Monday, April 03, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
The haps
It's been a busy string of weeks. Here's the low-down:
- Basketball is over, so we get our evenings/weekends back.... until soccer starts on the 20th! Both boys really enjoyed playing and advanced their skills and teamwork immensely.
- Evan's team lost in the semi-final round of the tournament; we haven't heard whether they'll end up third or fourth. Either way, his last game was one of his best! He had the ball several times, and once he was confident enough to do quite a bit of dribbling! Compare that with every other time he's gotten the ball this season, when his dearest desire was to get rid of it. He did great! He also got fouled and took his first free throw shots, making one of them!
Evan shoots free throws!.
(How I wish I had let the video record a few more seconds! But I was in a hurry to clap and jump!)
- The baked milk process is having mixed results. He was eating things regularly, and would frequently indicate that he could tell by the way he felt that something had milk in it, but never threw up or had any discomfort that lasted more than a few minutes. After two weeks or so of eating stuff every day, he felt a fair bit worse after eating a cupcake. Was it that particular recipe? Was the oven not fully at 350 degrees? Was it oversaturation and his body was asking for a break? Whatever the reason, we took a little time off. For the past week we've been munching on brownies made with lactose-free milk, and only after we finished the pan did I tell him they had milk in them. He was shocked, indicating that he never had even a moment's discomfort from them. This week we'll have more brownies, one batch made again with the lactose free milk and the same recipe made with regular milk. Stay tuned...
- School is going fine. Grady is reading really well, and Evan is buzzing right along in his subjects.
- Evan has been off both his ADHD med (non-stimulant guanfacine/Intuniv) and the other one, and is doing great. I'm keeping in touch with the teachers to hopefully stay on top of any drops in focus.
- Grady spent a week without screens and rediscovered Candyland and drawing.
- Evan completed his level I leadership training at Life Ki-do, and started level II. I started level I, and have helped in Evan's class (fun!) and both he and I have been leaders in Grady's class (double fun!).
- Basketball is over, so we get our evenings/weekends back.... until soccer starts on the 20th! Both boys really enjoyed playing and advanced their skills and teamwork immensely.
- Evan's team lost in the semi-final round of the tournament; we haven't heard whether they'll end up third or fourth. Either way, his last game was one of his best! He had the ball several times, and once he was confident enough to do quite a bit of dribbling! Compare that with every other time he's gotten the ball this season, when his dearest desire was to get rid of it. He did great! He also got fouled and took his first free throw shots, making one of them!
Evan shoots free throws!.
(How I wish I had let the video record a few more seconds! But I was in a hurry to clap and jump!)
- The baked milk process is having mixed results. He was eating things regularly, and would frequently indicate that he could tell by the way he felt that something had milk in it, but never threw up or had any discomfort that lasted more than a few minutes. After two weeks or so of eating stuff every day, he felt a fair bit worse after eating a cupcake. Was it that particular recipe? Was the oven not fully at 350 degrees? Was it oversaturation and his body was asking for a break? Whatever the reason, we took a little time off. For the past week we've been munching on brownies made with lactose-free milk, and only after we finished the pan did I tell him they had milk in them. He was shocked, indicating that he never had even a moment's discomfort from them. This week we'll have more brownies, one batch made again with the lactose free milk and the same recipe made with regular milk. Stay tuned...
- School is going fine. Grady is reading really well, and Evan is buzzing right along in his subjects.
- Evan has been off both his ADHD med (non-stimulant guanfacine/Intuniv) and the other one, and is doing great. I'm keeping in touch with the teachers to hopefully stay on top of any drops in focus.
- Grady spent a week without screens and rediscovered Candyland and drawing.
- Evan completed his level I leadership training at Life Ki-do, and started level II. I started level I, and have helped in Evan's class (fun!) and both he and I have been leaders in Grady's class (double fun!).
Friday, January 13, 2017
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Friday, January 06, 2017
Evan passed the baked dairy challenge!
It's true! It's true! He passed the baked dairy challenge! We made cupcakes at home according to the challenge ratio: equal parts flour and milk. Talk about soupy batter! But that lets them cook for 30+ minutes before being done, and that's how long it takes to alter the milk proteins enough to trick the allergic person's body.
They cut up and weighed bits of cupcake. The very first test was for Evan to put a bite-sized chunk in his mouth, then immediately spit it out without chewing. If he was extremely allergic, just that miniscule exposure could cause itching or swelling in the mouth. After waiting 12 minutes, he reported no symptoms and so got to actually eat his first 0.1g of cupcake. They handed him a little medicine cup with the cupcake "sample" and he grinned at them like he had caught them trying to play a joke on him. Lol. It's a very small crumb, but it's the start of a process designed to be cautious and slow in case of reaction.
12 minutes, no reaction.
0.3g, 12 minutes, no reaction.
0.9g, which looks like this:
12 minutes, no reaction.
Another little one, 12 minutes, no reaction.
Finally something that looked bite-sized, 12 minutes, no reaction.
It's worth noting that up to this time, all servings were withOUT frosting. You can imagine Evan's disappointment, having seen them before being divided up, with a nice tasty layer of the sweet stuff, then only receiving chocolate cake. Ha! He was disappointed, but still, cake. He did ask for some water, though, and they obliged.
Then he moved up to a quarter cupcake, finally with frosting! Oh happy day! 12 minutes, no reaction.
Half a cupcake, 12 minutes, no reaction.
At long last, they served him a WHOLE CUPCAKE WITH FROSTING. The thing he'd been looking forward to ever since we scheduled the appointment two weeks ago. 12 minutes, no reaction!
But for good measure we had to stay for another hour and a half for observation.
Overall we were there for 3.5 hours. We chatted, played cards, read Garfield books, played iPads, and toward the end to keep from falling asleep did some follow-the-leader movements.
His IgE numbers were high when tested at the end of 2016; 26 IIRC, and if not for the exposures he's had and weathered just fine, the doctor said he wouldn't consider a challenge, and probably wouldn't expect one for several more years. His egg scores are lower, in the teens, so I can't help but wonder.... but I do believe he's had exposure to egg in the past year that did not turn out well, so that will likely bear out by the numbers.
So, what does this mean for him? This is the first sign of possibly outgrowing an allergy. A body that can handled a baked form of the protein is more likely down the road to be able to handle the raw form as well. Next year, if he's still doing well, he may get to do a baked cheese challenge -- with pizza! Then we will be making homemade mac and cheese ALL THE TIME. Ordering pizza will be easier. Well, depending on topping demands.
The biggest thing is that the door to the world of baked goods has opened a little wider. Hamburger buns at restaurants will be the most exciting addition for him! We still have to be wary of post-baking dairy, such as butter brushed on a treat to make a cinnamon-sugar coating stick.
The guidelines are (1) dairy is not a top-three ingredient, (2) equal amounts of milk and flour/mix, and (3) bake for at least 30 minutes. We don't make a lot of boxed mixes at home, but now we have a ton more choices for cakes and muffins and whatnot! As for the baked goods that we make from scratch at home, we have to purposely switch from soy milk to cow's milk to maintain/further the desensitization, at least a few times per week.
We'll be watching him very closely over the next few weeks as we build this into his routine diet. For now, I don't see a problem with finishing off the remaining cupcakes. :)
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)