I Could 'Soy'vive

I've been doing some thinking lately about the food allergy situation that we've been dealing with now for going on three years. It's been a bumpy ride, but lately things have been going relatively smooth. When I first found out that Alex was allergic to milk, it was devastating. It was as if someone dropped me into a a sea of black water with no stars to guide me home and I was barely able to keep my nose above the water. I was still breastfeeding Alex when it all happened. For Alex's protection, the allergist told me I had no other choice but to stop eating milk, eggs and nuts (in any form - including manufactured in a facility). I was so lost and confused that I couldn't manage to find anything to eat. I lost so much weight in such a short time that it became seriously unhealthy for me to continue breastfeeding my child. Before this time I had never had anyone refer to me as 'guant'. I was so much thinner than normal. By nine months, I had to wean him just so I could eat again. When looking back on that time, I wished that there was someone giving me advice because the allergist was anything but helpful. I've learned that sometimes you need to use your own motherly instincts in the situation as well as the advice from doctors. When they told me that he had a 'border-line' egg allergy, I didn't think twice because the doctor struck the fear of God into me and told me that if he had eggs he'd slip into anaphylactic shock and possibly die. Point is, I didn't know how to survive without keeping milk in my diet (seriously, it's in everything).

Three years later, I've come to realize that my self-education on food allergies has made me a pro. If ever I had to take milk out of my diet, I know now that I could survive and probably never lose a pound in doing so. I've adjusted our house so that every meal I make, I can make milk-free. Not only every meal, but ever dessert, every drink, and every snack. Okay, okay. So I still snack on the occasional dairy products that are kept well out of Alex's searching fingers. But if I had to get rid of that stuff, it'd be a piece of dairy-free cake. If I had to replace milk in my diet, I couldn't stand soymilk plain. But have you ever tried Silk brand chocolate soymilk? Um...I still buy that for the kids once every few months and find myself drinking half of it. Yummy stuff. SoyDelicious brand makes amazing non-dairy soy 'ice'cream. There are various soy cheeses to make pizza and I'm certainly a pro and reading lables. I've found just about everything I ever really wanted in a non-dairy form (except whipped cream...still searching for that one.) I've made everything from pumpkin pies and pudding to pizza and ranch dip for chips. Heck, I can even live without peanut butter due to the soybutter options out there.

So after three years of diligent label reading, restaurant research (Wendy's hamburgers and fries), and constant research I have learned to take my son's food allergy and work with it to the point where I can do almost anything to let him live a normal and happy life. Heck, the kid is still in the 95th percentile for weight and 80th for height. The next time I will have to worry about it will be when he goes to school, but God willing he might have grown out of it by that time. He's due for another round of allergy testing. It's been a year and he's supposed to be checked every six months to a year. I used to get so anxious for those days. I'd build my hopes up that he might have negative results for a change. This year, I think I might actually be skipping the tests unless the doctor stresses it. Because for the first time in three years...I'm comfortable with my allergic kid. It can be stressful and sometimes break my heart when he can't have what the other kids have. Especially when others just can't fathom how allergies can turn your world upside down. But personally, it's just good to know that after three years of worry and doubt, I know that I could really soyvive.