Infants and allergies

Thankfully, he gained weight throughout infancy,
 because he was nursed

We all developed allergies as we are exposed to them.  You can never actually have a reaction to something that you've never had, or been exposed to.  It has been proven that the earlier an infant eats a food, the more likely they are to develop an allergy to it.  Sure, we all think, that's ok, MY baby wont have allergies.  Lets be honest, someone in your family has some sort of allergies.  Maybe seasonal?  Maybe to just a few foods, or maybe just a drug allergy?  Eczema?  If any of these sound familiar, if there is any history of allergies, it is likely that your child will inherit them, and it is your job to to and prevent them.

Happy Halloween

Like Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, Easter, and birthdays, Halloween is another special day that the world celebrates with food!  How do you celebrate when you cant have food?  Why trick-or-treat when you cant enjoy the treats?

Evolving

Gabriels pediatrian checking on him at home.

One of scariest things about this world we live in is that it is evolving.  We're not quite sure what will come next, or what it will look like when our children are grown.  These same scary unanswerable questions are what scare me about Gabriel's Eosinophillic Esophagitis.  EE (as its often abbreviated) is a complicated disease, that is new to the world of medicine.  Doctors have only begun discovering and researching 10 years ago.  With only 10 years of medical history, we cant guess what Gabriels adult years will be like, or even his teenage years.  It takes decades of collecting data, examining patients, and experimenting treatments to completely learn all about a disease.


Every visit to the doctor gives me more information on this mysterious monster.  The newest discoveries?  Airborne particles can cause dangerous reactions(no surprise here!), and Eosinophillic Esophagitis can cause long term irreparable damage to the esophagus.  What does this mean for us?  More surgeries.

Preschool disaster

My idea behind this blog, is to educate.  I know that there are so many people with dangerous allergies and asthma, and so many people that we interact with everyday don't understand the importance, and how to help keep us safe.  Today I was reminded again why I write this blog.  Gabriel was in a dangerous situation today, because someone didn't understand the importance.  


Some people have a hard time understand why it would be fair to ask them not to eat peanuts on a plane.  For me, its simple.  To save someones life.  I think that any human, who fully understood the danger of the situation, would willingly give up their salty snack if it was as significant as saving someones life.  The problem may just be that we don't aways  understand how severe it can be, and I think, sadly, for many its about believing how severe it can be.  Most of us, as friends and family members, work very hard to keep our family healthy and as close to symptom free as we can.  When an uneducated airplane passenger, or classmate, or even teacher, sees how healthy our kids can be, they may not realize whats involved.  Sure, Gabriel has never had an anaphylactic reaction at school, and I think thats great!  I give him 5 medicines before we even step out the door every day to keep him under control.  I have to shop and cook for special meals, and avoid many plants, animals, and foods.  Please understand, when someone with allergies looks healthy, that means we're doing a good job!  That does NOT mean that they are healed, or free of their allergies!  

Dessert!

Gabriel's preschool teacher stopped me as I was dropping him off yesterday to let me know that they were having a class party on Wednesday.  She named off some of his classmates and what they were bringing.  I knew Gabriel's teacher was familiar with his allergies,   I asked her what I should bring.  Usually she asks for apple juice, or something simple that Gabriel is allowed, and can share.    "He said you're making apple cupcakes!"

Ok then, apple cupcakes it is!  I've been researching and experimenting with recipes for Gabriel for years. When you take the flour, eggs, butter, baking powder, and powdered sugar out or something- there's not much left.  Long ago, Ive mastered desserts that Gabriel loves, but finding something that the rest of us will actually enjoy is the difficult part!  Every time I cook it gets better, but I've really mastered it this time, and Gabriel knows it.

