where do we go from here

At first nothing changed, it was just kind of a being in shock thing, and now, yes I do understand that it could be far worse, while he doesn't have a terminal condition or any thing like that, it did mean that we had to sit down and do a massive overhaul of what we ate and the conditions under which we ate anything.

Do you want to talk about frustrating? My husband and I can tend to be very different in our parenting style, I have to openly admit that neither of us has nailed the art yet.

I am pretty much a go with the flow, things will fall as they may, type, while my husband can tend to be somewhat OCD at times.... yeah.....OCD. So what came from this combination was a lot....A LOT of bickering. I was content to have the children eat separately, wash hands, clean up any mess.... ect....and that is the way it was for the first few days... until a little thing we all know and love called google stepped in. I was not too thrilled with this new development. We have been through a lot of unnecessary issues because of my husband being a chronic googler, and his phone history is proof on that. One time sand in our backyard was going to kill us all, another time it was asbestos in the air because we live in an older home.... I'm sure, I have one of the only husbands in history to go to the ER only to be diagnosed as a "well person".... in hindsight it is really laughable, but at the time, these things are real issues that we have to deal with.

So, like I said, google stepped in and wreaked havoc. All of the sudden, everything was a hazard, food, hands, birdseed, cross contamination!!!..... though for the months previous to the tests, nothing was different, we ate together, what we wanted, we went out to eat, ect. we avoided these things around Colin just for the sake that we knew he was allergic to something, we just didn't know what yet. I went searching for validation that he was over reacting on a forum for parents who have kids with allergies, to my dismay, at first, just about every one there could sympathize with Andy, while in most cases I was viewed more like the husband....

So then I really tried to change my perspective and see where he was coming from, it occurred to me that though we disagreed at how to approach the situation, I should really just relax and be grateful that I do have a husband that cares so much about our child's well being. I started to let him do his thing and to help him out when I could as far as cleaning and enforcing safety rules such as hand washing ect. I started researching food that we could all eat without the possibility of allergic reactions. Basically what it boiled down to was that I needed to start from scratch, literally.

Processed foods are just too risky. I purchased a dehydrator for snacks, learned to make allergen free cake and icing, whipped out my bread machine, that I purchased a few years ago, used twice and put it up... Now let me be the first to say, this is a transition...we still have boxed foods such as rice and frozen chicken nuggets and such, but it's just a matter of finding somewhere to start.

The first recipe I would like to share is for what else, but cake.... we are a snack loving family around here and learning to make cake was at the top of my list and never mind that we had 1st and 2nd birthday's coming up. This is my first try at cupcakes, but my 4th attempt at allergen free cake altogether.... the first one flat out sucked, it had a hard crust on top, had sunken in the middle and was gooey.... the second attempt was decent, but still not hitting the mark, then I decided to find a new recipe. It was one for a 9x13 and it was worlds better. One thing that I make sure to do is mix dry, mix wet and then mix all ingredients, this simple step makes a world of difference.

Today I decided to take that same recipe and make the cupcakes, the only alteration to the ingredients I made was to add a heaping of mini chocolate chips in order to obtain some moisture as well as more flavor. Boy, that was a good move.... I had previously made my own simple frosting with cocoa, powdered sugar and a little chocolate soy milk and it turned out somewhat tasty, but today I went for big flavor and made this recipe, in place of peanut butter I used sunbutter, instead of butter I used dairy free butter, and then of course I replaced the milk with soy milk......the result?

NOM NOM NOM!!

If you try this recipe please let me know what you think! 

Introduction

I knew something was different when Colin was just a little baby, his baby "acne" didn't clear up, I bought a Moby to wear him and every time I wore him, he got overheated and irritated looking.  By the time he was 3 months old, it was clear, my baby boy had eczema....but not just anywhere....everywhere. His face, arms, chest, back, legs, hands and feet were all covered.

October 6, 2010

In these pictures Colin was not yet 4 months old, as you can see, he had already become an expert scratcher. I, dealing with eczema my whole life and moderately with my oldest daughter, knew immediately what it was...and so on to the remedies.

