Friday, August 8, 2008

Check back with me in 12 months...

A question I get a lot from well-meaning friends and relatives is “How are Bryan’s food allergies doing- are they getting any better?” It’s a question that I find considerate and frustrating at the same time. Considerate because it’s nice that they are concerned for Bryan’s health. Frustrating because I really can’t answer the question very well. Food allergies unfortunately aren’t something that you can see day-to-day (or even month-to-month) improvement on. Since we very strictly avoid all of his allergens (as well as a few others for good measure), just because he hasn’t had a reaction in the last few months doesn’t necessarily mean his condition is improving- it just means that he hasn’t had any eggs, milk, or peanuts in that time. The only way we can tell for sure how his allergies are doing is through testing, and we only see his allergist every 12 months. And even then, tests can’t necessarily tell us “how” allergic he is (how severe his reactions could be)- they just tell us how likely he is to be allergic to the various allergens.

All of that to say- Bryan had an appointment with his allergist yesterday. He is still allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. (See the next post for more details.) Check back with me in 12 months...

1 comment:

Sunshine Eyes said...

I'm afraid that I've asked that frustrating question over the years. I see how that could be relatively maddening - thanks for always responding kindly. We love you guys and Bryan and I do pray his condition improves - over time!!