Yesterday was a great trial.  Good friends invited us for dinner, so of course I called and said "What can I bring!?"  I was assigned dessert.  Perfect.  I ran home and threw together my new recipe for apple cake.  Grabbed it out of the oven, and while it was still hot, we headed out the door.  Now, either my friends are very nice, and know how hard I work at this, or they are honest.  Which it is Ill never know.  Nice or honest, the apple cake was described as "Uh-Mazing!," and "better than apple pie!"

Ill share my apple cake recipe,  hoping that I can save at least one person from making 300 allergy friendly desserts while desperately trying to invent something edible.


Mix 3 eggs (for us, it's Ener G gluten free egg re placer),
1 3/4 cups sugar,
and 1 cup oil (since Gabriel is allergic to vegetable oil, I've found that coconut oil works best)

In a separate bowl mix together;
2 cups gluten free flour mix (I use 1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, and 1/2 cup sweet rice flour)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder (If your baking for someone with a corn allergy, make sure to buy a corn free baking powder at a specialty store)
1 tsp salt

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and add
1/2 tsp Gluten free vanilla
and 3 sliced and peeled apples (today, I only had 2 apples left, so I added them, and 1/2 cup apple sauce, and it was just as great)

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.

Best served warm with your dairy free ice cream of choice.  Enjoy.

Disabled

I'm sure you've heard of the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act. This act states that public entities and public accommodations must ensure that individuals with disabilities have full access to and equal enjoyment of all facilities, programs, goods and services.  What constitutes as a disability? Someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, or is regarded as having such impairments. Breathing, eating, working and going to school are "major life activities." Asthma and allergies are still considered disabilities under the ADA, even if symptoms are controlled by medication.*  I've researched it a million times, and I've said it outlaid a thousand, but every time it wows me.  

Don't go to the pumpkin patch!

Gabriels first Halloween

We all took our turns at the stomach flu this week.  Its never fun to share all the yucky things that go along with a stomach bug.  Gabriels cousin Ryder was weak, and lethargic, the big strong Uncle was stuck on the couch when it was his turn, and I didn't feel any better than they did.  When it was Gabriels turn to take on the big bad flu, he seemed to break the rules.

I expected Gabriels flu to be horrible, to knock him on his butt, and require a few days of recovery.  Sure Gabriel's food came up, and thats not pleasant for anyone, but he did abnormally well.  Gabriel jumped up, and bounced down the hall, and yelled, in a sing songy voice "Mommmm I feel much bettttterrrr now!"  Not quite.  He was threw up in his bucket several more times that day, and told me that his belly was hurting him.  At 8am, in between bathroom trips, he dressed himself, and got ready for the day, he had an incredible amount of energy, he was playful.  Im not sure if its his history of feeling yucky, or his tolerance, or maybe that 'normal' to him feels uncomfortable and painful to us......or maybe his body is a worse demon than any bug or virus- but the flu was not so bad for this little guy.

Like a turtle

Gabriel, Leo and his TeeTee

Last week, when we got home from school and work, Gabriel ran upstairs like he usually does to check on Leo.  Gabriel screamed "Mom help!!"

I ran to check on Gabriel- and nervous that the turtle would be cold and stiff.  Leo the tortoise, as he's technically called, was laying on his back in his water bowl.  He was floating in bile, or poop, or some kind of turtle bodily fluid.  I emptied his water dish, not knowing if Leo was still alive.  Then, his little turtle arm moved, and I exhaled.  I started thinking about our own lives.  Sometimes, I feel like we're stuck on our backs, kicking, wiggling, and rocking, but not able to turn back over without a little help from someone else.

In the fall

Gabriels first autumn ambulance ride

Every Fall, usually in the month of October, Gabriel spends a couple days in the hospital.  Doctors have ordered us to avoid grass, and pumpkin patches, but it seems as though no matter how much avoiding we do, Gabriel doesn't do so well.  I couldn't tell you what it is, the dry grass and straw everywhere, the mildew-y pumpkins, or the leaves falling off every tree- but this is always Gabriels worst time of year.

