Ah, Gluten

Mike and I took a wonderful marvelous little getaway to the Columbia River Gorge. We relish time to ourselves and even though we can only go for a day or two right now, we really enjoyed the peace. My mom stayed with the kids. She looked pretty tired when we came home yesterday. We know.

Mike had given me a Groupon to the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel and it included a wine-tasting passport which allows you to visit the area's wineries and taste for free. Mike kept track of mileage and I took photos and I will do a write-up because it was a really fun experience and, oh, if I do, I can write off my expenses. (Smile.)

We came home yesterday and today Ben and I went to see his allergist. He hasn't been to see her in 3 1/2 years and because his health hasn't been as demanding and we have added another child, we have let some things go. But he actually asked to go see her a few months ago and when he asked a second time, I knew we had to go in. He's started to realize that not everyone feels bad after they eat and not everyone is covered in eczema.

I was hoping to find some of his allergies had gone away but no...he's still allergic to soy, strawberries and nuts. And this time, he tested intolerant of gluten. She is concerned that he hasn't grown much (42 lbs at 8) and that he could have celiac disease in which gluten prevents the body from using nutrients well. So he has to follow up with a blood test. She is also worried that we've never seen his peanut reaction, which could be mild or severe. A blood test will give us more detail on whether or not we need an epipen again. We also think it is time to test shellfish. This requires eating it once, since the body doesn't reject it the first time. It forms antibodies and then rejects it the second time. So somehow I get to work that into our diet before the blood test so it will pick that up.

Ben is more upset he has to have a blood draw than that he is going off gluten for now. I'm going gluten free with him for at least three weeks and we will all move toward less gluten foods to make it easier for him.

The happy news is that he can still eat dairy. And that in the scheme of all the things that could be wrong with him, allergies are not that bad. He's a blessing to our lives and we hope this will help him live life to its fullest.