Over the past 2 days we travelled back to Knoxville/Maryville, TN to see Dr. Barry Sunshine for Benjamin's allergy and health issues. It was a productive visit and I am hopeful that we have put together a few more pieces to the puzzle of Benjamin's health.
We have spent the last month testing, observing, journaling, backtracking, and just generally trying to get our bearings on the status of Benjamin's new level of health. It has been an exciting month of new experiences and successes, but also an exhausting one. It has been a long time since I have felt the daily anxiety of not being a knowledgeable expert on his care, but with so many changes to his status quo I have definitely engaged in a lot of guesswork and close scrutiny over the last 5 weeks.
We had a few minor complications over the last few weeks, mostly episodes of wheezing or shortness of breath, which were easily remedied by the use of his inhaler. My main concern with breathing issues has always been to figure out where they are coming from (so we can avoid triggers and medicate less), but this time it was especially important to me to determine what was causing these reactions so I could capture a sample of the allergen which would enable Dr. Barry to actually deal with it. Thursday and Friday I really felt like my vigilance paid off. I was encouraged that most of the environments I created samples for (Chick-Fil-A, dust from our vacuum cleaner, etc.) did actually show as allergens and he was able to fix them. I know I wasn't able to capture everything (for example the grass I collected from our yard was not an allergen, but I know he is bothered by something when he goes to play outside), but I think we should have a better month.
All of the food reactions he has had this month have been minor, but because I have been hyper-vigilant I did bring in some foods I suspected based on small observations like red spots on his cheeks, possible slight swelling of his eyelids or mild wheezing. Almost all of them did actually create a reaction. Things like brown rice, a waffle, and the sandwich he eats every Wednesday night before we go to church all caused reactions. The interesting thing about these foods was that when combined with an enzyme in his saliva (amylase), the chemical reaction between the two actually created the allergen. This was a different issue than had been treated last time and, in fact, Dr. Barry said this was a new pattern he had discovered since our last visit. Almost all of the remaining food issues we discovered were due to this reaction between the amylase in his saliva and the food itself. That is so fascinating to me! Just a couple of days prior we had tested peanuts for the first time. As Dr. Barry instructed me, I approached it very cautiously, first applying peanut butter to his finger and, when this caused no redness, swelling, or itching, to his cheek, then to his lip. Each of these tests was completely symptom free, so I finally put a tiny smear on his tongue. Within a minute he had symptoms of a reaction - sore throat, itchy mouth - what he calls, "that milk feeling." Thankfully the treatment plan I have used before for milk worked and nothing more serious happened. When Dr. Barry tested peanut butter the pattern that displayed was this same amylase reaction, which makes perfect sense considering it wasn't until the peanut butter had contact with his saliva that it caused a problem. So he was able to fix all these patterns.
Besides peanuts, the only other allergy I knew was still present was milk. The pattern he discovered for milk was due to another enzyme, gastrin, which is released in your body when you even think about food. He treated this pattern Thursday and that evening we gave Benjamin some bread that had milk as an ingredient and even spread it with a little bit of real butter. I made him take it slowly with a minute or two between bites, but he handled it just fine. Later in the evening I gave him a small slice of cheese, to which, again, he had no visible reaction. In the morning I tested a dab of milk on his lip, as I had earlier in the month. In the earlier test he reported that the dab made his lips feel funny and that the feeling gradually spread inside his mouth. This time he felt nothing. A little while later I even had him take a small sip of milk, wanting to try to draw out any reaction that might occur before our Friday morning appointment. Nothing happened. Friday morning he did re-test the gastrin/milk combination and found that it was still present (he called it "stubborn"), and so he re-treated it, but it seems obvious to me that it was releasing its hold since I couldn't detect any physical reaction to all the various forms of milk he had ingested in the past 18 hours. We have continued to give him small amounts of dairy yesterday and this morning and have not seen any symptoms!
In addition to the allergies, I also decided to mention some of Benj's other quirky issues to Dr. Barry to see if he thought any of them were related or treatable. One of the major issues I have been concerned about for the past year has been stammering. He has always had a bit of an issue with this, but recently it has become much more pronounced (as well as less age-appropriate). I feel quite certain that this issue for him is not one of mechanics or ability, but rather related to concentration and focus. He suggested several possible remedies: first, the vast improvement to his overall health will help with some of these issues of "spacing out;" second, an addition of a high quality fish oil supplement to his daily regimen will help brain function; and third, he suggested and we completed a laser therapy treatment which he thought may help to stimulate the language areas of his brain. He also recommended the laser therapy to possibly help with an occasional issue he has with eye crossing. (The basic procedure was that they scanned a laser back and forth along certain areas of his head while he talked and also moved his eyes around for about 5 minutes per area.) I'm anxious to see if the laser treatments help!
