Background

Beginning last summer, Caleb was having problems with allergies and asthma (seems he's had a runny nose and eczema since birth). Unfortunately, this also coincided with losing his pediatrician due to insurance reasons. The first asthma attack brought us to the hospital and began our adventures with Albuterol. Back home, we visited a few doctors. The first specialized in internal med. and had no business seeing a 3 year-old, not to mention giving me the creeps by moving closer so our knees touched no matter how many times I moved back... The next was a family doctor and most likely about 110. He left the room, without exaggerating, 4 times to look things up and sent us home with another prescription on albuterol, some kind of inhaled steroid to be taken every day, advise to continue taking benedryl, and an official diagnosis of Asthma. None of this setting very well with me, I contact my friend the pharmacist and start looking for a new doctor. So, with a recommendation of my sister the nurse I make an appointment with Dr. Lions who sees her kids. When we met Dr. Lions I was immediately set at ease. I really can't say enough good things about this man. When he comes in the first thing he does is get a high five from Caleb. From the first visit Caleb took to him as if he'd known him all his life. But, before I turn this into a blog about how much we like Dr. Lions I will say that he agreed with me about some of the medications he was on and prescribed Singulair and Clairiton. The Singulair did wonders for Caleb but he still had this constant runny nose and horrible eczema. So, after a few more trips back and forth we got him on Singulair, Zyrtec, and elidelel. So, at this point, up to now, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about asthma and allergies. This is how I learn about the RAST. So, on one of our trips to Dr. Lions I express my frustrations with his eczema. He had been on a topical steroid for this since about 6months old, and just name any lotion potion or cream and we've tried it. Nothing. This boy would scratch himself until he bleed and the only thing to be done was to keep his nails SUPER short. When summer was in full swing and Dr. Lions noted the discoloration in the pigment in his legs due to the amount of cortisone creams we were using and I was at my wits end... This appointment resulted the switch to elidel and my demand* for the rast. So, I get this phone call with the results. To summarize he's allergic to pet dander, which we knew. He's allergic to several different types of grass and mold, and just about every tree in the area. Most shocking, or not as I"ll explain, was the food allergies. He is allergic to Wheat, Eggs, and pork. I have never even heard of being allergic to pork and how on earth were we going to avoid wheat and eggs? I have to say that I wasn't as much surprised about the food allergies as the specific foods he was allergic too. I had the feeling that this eczema was being caused by something he was eating but obviously having something as prevalent as wheat is in our diet makes it hard to pinpoint. So, that's the background info and the reason for this blog. It's about Caleb's health and me learning how to cook, not just wheat free but in general!

*Dr. Lions is so easy going I did have to ask for it and although he warned me that it may tell us nothing he was more than willing to humor me.