Updates

Last time I wrote about nothing really happening.  Well, good or bad things are happening now.

School starts in about 2 1/2 weeks.  We get the teacher letters today.  That's always an exciting milestone.  I "think" I know who they each have thanks to a snafu on the school's website a few weeks ago where they accidentally posted teacher assignments.  We'll see if they were right.

I was in charge of the school supply kit fundraiser last year where parents could order a kit of school supplies that the teacher requested.  I have about 85 ordered and they will be delivered to the school next week....so I'm told.  Still waiting for FedEx to contact me about that.  Anyway, once they are delivered I get to sort them and get them put in the correct classroom.  (Note: When I say "I", I really mean Katie and Will.  I think it will be a fun project to do together and I am fully prepared to pay cash.)

Ok, that was the good, now on to the bad.  We'll start with the not-so-bad.
Will has been stuffed up for quite a while now and I knew there was more going on than just random stuffy noses.  So on Wednesday at his yearly check-up I had the dr. do a blood test for allergies.  She ran through the gamut of things that it will test for - mostly environmental causes.  At the end I said I wanted him to be tested for milk as well.  She added it on, but mentioned that she really didn't feel it was necessary because his symptoms didn't match.  Well, add it anyway to appease a crazy mom.

I got a phone call from her yesterday with the results.  The only items that came up positive were dust mites/mold (which confirms the fact that I am a crappy housekeeper and need to get a little more OCD about some things), and milk.  The milk actually tested much higher than the others.  The dust mites/mold were a level 1 and the milk was a 2/3.  (This is on a scale of 1-6, with 4-6 being severe.)  The allergy screen measures the level of allergen-specific IgE in your blood. That is, it measures the concentration of antibodies your body has created to against a particular food allergen. 

(Can you tell I copied and pasted that last part?)

She suggested going dairy free for a month and see if there are any improvements.  I think a better idea is to try 2 months and go from there. Especially if I have to tackle the cleaning aspect of t too. We may be able to re-introduce some types of dairy slowly and have a better picture of what is going on. 

Honestly, I am SO stupid when it comes to seriously avoiding certain foods or ingredients.  I've been blessed with no family history of allergies - diagnosed anyway and we haven't had to have things like this on our radar.  I figured you just avoided milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter.  There, you're done.

Wrong.

Did you know that some types of gum have milk in them?  Cans of tuna?  Yep.  Thanks to some wonderful friends who have a lot of experience with diet restrictions I know a lot more, BUT I'm still learning. 

Ingredients we have to avoid if we want to take this seriously (and really, is there any other way to take it?  I mean if you want to see if going dairy free will help his symptoms, then you have to go whole-hog.)

Acidophilus Milk Ammonium Caseinate Butter Butter Fat Butter Oil Butter Solids Buttermilk Buttermilk Powder Calcium Caseinate Casein Caseinate (in general) Cheese (All animal-based) Condensed Milk Cottage Cheese Cream Curds Custard Delactosed Whey Demineralized Whey Dry Milk Powder Dry Milk Solids Evaporated Milk     Ghee (see p109) Goat Milk Half & Half Hydrolyzed Casein Hydrolyzed Milk Protein Iron Caseinate Lactalbumin Lactoferrin Lactoglobulin Lactose Lactulose Low-Fat Milk Magnesium Caseinate Malted Milk Margarine (most) Milk Milk Derivative Milk Fat Milk Powder Milk Protein Milk Solids Natural Butter Flavor Nonfat Milk Nougat Paneer Potassium Caseinate Pudding Recaldent Rennet Casein Skim Milk Sodium Caseinate Sour Cream Sour Milk Solids Sweetened Condensed Milk Sweet Whey Whey Whey Powder Whey Protein Concentrate Whey Protein Hydrolysate Whipped Cream Whipped Topping Whole Milk Yogurt Zinc Caseinate                    Once I get better at label reading I will be able to spot these items more quickly, but that still leaves restaurants.....and the state fair.  Luckily for me, Will hates cheese curds....but I can still eat them.  I also need to contact the school and let them know and then tackle the school lunch calendar and decide what to do there.  I spose I will have to send his lunch with him to be safe, but we'll see.  Luckily - and I mean a HUGE CAPITAL LETTER "LUCKILY" it is no where near life threatening.  It's entirely on the "annoying" symptom list and so I am thankful for that.  You know, I'm not in the mood to discuss the next crappy thing on my list.  I'll never be in the "mood" to discuss the next thing, but I will address is - later.  We want to have a talk with the kids first after the weekend and then I'll spill the beans here.