We no longer felt comfortable attending social events, birthday parties, or even going to a place where any foods would be present for fear of his life. It was socially isolating, and many people don’t truly understand what it is like to live with this fear day to day. Each time we would receive an invite to a party/social event, and agreed to attend, we would have to pack a separate picnic for our son so he could have something to eat and minimize risk of cross contamination. We don’t put the responsibility on our hosts to provide safe meals because he is allergic to Eggs, and many tree nuts, and many people are not aware that cross contamination is a serious, scary, and potentially deadly issue.

Food is something that appears to bring people together socially, and declining invitations and continually explaining to well-meaning hosts why it was stressful for us to attend became exhausting , or even coming up with a response to comments such as insisting “just a little won’t hurt him right?”. Food allergy parents are sadly often labeled as having hypochondriac tendencies. It is my hope that sharing our struggles and experiences will raise awareness and offer a snapshot into our lives as a food allergy family. I have also shared below some pictures that are difficult to look at, but a good way to remember how far we have come since being diagnosed.

Eggs in particular are an extremely difficult allergy to live with as they are ubiquitous in all baked goods, sauces, dressings, and unfortunately in most common party foods served at celebrations. Even when an item doesn’t explicitly contain eggs, the chances are extremely high that eggs were processed in that facility, and he could come in contact with cross contamination. We were told by his original allergist that based on blood work, he would likely never ever outgrow it, and that it was historically one of the highest numbers she has ever seen in a child. He hasn’t truly dined out in a restaurant since birth due to fear of what may happen.

In February 2015, we are pleased to announce that he officially became an egg graduate! At the beginning of our journey, he could not safely tolerate 0.1 mL of a 1/100 dilution of whole egg solution, and is now consuming the equivalent of an entire egg a day! We have to be extremely vigilant because of all of his tree nut allergies- We are hoping to desensitize him to tree nuts in the near future. Our biggest proof (besides daily ingestion) that the therapy is working was we noticed a 6 fold decrease in his blood IgE levels to egg after 6 months of treatment! We are hoping that those numbers trend towards 0 for egg in the near future, which can indicate full desensitization.

For us the decision was easy and for others it isn’t a trivial choice as it requires much sacrifice, and possibly traveling long distances to find a willing doctor. We are beyond blessed and grateful to have found an amazing doctor working in private practice offering OIT to patients only an hour away. Being an OIT physician requires that you be available to your patients 24/7 for support and guidance. It is a self sacrificing field, and we also understand why it’s difficult for many physicians to offer it. We hope that this therapy will become a new gold standard for treatment and become more widely available so our current doctors can have support from other allergists to help ensure that all who are currently suffering can safely overcome their allergies.

Food allergies affect us all, especially vulnerable children who can be the recipients of bullying and constant exclusion who already live their lives in fear of getting sick. Many schools are becoming more supportive of food allergies, and requiring nut-free lunches for all children, and some may resent that one child that has the allergy because it affects what they can bring to school. If you know a family with a child with food allergies, try to be as compassionate and inclusive as you can. There are so many small things you can do to make the family feel welcome in your communities, and we as food allergy parents greatly appreciate small gestures to keep our children safe! I was really brought to tears when the mother of my son’s classmate told me that she immediately stopped sending her child omelettes to school upon learning of my son’s egg allergy because our kids were good friends and played together often. I did not ask her to do this, but it was really thoughtful of her.

Many food- related events and holidays can cause great distress for parents, so discussing ways that their child can still participate safely with the parent means more than you can know to them. Simple things would be requiring families to list all ingredients during group potlucks, keeping a safe clean area for foods that don’t contain specific allergens when a parent requests it. If allergens are present, have all children wash hands after meals to minimize chances of allergen cross contact with affected child. Always always ask about food allergies/dietary restrictions in general before hosting an event, and let everyone know!