Ready for Takeoff

Makai was first diagosed with life threatening food allergies when he was just one year old. He had eczema as a baby and would break out in hives randomly some days, even though his only food was breastmilk. I wrote it off as dog and environmental allergies. But then another wave of breakouts began as we started introducing foods like yogurt, eggs, and cheese. Blood work from the pediatrician revealed a milk, egg, peanut and dog allergy. Since then we have had two anaphylactic reactions- one to a cashew and another to an accidental exposure to milk. Both instances could have cost him his life. Terrifying. I was told strict avoidance of these foods was the only “treatment”, but I was never willing to stop there. We cured his eczema with omega oils, we strengthened his gut with probiotics, we HAD to be able to cure his food allergies…right?!

Thanks to a dear friend whose daughter also has a life threatening food allergy, a private group on Facebook, and the internet, I learned about Dr. Inderpal Randhawa, a pediatric immunologist at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. This brave man helps kids every day overcome their food allergies by a method called OIT- oral immunotherapy. This means these kids are given a dose every day of their food that they are allergic to, slowly building tolerance, and eventually incorporating the food into the diet. I read the posts every day of the brave families that are undergoing this process, so I feel pretty well versed in this whole process already. I’m expecting this to take a year or two and will involve a lot of patience, hard work, discipline, and long doctors appointments.  We have been waiting for 4 months for our appointment with Dr. Randhawa and can hardly believe it’s almost here!! The emotions are running high, my heart races every time I think about it, yet I am so very hopeful that my Makai will be set free from the bondage and fear of food allergies! We know that the journey will not be easy or painless or even without some despair and doubt. But our eyes are fixed on the goal– that soon and very soon Makai will be able to walk into any ice cream shop or bakery and choose anything his little heart desires!! What an amazing day that will be…and we can hardly wait.