Well, after 4 calls to the doctor's office and a week after we were supposed to have the results, we got the confirmation that Witt is indeed allergic to cow's milk. I really thought it would have been the peanut butter on crackers left out for Nathan that caused the anaphylactic reaction in Witt, but no... it was the cow's milk in his first bottle of formula. Honestly, I was hoping it was peanuts because I thought peanuts would be an easier allergy to handle as more people are aware of the severity of peanut allergies and because milk is in EVERYTHING at my house. (He still could be allergic to peanuts, though. The allergy test on the blood gives a lot of false negatives. He'll be getting the scratch test on Tuesday for peanuts, egg whites, and egg yolk to verify.)I must say that I kind of fell apart the night we got the results as I had been living in denial for two weeks. But now, reality sets in. I must change our eating habits. Immediately. Especially mine as I am breastfeeding. Think about it: No milk. No cheese. No creamer in the coffee. No sour cream. No butter. No mac-n-cheese. No casseroles made with cream of something. No church potluck suppers. No buffet dinners. No chocolate! I'm still really new to all this and there might be some good substitutions for these items; I don't know. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised at the vanilla soy milk. Even Will liked it - which was a SHOCKER!!!
Now I just need to find a no-milk cookbook and practice with new recipes. I like cookbooks... I like new recipes, but I usually like them with lots of cheese. *smile* Oh well. Maybe I will find something better and won't feel like I'm lacking the good ol' comfort foods of the south. We'll be getting more veggies and maybe even try some tofu... wow, can't believe I said (wrote) that. ;) [Please don't think that I have any hesitation in changing our diets. Witt's life is far more precious than cheese! We will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe and healthy. It can be done with a sense of humor though!]
If you are interested in learning more about milk allergies, please read this article. As my first real search for information on the internet, I found it very helpful and not too overwhelming. Also, if you have dealt with anaphylactic milk allergies in your family, I'd love to hear how you have handle it all. (A great big thank you to Mom Unplugged and Melissa at Through My Window for all your support and suggestions so far!!)
5 comments:
I am so sorry to hear about Witt's milk allergy. I am sure that is going to be very challenging for you. I guess the silver lining is that you might get down to your ideal weight pretty quickly without the cheese! :) You might want to check out the blog Pleasant View Schoolhouse (you can see the link on my blog). She has a child that has milk allergies and she has several good milk-free allergies on there. In fact, I made one of her cakes last week and it was delish!
I know how you feel. My son has several allergies and I just found out last week that I am gluten and dairy intolerant. Such a challenge.
2 words for you - dark chocolate! It rarely has milk in it. :) Also, Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes are expensive, but the chocolate chip cookie mix is really good.
Wow! I had been on a total vegan diet (with the support of my family) due to a rare benign lymphoma, Castleman's Disease that I was diagnosed with about 1 1/2 yrs ago. We did great until I called my husband at work about 2 1/2 months ago crying because I NEEDED a cheeseburger...pregnancy test 2 days later confirmed the culprit...now we are eating healthy but doing some organic meat. I have lots of yummy recipes that are super yummy and my kids liked them, too:) If you're interested in some I'll be happy to email them to you. Do you do your own bread? I bought a mill and buy my grain from Breadbeckers in 45 gallon buckets quarterly....it helps, my daughters severe eczyma is NO more among other things....
Nice to meet you, too. How do you know Jenna? She is a dear cousin, I love her and wish she were closer. If you see her on a regular basis, give her a hug from me:)
I am new to your blog, but love it. I am sorry about your son's allergy. But there is a ray of light. We are adopting as little girl age 4 who has milk allergies. We were told she could have no milk at all, period, ever. Then we caught her eating her brother's cheeseburger! We didn't freak out, just watched her. She didn't have so much as a tummy ache! Now we have medical proof that she has had serious problems in the past, but apparently, she is outgrowing them! We asked her doctor and he said that it is not unusual. Often in preemies you will find milk allergies, also more frequently in african-americans, which our new daughter is. She still cannot drink milk itself, but she can have cheese, creamy casseroles, and occasionally a bite or two of yogurt or ice cream. She has been with us six months. The allergy was discovered when she was about a year old and she is now almost 5. It may be longer for you. It may be never. But there is hope. You are a good mom! You will find many ways to get by. And your whole family will be better for helping each other out. That way Witt won't feel like the "Weird one". I have a cousin, and she said that growing up, she had separate meals, separater milk, she felt like the weird one in her family of 5 kids, and she was the only one with allergies.
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