October 17, 2010

Oatmeal facials and bathes, vitamin E oil rubbed in the skin, plain water bathes, various lotions and ointments, switching over detergents and the list goes on and on, I tried remedy after remedy, sought advice from friends and family.... nothing worked.....

October 19, 2010

Leg

Arm

It seemed to get worse and worse by the minute sometimes! There were days that were just, okay, but never any thing substantial. When we took him to the pediatrician she prescribed some ointment and for then, that was to be square one. I wasn't too thrilled to have him on more meds, but I was desperate.

We then heard of a woman, through word of mouth, that had started a company of all natural products because her son had eczema, they carry an eczema kit, that was supposed to work magic! So the first chance we got we purchased it and boy! were we amazed!!

The results were fast! Stunning! and surprising! He looked wonderful!! 

We went from 

to

All Natural

I regret to say our joy was short lived, as fast as it worked, we were back to the start. I do still use these products for myself and I am very pleased with them, I think Colin's case was just more then they were intended to handle. Back to black and white pictures, back to being stared at and questioned in the grocery store, back to feeling hopeless.

I soon scheduled another appointment, it was obvious something major had to be done, and so we were referred to a dermatologist. The appointment was scheduled for January and boy, it could not come fast enough....at this point I was borderline depressed over the whole thing. Itching, Oozing, Scratching, Weeping, Bathes, Medicines, Stares...I didn't even leave the house with him anymore, I turned all the errands over to my husband, I couldn't understand why people couldn't look passed the eczema and see what a truly beautiful boy he was, it was heartbreaking. 

We made the hour long trip to UVA and met with some wonderful Dr's that developed a specialized plan for his skin care, we were happy to have something in hand to hopefully bring some relief to the situation. I started immediately, bleach bath, don't dry, mix ointment and cream for face, mix ointment and cream for body, cover head to toe in vaseline, benedryl once a day. GOT IT! Slowly but surely we saw improvements, with the occasional patch of rash here and there and some residual redness on previously effected areas.

Beautiful <3

When he started eating baby food I was very, very cautious. I knew that allergies and eczema walked hand in hand and so 1 baby food at a time, it was. Then after a while there came a day when I was like, you know what, let's try something different, you have done fine so far, i'll bet you'd like mac & cheese ! and so we tried, and what a mistake that was....within 15 minutes, he had the tell tale signs of an allergic reaction, a sift and severe outbreak of eczema on his face, lips swollen and all that. OnWARD! to the ER! 

Needless to say, we were back to being less adventurous with his eating endeavors. When we came home I looked at the ingredients of the food he had eaten......tuna oil!? Does this say tuna oil!? Well that makes perfect sense, seeing as how my oldest is allergic to fish, it HAD to be that! Everything seemed to be taking pace and moving forward.  Then I did it again, only this time I fed him this.... and Oh my GOSH, what a mistake..his face turned deep scarlet red, his nose started making profuse amounts of snot and hives alllll over....Back to the ER. This time I was clueless, I cross checked and couldn't find anything that I saw as a possible trigger...

A little bit of time passed and his eczema seemed to want to rebel again, I was having a harder time controlling it and it seemed to have a mind of it's own, I called his derm and an appointment was scheduled for the next Monday. At this time I told her about his allergic reactions and how his eczema wouldn't clear up even though I was doing the same thing. She made a few adjustments and a few more prescriptions and an appointment with an allergist.

Again, his skin started doing better and the next week we went back to UVA for the allergist. Needless to say, there were positive reactions.

He was prescribed and EpiPen Jr and we were told what to avoid, given some resources and told to continue on with the derm's skin regimen. I had printed out and taken along the ingredients for the foods he had reacted to and the only common thing was whey derived from milk.... he tested positive for milk, along with eggs and peanuts.

We have done a lot of research and joined groups and forums, we have cried and felt out of control, we are afraid to take chances and so, even with the eggs and peanuts having a 50% chance of being wrong, we have voided our lives of these products, at least until he is retested before he starts school to see if anything changes.

Which leads me to this blog. I will be recording what steps we take, changes we go through, eating habits we get rid of and what we take on.This will include recipes, Dr's advice, life changes, challenges we face and overcome. 

I look forward to sharing this adventure with you.