Ben was supposed to get his test results last week but his doctor had to leave town for a funeral and so we just got in to see her today. The good news: allergic to gluten but no celiac disease. And his peanut allergy is not life-threatening so we don't have to carry an epipen around.
But she had tested him for casein because of some irregularities when she tested milk and cheese. (We have known he was sensitive to these things.) Turns out he is very allergic to casein, which is in milk, cheese and other things. He hung his head and cried when she told us. She suspects a genetic cause which is harder to treat but we are going to try some biofeedback (ondamed) treatment over the next couple of months.
I had planned to take him to lunch afterward and my mind was overwhelmed at figuring out where and what he could eat. I told him I would buy him one last lunch with dairy (gluten-free mac'n'cheese). "No, Mom, I don't think that's a good idea," was his response. He then told me he would grow faster, be stronger, and feel better if he gave up dairy starting now. So we moved our date to the natural food store and found a bunch of really weird alternatives to try. Pea cheese anyone?
6 comments:
Really glad to hear that it's not celiac disease and anaphylatic shock that he/you will have to deal with. Wow. He's a trooper for giving up his "last" dairy meal too!
So some folks I know who couldn't do regular milk were fine with raw dairy....but then there are plenty who can't have cow dairy period.
Can he have sheep dairy? I've developed a love for sheep yogurt. (weird, I know). And there are some fabulous sheep cheeses (waaay better than goat in my opinion).
Otherwise, I've had success subbing canned coconut milk for regular cow milk. I have a friend who loves almond milk. Oh, and I found some pretty good pudding at our local supermarket that was made with a mix of almond and coconut milk. Was gluten free and not too expensive either. A nice treat.
I'm happy to talk more on this if you want. :-) Shoot me an email!
Oh Abs...We need to catch up. Sadly, Ben is allergic to casein which is in sheep/goat, even rice cheese. :( He's also allergic to all nuts. We can do rice milk, but the doctor suggests hemp and coconut because rice is high in sugar. I'm so tired thinking about it tonight but I know this can be done.
Thanks for your support!
Ugh. Glad it's not worse, sorry it's not better. Good luck finding things that work. (Coconut milk/ice cream sounds pretty good!)
Ben is such a great kid. And so very smart. You all will handle this.
Don't let it overwhelm you. I'll see what my sis has to say.
Judy
Daiya cheese is casein-, gluten-, soy- and nut- free, and isn't half bad as fake cheese goes.
Dana-I'm really surprised at how good Daiya is...Ben really likes it.
Post a Comment