I AM SUCH A PROUD MAMA!
After several months of weekly visits to the Columbia Asthma and Allergy Clinic in Fremont, my son is a graduate of the milk OIT protocol! He will now drink 1/2 cup (120 ml – equivalent to 4 g of protein) of whole milk twice a day for the rest of his life as a part of maintenance.
After a month, we are allowed to experiment with different kinds and amounts of dairy, with the thinking being that in another few months he will achieve “free eating”, thereby tolerating any dairy. We will see. In the meantime, I’m just celebrating the fact that he drinks a cup of milk each day without issues. This is major.
He has been such a trooper throughout this and is very excited at the idea of trying cheese.
Many thanks to the following, without whom/which we could not have done this:
MY PARENTS!!!! For being supportive and encouraging and most importantly for watching Valley girl on Friday mornings while we were at his appointments. And for letting us crash at their house every Thursday night – and some Fridays. And feeding us. And basically just being the best parents ever.
The Davis Library. For the amazing book on cd selection which enabled me to make it through months and months of OIT appointments without an iPad.
NPR’s Wow in the World podcast.
Highlights magazine.
Starbucks stir sticks (which served as drumsticks) week in and week out.
The entire staff at Columbia Asthma and Allergy. They are sweet and attentive and I really feel like he is so safe in their care.
LAST DOSE!!!
Amazing.
We drove home after picking V up at my parents’ house. Neither had napped so I expected they would both crash as soon as I set off but P was SO into the wow in the world podcasts that he stayed up the entire ride home listening to them one after the other. We have even repeated the kissing fish one a few times and he still doesn’t care. I highly recommend them for anyone with 4+ year olds. It’s targeted to kids a little older than P but he still enjoys them immensely and whenever I quiz him on the facts at the end of the episode he can answer any question I throw at him!! Guy Raz’ even makes me stay tuned, so I definitely get the allure. Plus, who doesn’t like learning random scientific facts!? V slept the whole way. 😉
Snack time!
Happy graduation day. We will be celebrating with a family trip to play mini golf on Sunday.
What does this mean in regards to P’s allergy status now? I know that he still has quite a few … will the ability to drink milk allow him to participate in more things without the worry of getting sick? Sorry … I don’t have many allergies and none are food related.
He still has a milk allergy, but because he is “desensitized” through the OIT protocol, he can safely consume milk now as long as continues to take his maintenance dose. There are times when he may have to down dose (illness) but for the most part, he should be able to keep that protective desensitization for the rest of his life. I admit, it’s annoying to have to deal with the hassle of having 1/2 cup of whole milk on hand every 12 hours (leaves little room for spontaneity in his life), but the payoff (eating whatever he wants without worrying about having a reaction from cross contamination or unknown exposure) is so so worth it. We are doing peanut next, which is the only allergy he has left! Before we start in on that one, though, waking a few weeks off to relax. All the commuting is definitely hard on the whole family. Fingers crossed that peanut goes as well as dairy. it’s definitely terrifying knowing peanut is the one he has had anaphylaxis to, but I am trusting the medical staff to keep him safe.
Congrats to all of you! Woooohooooo! And free eating?! Amaze!
Mason is in peanut OIT right now and while free eating might not be at the finish line, that small amount of safety net is just everything – isn’t it?!
So happy for you guys. High fives to P!
Congratulations!!!! I feel the overwhelming joy and yet the enormous responsibility you feel because this is your child/ love of your life!!! This is a major milestone so allow your family to bask in it and look forward to hopefully more of the same success as you move forward on this journey. I am so fond of you even though we don’t really know each other. I am overjoyed for P and exhausted for you. I wish your family so many, many years of health, love and happiness. ❤️😎
Completely! 100% Our MD doesn’t aim to get to “free eating” with peanut OIT. Just “bite proof” but that’s a long way off…like you said, even a TEENY bit of a safety net will be a huge relief for things like travel, etc. How far along is he?? How long have you guys been doing it? This is the first allergy you have tackled right?
This is SO amazing! Hooray for science!
Congratulations to P and your entire family! You worked hard to find this therapy option for him, so I’m so glad it’s paying off!
Yep, peanut is our first. Hoping for sesame next and crossing fingers his tree nut ige will lessen on their own because the maintenance for those is brutal. He passed an almond challenge this year which has been amazing!
He started maybe 6 weeks ago, but our doc only updoses every other week to minimize the reaction risk. He’s up to 12 mg of peanut but we may progress a little faster. He failed a peanut challenge at 1.5 tsp of peanut butter so they think his threshold may be a little higher.
Seriously so pumped for you guys! Mason outgrew dairy at age 2.5 but that one (also sesame) was the toughest to avoid outside of our own home. Hope this opens up a lot of options for you!
So cool that he passed the tree nut challenge! What was it and how much? I agree dairy is a huge life changer. I feel like we may go super slow with peanut (every other week updosing) because I’m still so nervous.