Track Fifteen: It’s Been Awhile and Appointment #5

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I last wrote. Time is racing past me this year! In terms of Eli’s treatment, school has been a big adjustment. 

Eli is required to eat a large amount of food every morning as a part of his maintenance and conditioning his body for the eventual introduction of his anaphylactic allergens. The first few days of getting up and making sure he had enough time to eat all he is required to eat, meant some tense moments in the normally pretty calm Fitzhugh household. Two months in and we are adjusted, eating all of the maintenance with plenty of time to get to school! When we get home from school, he immediately begins his dosing protocol, this takes about an hour and half, give or take fifteen minutes on either end. It seems to be working well for us, but it has been a learning curve working out when/how/ if he can do things after school. It is possible, it just takes a lot of maneuvering. 

I’ve been busier than I thought with The Young Artist’s Club, although I think because I am a volunteer director, I tend to think of it as not having a job, when in reality, I spend about the same amount of hours as I would if I worked (just with a lot more flexibility!). 

Eli spent the 10 weeks between August and mid- October dosing quail egg yolk and almonds. When we went to his appointment for the challenge, he passed them both with no problem. Most of the foods he passes in his food challenges are “capped” meaning he can only have the amount of the food they tell us he must eat for maintenance. However, sometimes foods are “uncapped” meaning he does have to eat the maintenance amount but he is also free to eat the food in any amount he wants. It was a nice surprise to learn that almonds are now an “uncapped” food. They gave us a list of the brands that don’t have cross contact, and we’ve been enjoying having almonds in the house again. 

On the trip he had two food introductions for his next dosing cycle: denatured (boiled) donkey’s milk and macadamia nut.  He was able to tolerate both and we are now dosing him on these foods every afternoon in increasing amounts each week until his next appointment.

Enjoy some pics from our trip below!