Cibophobia

Did you know that the fear of food is actually a real thing?  I have a fear of food, not for myself, but for my food allergy child.  I’m always afraid that I will inadvertently give him something to eat that will be dangerous for him.  I am always a bit more aware of this fear in October.  Not only is that when we do his yearly allergy testing, but Halloween is especially frightening for a food allergy mom.  I shudder to think of the Snickers Bar of Death rolling around in the bottom of his trick or treat bag.

Today was Matthew’s appointment with the allergist.  His allergies to milk, egg, peanut and cashew are still as severe as ever.  He is not likely to outgrow them at this point (No surprise there.  I’ve been convinced of this since he was two.) but the allergist says that he is a good candidate for desensitization therapy for the milk and the egg.  She wants to wait until he is at least five so that he can talk to her and communicate well what he is feeling, but she is optimistic about the results.  She says that the therapy for eggs has been quite successful.  The therapy for peanuts has not shown as much promise.  Apparently people who successfully complete the therapy have a tendency to redevelop the allergy later on.  I have just assumed the peanut allergy was here to stay since day one, so that is not devastating news for us.  Of all his allergens, nuts are actually one of the easier ones to avoid because they get so much publicity that people in general are more aware of nut allergies.  It can be a bit of a task to convince people that milk is just as dangerous for him.  Luckily for him (and for me), we are surrounded by people who are continually going out of their way to accommodate Matthew’s food needs.

We also tested for coconut, sunflower seed, shrimp, clams, and peas.  We had an event involving peas a couple of weeks ago and although he did not react to the skin prick test, his allergist wants to watch closely for that one because he is so allergic to peanuts and peas are also legumes. He was also negative to everything else we tested today, so we are going to cautiously begin to introduce products with coconut oil and coconut milk.  Coconut milk is a very common dairy replacement, so if he tolerates coconut well it will open up a whole world of dairy-free products for him. And it will bring a variety of tasty recipes back into our cooking repertoire.