It Does A Body Good

Well, after three years, we are now (knock on wood) and allergy free family. Reeves had his milk challenge last Tuesday and passed with flying colors. Over the course of four hours, he consumed about two cups of milk. First they pricked his arm, then rubbed on the cheek, then rubbed on the lips, then the tongue, then he was finally able to actually imbibe some, in increasing amounts every ten minutes, of course, always looking to see if he started breaking out. It wasn't the easiest allergy challenge because towards the end, he wasn't the easiest child. I had to do some transitional breathing and make some outrageous promises to get him to drink, in a timely manner, the last few cups. Needless to say, we walked out of there with a lot of lollipops and enough stickers to cover his entire body. Truly though, for the most part he was an angel patient. He played with the toys in the room (luckily there were some dinosaurs and legos), and in the third hour, when the toy fascination wore off, he was content to sit and watch a Tom and Jerry video. I was so proud of him (other than those few moments when I was ready to sell him on ebay).

So now we're working on drinking "cow's milk". Unfortunately, who knew?, he doesn't really like it. The first time I gave it to him at home, he handed his cup back to be and told me the milk was old. He still isn't crazy about it, but luckily, the Hershey's chocolate seems to mask the "old" taste of it. He is, however, loving all other things dairy. He always wants cheese on his sammies now. He picked up the box of Cheezits, proudly took it to Bryant, and told him he could eat these now. I can't wait for him to try a milkshake and goldfish.

We went to a birthday party yesterday, and it was unbelievable how much more relaxing it was now that we don't have to inspect everything before he eats it. The freedom is amazing. I had only imagined how wonderful it would be to drop him off at the nursery or school without having to put a "MILK ALLERGY - NO GOLDFISH" sticker on his back. I am so happy for him. And for everyone else who no longer has to worry about whether he accidentally gets something with milk in it while he is in their care. We're all breathing a heavy sigh of relief. And the other good news is that Bennett doesn't show any signs of a milk allergy, so neither boy has to watch his brother eat something he can't. Yeah! One less sibling quarrel we have to deal with!