We have spent the last month testing, observing, journaling, backtracking, and just generally trying to get our bearings on the status of Benjamin's new level of health. It has been an exciting month of new experiences and successes, but also an exhausting one. It has been a long time since I have felt the daily anxiety of not being a knowledgeable expert on his care, but with so many changes to his status quo I have definitely engaged in a lot of guesswork and close scrutiny over the last 5 weeks.
We had a few minor complications over the last few weeks, mostly episodes of wheezing or shortness of breath, which were easily remedied by the use of his inhaler. My main concern with breathing issues has always been to figure out where they are coming from (so we can avoid triggers and medicate less), but this time it was especially important to me to determine what was causing these reactions so I could capture a sample of the allergen which would enable Dr. Barry to actually deal with it. Thursday and Friday I really felt like my vigilance paid off. I was encouraged that most of the environments I created samples for (Chick-Fil-A, dust from our vacuum cleaner, etc.) did actually show as allergens and he was able to fix them. I know I wasn't able to capture everything (for example the grass I collected from our yard was not an allergen, but I know he is bothered by something when he goes to play outside), but I think we should have a better month.
All of the food reactions he has had this month have been minor, but because I have been hyper-vigilant I did bring in some foods I suspected based on small observations like red spots on his cheeks, possible slight swelling of his eyelids or mild wheezing. Almost all of them did actually create a reaction. Things like brown rice, a waffle, and the sandwich he eats every Wednesday night before we go to church all caused reactions. The interesting thing about these foods was that when combined with an enzyme in his saliva (amylase), the chemical reaction between the two actually created the allergen. This was a different issue than had been treated last time and, in fact, Dr. Barry said this was a new pattern he had discovered since our last visit. Almost all of the remaining food issues we discovered were due to this reaction between the amylase in his saliva and the food itself. That is so fascinating to me! Just a couple of days prior we had tested peanuts for the first time. As Dr. Barry instructed me, I approached it very cautiously, first applying peanut butter to his finger and, when this caused no redness, swelling, or itching, to his cheek, then to his lip. Each of these tests was completely symptom free, so I finally put a tiny smear on his tongue. Within a minute he had symptoms of a reaction - sore throat, itchy mouth - what he calls, "that milk feeling." Thankfully the treatment plan I have used before for milk worked and nothing more serious happened. When Dr. Barry tested peanut butter the pattern that displayed was this same amylase reaction, which makes perfect sense considering it wasn't until the peanut butter had contact with his saliva that it caused a problem. So he was able to fix all these patterns.
Besides peanuts, the only other allergy I knew was still present was milk. The pattern he discovered for milk was due to another enzyme, gastrin, which is released in your body when you even think about food. He treated this pattern Thursday and that evening we gave Benjamin some bread that had milk as an ingredient and even spread it with a little bit of real butter. I made him take it slowly with a minute or two between bites, but he handled it just fine. Later in the evening I gave him a small slice of cheese, to which, again, he had no visible reaction. In the morning I tested a dab of milk on his lip, as I had earlier in the month. In the earlier test he reported that the dab made his lips feel funny and that the feeling gradually spread inside his mouth. This time he felt nothing. A little while later I even had him take a small sip of milk, wanting to try to draw out any reaction that might occur before our Friday morning appointment. Nothing happened. Friday morning he did re-test the gastrin/milk combination and found that it was still present (he called it "stubborn"), and so he re-treated it, but it seems obvious to me that it was releasing its hold since I couldn't detect any physical reaction to all the various forms of milk he had ingested in the past 18 hours. We have continued to give him small amounts of dairy yesterday and this morning and have not seen any symptoms!
In addition to the allergies, I also decided to mention some of Benj's other quirky issues to Dr. Barry to see if he thought any of them were related or treatable. One of the major issues I have been concerned about for the past year has been stammering. He has always had a bit of an issue with this, but recently it has become much more pronounced (as well as less age-appropriate). I feel quite certain that this issue for him is not one of mechanics or ability, but rather related to concentration and focus. He suggested several possible remedies: first, the vast improvement to his overall health will help with some of these issues of "spacing out;" second, an addition of a high quality fish oil supplement to his daily regimen will help brain function; and third, he suggested and we completed a laser therapy treatment which he thought may help to stimulate the language areas of his brain. He also recommended the laser therapy to possibly help with an occasional issue he has with eye crossing. (The basic procedure was that they scanned a laser back and forth along certain areas of his head while he talked and also moved his eyes around for about 5 minutes per area.) I'm anxious to see if the laser treatments help!
Seth was also treated for his environmental allergies. He was allergic to pretty much everything Dr. Barry tested him for, but he said after his appointment he did feel different, but it's obviously going to be a process to see any improvements in his symptoms. It will be interesting to see how this spring affects him.
We are so thankful for all the support, help, and encouragement we have received through this process and we continue to give thanks and glory to The Healer who is answering our prayers and bringing healing!
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