Family Fridays: Food Allergies

Oh food allergies, you anxiety-causing ruiner of food fun. I could write a NASTY open letter to food allergies so filled with four letter words that Eddie Murphy would cringe. 

I am sitting down to write this on the heels of our two-year-old breaking out in mystery hives after brunch this morning. Was it something in the muffins? Did anyone eat peanut butter this morning? Well, did you wash your hands after?  Did a knife have butter on it? Wait, does butter give her hives now? Hmmm, maybe she's allergic to the dog?

Unfortunately, both of our girls have food allergies. They both showed food sensitivities as babies, but I will save you the long-winded stories which involve hives, lips and ears swelling, trips to the ER, allergy testing, the carrying of EpiPens etc. As a parent, they have been my greatest source of anxiety. Food allergies are the pits, and unfortunately they are on the rise at a pretty alarming rate. 

However, a recent New York Times article that PN's Megan Morris recommended, has given me hope. This article provides a glimpse into the lives of a couple children who suffer from severe food allergies {by severe, we are talking anaphylactic shock when milk so much as touches skin}. The children completing the treatment become desensitized by being exposed - while VERY closely monitored by a medical team - to the protein that causes the allergy. To begin the amount ingested is minute, but gradually over months and sometimes years it is increased to the point where cups of milk or handfuls of nuts can be consumed. CUPS and HANDFULS! 

Achieving these results took time and tremendous commitment from the medical team and families that participated, but the payoff is huge. As a parent to with children with food allergies, seeing a treatment that can desensitize is really encouraging. By the end of the article, I felt as if a looming storm had cleared. Until this treatment becomes available, we will keep doing what we do now - working on gut health, minimizing processed foods and eating as organic as we can. 

Do food allergies effect you or your family? How do you cope?