A few weeks ago my son had blood work done for a RAST test. The results should take 7-10 working days to come back. They have probably been back for several days. I haven't heard anything and really was in no rush to call. My husband on the hand was chomping at the bit. He wanted to know what they said.
In years past I was so excited to get these results. Would numbers go down? Might he have outgrown something? Is there a food challenge in our future? This year I didn't really have that luvin' feelin'. So I never called to check on things. I never called that is until my husband kept asking about the results. I put it off as long as I could. But I called. And the Doc and I played phone tag for a few times. But he's good, and he kept calling and finally today we connected.
And the results: After two years nothing has changed. The numbers say he's just as allergic to everything as he has been. Nothing appears to have been outgrown. Nothing is worse, food wise. Trees, Mold and Grasses appear to have gone up but that's not shocking (or deadly).
It's not that I took it hard. I TOTALLY expected those exact results. But I'm disappointed. I can't pretend that I'm not. Even though I doubted things would change, I still hoped that they would. Yes, I guess that makes me human. And my human self felt like C.R.A.P. I called my husband and gave him the news and needless to say he didn't feel any less C.R.A.P. like than I did. We agreed to tell our son together this evening. And we did. And he was totally unscathed by the news. He was nonchalant and didn't even seem to care. His concern was that he didn't grow back into his milk allergy. And no, of course he did not. He seemed relieved and he went on with his life. No, he wasn't disappointed. No he didn't act upset. Maybe he felt that his mother had that part of it covered so he could just quietly move on. Lesson for me here: Today, April 14th 2011 I was more invested in my son outgrowing his food allergies than he was. That doesn't lessen the impact of food allergies on our lives, but maybe it needs to lessen the impact of outgrowing the food allergies on me (and my husband). My 6 year old son handled it like a trooper. He didn't bat an eye. Today I need to be as smart as a 1st grader. And I just need to let it all go... at least for another 2 years.
7 comments:
Congratulations, you've done an awesome job in teaching him about his normal. This reaction (lack thereof) is proof positive that you're doing this the right way. Pour yourself a big girl glass of celebratory wine, my friend and keep on keepin' on.
I'm sorry for you being bummed, but am glad that he does roll with it, knows that this is him and was cool that he could still have milk. (Is he drinking it or having it as cheese or whatnot? I remember him not caring for milk as milk in the beginning-- right?)
Thanks for the encouragement ladies!
Bailey's Leaf: Cheese, Yogurt and ice cream. The boy still doesn't like drinking milk. We still have Soy for that.
Awe sweetie, you KNOW i know how you feel. We are raising strong, capable FA kiddos! It's only natural to continue to feel a loss of sorts every time we get the results (even if they're just what we expected). Big hugs to you!!!
I am a stay at home mother of 2. Both my boys have food allergies. The first boy was egg, peanuts,and tree nuts. My younger was cow milk, goat milk, egg, and peanuts. I know the pain of making everything from scratch and wondering if they would out grow it. The peanuts and tree nuts I know they won't outgrow. But my oldest outgrew the egg. My youngest is 7 and has finally outgrown the dairy. A few items of dairy still give him trouble though. The thing I noticed is it is harder on us parents than the kids. They were born with it. They are used to it. It is hard on mom when your son can't eat ice cream at a birthday party. Keep it up. It does get easier.
Hi! I'm 22 now and my mom keeps bugging me to take another RAST test( last one done 2 years ago), but I just know there's no point, you know. Not because I don't have hope or anything, but because i'm pretty well tuned with my body at this point and my immune system is still pretty weak. Is your son very aware of his allergies or is it just normal for him now?
By the way, I love your blog!
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