nuts and food dyes since Ryan is unable to eat those as well.

Day 1
I have not been to the grocery store in several days and did not get a chance to go yesterday. I was feeling apprehensive about starting this gluten/nut/dye free diet without making sure there were plenty of safe foods for me. Yet, this is what Ryan would have. Already I started to feel guilty about the variety of foods that are available for Ryan. For breakfast I made gluten free waffles, something I made in the past and I have already tried. They were very good but no where near as tasty as regular waffles. For lunch I had some pizza, pretzels and carrots sticks. For yummy gluten free pretzels check out gluten free pretzels. I found a great pizza crust for Ryan that I enjoy eating as well: gluten free pizza crust. I make Ryan’s pizza in a batch and freeze it for future meals. There were only two slices of pizza left in the freezer, so Ryan and I each had one slice. Ryan was not so crazy about me eating “his” food. Since he cannot have a lot of the food that my husband and I eat, he must find comfort in the food that is usually just for him.

Feeling hungry a couple hours later, I made some gluten free trail mix. It is no wonder that Ryan asks for trail mix nearly every day. Rice Chex, Craisins, pretzels and Hershey’s chocolate chips. This was very satisfying treat. Had I not been at home however, I don’t know what I would have had for a snack, but it probably would not have been that good.

Now, what should I make for supper? Generally, I try to cook something for supper that is gluten free or at least a gluten free version. I wanted to clean out my bread machine for a while now and attempt to make gluten free bread for Ryan. Finally I did it. The bread baked and came out great, but during the mixing process the mix in the machine was not looking like it was going to turn out well. I used a recipe from Bob’s Red Mill for the bread. Next I made a gluten free meatloaf with a new recipe I found. It had chopped broccoli, carrots, lemon juice and lime juice. I cooked up some mashed potatoes and steamed frozen vegetables. Dinner turned out to be very successful and the bread was delicious! Ryan really liked the bread and even my husband tried and enjoyed it. The whole day has been a success and now I have a great bread recipe for Ryan!

Tags: Food Allergies, Gluten Free

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Daily Life, Family, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.