Taegan seems to be doing well. I think we are done with the food trials for awhile and maybe forever. I don't see a need to scope him if he is acting normal. This is the first time since he was diagnosed in 5-08 that we feel we have a good handle on things and we don't see a lot of testing in our future unless things change.

Both kids are now in preschool. Same teacher but different times. I love his teacher and she is so good to him. He has his separate snacks and he does very well. He is very observant on what he is allergic to and I'm surprised when he knows what food has what allergens in it. He will inform other adults what he can't have. He never tries to sneak food or eat anything he shouldn't.

We love to go four wheeling and the kids are really good at it. Here we are
scouting before the hunt.

The result of the hunt. I was hoping Taegan would like deer since he
is a carnivore but he doesn't like it. I think part of it is mental which I can totally understand.

Recent Family pics

Christmas Tree hunting w/ some friends.

Looks like he passed Wheat !!!

Bye Bye gluten free food!

I still don't have the biopsy reports but I was able to talk briefly with his doctor from Denver and
he said not to change his diet. His biopsies were normal. I don't really know what normal means I doubt it means a 0 EE count because we were at a 7 to start but I assume we are still around 7.

What a Relief!! I can't say we are totally in the clear yet because he did mention
we would need to do another EGD after he is eating a lot more wheat but that is great news.
I am cleaning out his cupboards and I'm going to start redoing Taegan's recipe book.

Life is so much easier being able to have a wheat thin and some breads. I am using my bread machine a lot and finding many new things he can have and it is exciting. I feel very blessed and I'm so thankful.

If we do go to a gathering like a family reunion or something he still probably can't have anything there. I guess I thought it would open more things up but most things are still containing egg, milk, garlic, nuts, or mustard. We went to a large reunion and he got his plate and I thought there was going to be "something" but no there wasn't and I felt so bad. Of course I always bring him his own food and he handled it very well.

Dads favorite treat is an Oreo so it was very exciting for Taegan to have one.

We've been boating every week and love it.
The kids are getting braver in the water.

Wheat Trial Results....Still Waiting.

Sorry, I know that some of you are wondering about this and the reason I haven't posted is because I don't have the results yet but am anxiously waiting. Taegan had his scope done 1st of July but we sent the actual biopsies to Denver and it always takes them awhile to get back to me.

I will definitely post the results later. Visually the photos looked good which is a start in the right direction. His doc here performing the scope did say that his tissue seemed a little more fragile than last time. Taegan has been acting totally normal. No vomiting besides the flu and no other symptoms that I have noticed.

I am nervous about cross contamination though. Anything with wheat in it is pretty much cross contaminated with other things. Plus I have found not all companies are following the food labeling law and I have been pretty upset with that. I had purchased something that didn't state anywhere on the label there was milk in it later to find it does have milk in it when I noticed the same exact product in a larger size packaging had milk. I immediately called the company and yes the smaller one also had milk. I told them that they did not label it and I have been stressing over ruining this trial ever since.

I will post results when I know them.

May 2011

Chris took me to dinner for Mother's Day and grandma watched the kids. Taegan grabbed the bike in her back yard and started riding all by himself. It was a great surprise!

Taegan's Preschool Graduation. Here he is signing his name.

In the middle of preschool Graduation Taegan pushed Kadence off of a playground set and she
split her forhead open and we went to the ER. (2nd time in 5 months for her. She had a concussion earlier)

She received her first stitches. (2 layers)

The Davenport Family had a cabin in Pine Valley over memorial Day Weekend.
It was a lot of fun!

Grandpa made this wagon for the kids. They loved it.

Stress article on quality of Life as caregiver of child with food allergies

I found this article interesting and true. I feel a lot of anxiety and stress over Taegan's food allergies and most people don't understand and are uneducated about the risks. Even family members who are aware of the disease still don't seem to understand how much work is involved and how going anywhere can be very difficult. Of course I worry most about his life threatening allergies and my biggest fear with Taegan is that he will eat a peanut one day. I was shocked to hear that quality of life for kids with food allergies was worse than those with chronice diseases. Here are some other things I thought were interesting:

Mothers of food allergic children report extremely high levels of stress.

Quality of life studies have been done in the past with food allergies just showing the immense impact it has on daily life and comparing it with other chronic diseases and showing that quality of life for kids with food allergies is much worse, which is understandable because food is just a part of everything we do in our society.

The more common foods you are allergic to the lower quality of life.

56 percent of schools have staff trained to administer allergy-related medications. And then of those carrying Epinephrine or EpiPens, only 54 percent have a plan for use.

We talked to parents of children with food allergies and without. And for parents of children without food allergies , they said they really thought food allergy was an important issue and that something should be done about, and they were really charged with I want something to be done for these kids. But then when you went straight into asking them specifically: Do you think in your school there should be a ban for peanuts? It was a resounding no. I don't want my child not to be able to take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school! Do you think in your school, they should have separate tables? The majority again did not agree with this.

The whole article can be read on this site:

http://sesamefree.org/component/content/article/3-newsflash/180-qualitylife.html

Leg Pains Night EE - Heating pad

I've been meaning to post this for months now! I was given a corn heating pad for Christmas and I found it VERY useful with Taegan's leg aches at night. I wish I had thought of it before. He gets leg aches often at night like most kids with EE. I give him tylenol and I wouldn't want to leave a heating pad on worried that it would get too hot or be on him too long but the corn heating pad is perfect and solves all of those worries. I let my kids pick their own prints and made them both heating pads and they are very popular at my house.

Life lately + Wheat Trial

Life has been Great Lately!

The weather has been perfect and we have been enjoying the outdoors!

Four Wheeling at Blackrock

Camping at Enterprise Reservoir

Taegan LOVES to ride the ATV. He also helps me gather
our fire wood! He can't get enough.

Taegan has been on wheat for the past 2 months. My life has been so much easier. Before it was really hard to leave the house with everything I had to plan for and pack. It is still a little bit of a pain avoiding his other foods but wheat would be my top choice to add back out of his allergies so lets hope it goes well. It has really made me a huge difference in my daily life and I would say I am less stressed and happier.