Friday, August 14, 2009

The CHEESY Experiment

Brian and I have commented many times that one of the hardest things about food allergies is the unknown. We still have soo many questions about the kids allgeries that just can not be answered!!

I POSED a question to our allergist a couple of months ago when I brought Anna concerning Lydia and Christopher. You see since we suspect they have allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts we have totally kept them from comsuming those things. TOTALLY... the allergist was totally impressed :)

But I'm starting to wonder if Christopher's allergies include peanuts and if Lydia's allergies include milk and peanuts. I feel like testing them won't really tell us because their bodies have NEVER been exposed.... although sometimes allergies work that way and sometimes they don't.

They suggested to me to try some "problem foods" at home... mixed into other foods in VERY, VERY small quanities... only the foods that they have NOT reacted to and that do not cause an external rash.

So a week ago I opened a pack of shredded cheese and Brian and I thought... "let's see what Lydia does with a small bit of cheese"... we put in on the table and honestly expected her to refuse the "new" food, like she always does for a "new" food. But this was CHEESE... and she picked it up an ate IT!!!

Brian and I were amazed that she ate it soo quickly and worried what kind of reaction she would have. But Lydia was sooo excited by the fact that she could eat CHEESE!!!

She happily ate the cheese... showed us it was GONE and then asked for more!!!

We are being cautious, we have been giving her just a shred or two of cheese when we have it out... shred or two... it is such a minute amount! But Lydia asks for it and we have seen NO REACTIONS... none, no rash, no sore throat, or upset tummy. So last night when she asked for some I gave her more... nothing again!!

Anyway, not sure what our next step is. BUt it's exciting to think that one of our children might not be sooo sensitive to milk!!!

3 comments:

Drea said...

awe exciting!! yayyyy she likes cheese :) I think its good for you all to atleast KNOW this about Lydia. I think it helps ease things some, right?

Anonymous said...

That's great! And it was worth its testing. What you could try with Anna and Chris (if you are not afraid for) is to give them sheep cheese (Feta). I have tried this myself and no reaction! I also can eat goose cheese, but its taste is maybe a little bit too strong for the kids. I still do not eat tons of cheese again. But at least it looks like that I only react to cow milk.

Stacey said...

That's awesome! Though it might be harder to control what the other kids eat if Lydia can have the cheese and they can't.