Food Allergies? Sure, Why Not

The latest saga in the never ending medical drama "Aaron's Anatomy" is all about food allergies. As if having Celiac disease and being lactose intolerant weren't enough, for the past two + months we have been trying to figure out why Aaron has been getting sick every week or so.

We have come to the conclusion that a soy allergy/intolerance is to blame. Every time he drinks soy milk (which was the only thing he could drink other than water since he can't have regular milk) or eats anything with soy in it, he either vomits or screams with unbearable stomach pain.

Of course, similar to gluten, EVERYTHING has soy in it. Even half of the gluten free food we (used to) buy is made with soy flour, soy lecithin or some other derivitive of soy. So, Aaron's diet now consists of fruit, Chex cereal and the two kinds of gluten free crackers I have found that don't contain soy. Not exactly well balanced. He refuses to eat meat and most vegetables(although last night he ate chicken and broccoli - it was a miracle - and probably a one time thing) and won't take any of the dozens of vitamins I have tried to give him.

I am pretty much beside myself with stress about what the heck I am supposed to feed him now. To make it worse, he's three, very picky and doesn't understand why he can't eat what everyone else is eating. And putting the rest of the family on a gluten free, soy free, dairy free diet isn't exactly practical.

To add to the apparent entertainment of the medical ailment gods, we are going through allergy testing now and his test today showed that he may be allergic to peanuts and corn. WHAT THE H*!? It's not definite yet, so all I can do is pray that today's result was wrong. He doesn't like peanut butter anyway, so that one doesn't stress me out quite as much, but corn?!?! His grains were already limited to rice, potatoes and corn and if you take away corn - I really don't even want to think about it.

Alright, I'm done whining and complaining now. I will deal with it, just like I deal with everything else that gets thrown at us. But sometimes I just want to say - enough already!

Boo! I'm Back!

Now that I don't feel an obligation to blog every day, it's hard to keep up with it again. In my defense, we have had an incredibly busy (even for us!) couple of weeks. Halloween, Jacob's birthday, two doctor's appointments, Jacob's birthday party, a day in the ER for mom and our usual schedule of therapy four times a week.

We are also in the process of trying to find a respite provider for Aaron and who knew how much time that would take up! Once we got the hours approved, my phone started ringing with dozens of offers from companies that have respite providers available. So now we get to start the process of weeding through them all, interviewing and choosing the best person for us. Interviews start tomorrow - wish me luck!

Halloween was a lot of fun for all of us. Jacob has gotten into being "scary" this year and decided he wanted to be a vampire. It was an easy enough costume. I found a black cape with a red lining at Michael's and he wore a white button up shirt and black pants. To add to the effect, we painted his face white/gray and painted blood dripping down his chin. He wore one of the half dozen pairs of vampire teeth that he owns and was a happy camper. I must say, I think he made a pretty good vampire.

We went trick or treating with one of his good friends from school, Ethan. He and Ethan also happen to share the same birthday - and his parents are named Matt and Kristi. Same spelling and everything - crazy, I know. Aaron dressed as a pirate and we pushed him in the stroller around the neighborhood. We had planned to let him get out and walk to a few houses, but there were literally HUNDREDS of kids on just one street in our neighborhood and it was just too hectic. He had a great time just looking at everyone though. Jacob loaded his plastic pumpkin up in a little over an hour and we headed home. It was a bit crazy since it was a school night, but we all had fun and we'll have enough candy to last until next Halloween at least.

In an effort to keep this post from looking more like a novel, I will write about Jacob's birthday party and the rest of our week in a separate post!

Thank You!

October has come to an end and that means the end of Down Syndrome Awareness month and the end of the 31 for 21 blog challenge. Although I didn't quite manage to blog every single day this month, I hope you enjoyed following our family and learning a thing or two about Down Syndrome.

Just because the month is over doesn't mean I won't be blogging anymore of course and I hope you'll continue to read along.

Aaron has brought so much to our lives but the greatest gift he has given us is a new perspective on life. There is no way to really explain it adequately. He gave me the ability to see that the world is so much bigger than I had come to believe. That what is going on in my little world shouldn't consume me. That there are many, many people out there who are still discriminated against because of their "disabilities". That I can make a difference, even if I am just one person. If I make a difference in just one person, it is still a step forward. That I can take something that terrified me just three years ago and turn it into a passion that I will work tirelessly for. That even though people with Down Syndrome look a little different and learn a little differently, they absolutely deserve a chance at life and they make a positive difference in this world. I have no doubt that my little boy is going to grow up and do great things.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blogs and for supporting my family!