Visit with the pediatric allergist

If you have a child with allergies you likely have a family physician or pediatrician that you see. I'd like to recommend a pediatric allergist though if your child has severe food allergies. Even as a physician myself, I am aware of my own limitations and have chosen a wonderful pediatric allergist for her to see. So we went today! We had an appointment scheduled but ended up going early as she had a major anaphylactic reaction after eating half a chocolate malted ball (whopper candy or maltesers if you're from the UK!) Poor thing swelled up all over her face and had problems breathing. Some benedryl, zyrtec and a good nap made things better but it was good to talk to the allergist about further steps at the office visit. He suggested daily zyrtec and singulair granules (she's allergic to the tablets as they contain lactose) and possible injections with Xolair - a monoclonal antibody. It's not FDA approved for children under 12 though so we're going to research further, think and pray about it! He also recommended against immunization for MMR, varicella and influenza as she is allergic to the gelatin that is in the vaccines. And he confirmed what we already knew...that she should be homeschooled...going to school would be way too hazardous for her health. It's good to know that we made the right decision to homeschool! Thank you God! The not so good news is that she may not outgrow her allergies until she is 5 or 6 if she does at all. We are going to be praying that she does outgrow her allergies though as I definitely don't want to be nursing a 1st grader!
So for all you brave allergy facing parents make sure to talk to your doctor about treatment options, vaccination issues and also school issues!

Welcome to this blog! We hope that this will be a place of encouragement to all of you who have family members suffering from multiple food allergies. We started this journey over 12 years ago when we started taking care of our nephew who had nut allergy, specifically cashew nuts and also soy allergy. That seems like so long ago and just a small jumping point to where we are now! Our daughter has allergies to:
Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Lamb
Wheat and all gluten
Barley
Oats
Rye
Soy
Potato
Milk
Eggs
All dairy - cheese, butter, yoghurt
Strawberries and other berries
Tomato
Certain fish
She's only 2 so we have not yet tried nuts or certain shellfish (crab, lobster) so I'm not sure about those! We have had multiple trips to the ER as she will get severe hives and also anaphylaxis where she get's problems breathing and lip/mouth swelling. Benedryl is our friend!
Often times we are simply asked what can she eat as that seems easier:
Rice. corn, pork, duck, some fruit - apples, pears, bananas, grapes, corn oil, onions, mushrooms, spinach and other green leafy vegetables like nappa cabbage, carrots, white turnips/radish.
Listing things out helps me realize that she really can eat alot more than sometimes I remember!
Our greatest struggles are when we travel or when I'm feeling too lazy to cook and want to just grab something from the freezer to microwave. But I hope to share with you some tips for when we travel and also our favorite recipes! I also hope to show how it doesn't have to be real expensive to provide great food that is allergy free. Alot of times I am shocked at how expensive gluten free cookies are!
Hope this will help you and encourage you to start enjoying cooking for your food allergic child!