Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The Blog Inspiration: Lady Grace's Egg Allergy

Many people often ask how we came to learn of Lady Grace's egg allergy.  Well, we learned the hard way - by unknowingly feeding her egg products over a three week period before making the discovery.  When she was about 16 months (she is now four), I boasted with pride in my ability to make tasty, southern-style homemade macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving dinner, which of course was full of eggs!  She became very ill - we thought she had contracted a very bad stomach bug.  I still remember that night as if it were yesterday.  Oddly, she was well the next morning. A week or so later, we gave her vanilla ice cream, again full of eggs and she became ill again.  Oddly, she was better the next day. The doctors said that there was a really bad stomach virus going around that would take a few weeks to resolve.  I didn't feel fully confident in that prognosis, but walked away nonetheless.  Finally, a week after that incident, my husband made an omelette that he shared with her and the same thing.  I immediately went to the doctor demanding orders for blood work as I was sure that my baby was allergic to eggs - I had it all figured out.  They didn't believe me initially, but I insisted.  Turns out she was allergic to peanuts and eggs.  While she has since outgrown peanut allergy, her egg allergy is fierce and remains "off the charts".  Fortunately, she has never suffered anaphylaxis, but severe gastro-intestinal torture.  Nonetheless, she is an epi-pen carrier and I am vigilant as a hawk in preventing any sort of ingestion of eggs or egg protein in any form.  From the day that we learned of her egg allergy, I have been on a mission to ensure that my baby girl can live a full life and enjoy all of the culinary delights (with egg-free modifications, of course) that she desires.  I hope that other families with egg-allergy children will find this blog a source of creative inspiration and platform for sharing!

3 comments:

  1. Very nicely written Janee. My youngest has food allergies as well--all nuts and sesame. Information sharing is so helpful. I find increased awareness and compassion for children with food allergies makes a world of difference.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this blog. It will be useful for people who simply want to cut eggs out of their diet.
    It is always wonderful to see who are kids become, it is overwhelmingly amazing to see what they inspire us to do. Hats off to you, Supermom.

    ReplyDelete