Food shopping

Gabriel and his cousin at the grocery store

Every week, I visit 3 or 4 different grocery stores, and the farmers market every Saturday morning. For a family of 2, we to a crazy amount of shopping!  Each store carries something different that Gabriel can eat.  Its difficult to keep variety in Gabriel's diet and to make sure that he's getting all of the nutrition he needs, so visiting all of the different stores is important for us.

Somethings are different...

Somethings are different 'In the life of Gabriel.'  Sure, he needs some regular medicines, and yes, he has a specific diet, but believe it or not there's lots more involved!  Today, someone suggested I get some Spray and Wash for the new stain on my white shirt.  My first through was "nope, not in my house."
What laundry detergent do you use?  How do you treat stains?  We wash our clothes with Dreft, the fragrance free, allergen free detergent developed for newborns.  No fabric softener, because its made from soy, and no all-natural-organic-made-with-orange detergent when you're allergic to oranges.  Gabriel has suffered from the most painful, raw, bleeding rashes, that hurt me just from looking at them.  Imagine your worst burn, or maybe case of poison ivy-  we don't imagine 'skin' to cause us pain, but it can cause pain worse than you'd imagine.  It causes pain that seems to paralyze you because any movement makes it hurt more!    We make lots of accommodations, from how we wash our clothes, to how we schedule breakfast, in order to keep Gabriel healthy.

Someone you know..

Ryder, Gabriel, Olivia, and Tanner all suffer from asthma

Someone you know suffers from a dangerous allergy.  Someone you know struggles to move air in and out of their lungs, due to asthma, someone you know is at risk for a life threatening reaction, and nearly everyone you know has allergies.  Some of us suffer from hayfever, some a pet allergy, some to medicine or latex; more that half of the people in this world suffer from an allergy.  Why is this important to you? A sniffle, or small rash today, can turn into a deadly reaction when you're exposed to that same trigger tomorrow.

In the words of Gabriel

My auntie is special because God made her that way, My Auntie is special to me because she wants me to be safe

She wants me to be good, and she lets us do what its 'time' to do
She lets us play any game we want in the play area; drums or like a game
She knows all my medicines, and she gives them to me every time Im sick
She knows that Im allergic to some stuff, like carrots, oranges, and everything,
She makes me special noodles and special chicken because she knows everything Im allergic to,
She takes me to go places that don't have peanuts, or shrimp,
and a lot of places, we should ask Auntie, Uncle, Ryder and, Keaira if they want to go to Disneyland, because we never went there with them before.
And sometimes she lets me play PBS Kids on her computer
She brought me to see mommy when she was sick and in the hospital, she took good care of me then too.  She took care of me forever.
I like when i sleepover at her house, and when we go fishing with our worms,
She finds special ingredients, and special stuff I can have.
She loves me a lot, all the time.
I say "thank you, theres a lot of good days for me to come to her house, because its so special, and thank you for everything that she does, and helps me do it."
I do love her, and I do like when i come to her house.
Thank you for for letting me come to your house.

Love Gabriel

Lemon Jell-o

I have spent so much of Gabriel's life trying to give him what everyone else has.  I hate ever imagine him 'missing out' on anything.  My sister, Gabriel's Godmother, Auntie, and really the person who knows him second best, reminds me almost everyday:  "stop trying to give him what he cant have!"  When your the Mommy, its hard to imagine giving your child anything but everything.  The fact is, though, that Gabriel cant have everything.  It starts with food- anything prepared, frozen, or at a restaurant is off the list, as well as everything you would eat on any holiday, special occasion, or Sunday dinner, is off the list.  I create special 'anything,' from trick or treating and pumpkin picking,  to going to the fair, I try my best to mold everything into Gabriel's lifestyle so that he can have and experience what everyone else can.  I went through about a year of calling sausage "Gabriel's hot dog" until i finally heard my sister remind me "its not a hotdog!  He can't have a hotdog, and that's OK."

                                          Gabriel, as a baby, helping himself to what he'll never have!