Callum has been dealing with his allergies incredibly well since a young age. He has learnt to live with them, probably better than most, because it has been such a difficult journey for him to get to where he is today.
Let's face it, living with allergies is beyond hard going, it's a rubbish situation to be in, and you have to deal with the constant pain/ discomfort that they bring, especially if eczema is involved as well. On top of that, Callum has to put up with seeing everyone constantly enjoying foods he can't go near.
Now, anyone who knows me, will know that I will create a substitute which is close as possible to taste, look and feel of a food he can't have.
An example of how astute Callum is: I made some cakes for a business meeting the other day, a classic Victoria sponge, and a chocolate cake. Callum adores cake, especially mummy's special cakes made just for him! These cakes, were not made with allergies in mind, as they didn't need to be.
Callum's response to seeing the cakes come out of the oven 'can't eat them mummy, got egg in, make mine poorly'. He's 2! And he already knows what is and isn't safe for him! Astounding!!
So, for any one who regularly reads this blog knows, we face a constant battle with foods for Callum. There's a lot of things we need to avoid just to keep him well:
- All dairy
- Egg
- Tomato
- Citrus fruit
- Kiwi
- Strawberry
but it seems as if we may now have another one to add to the list! Sweetcorn! Yep, that innocent looking, sweet tasting vegetable, seems to be the culprit of the latest round of eczema flare up! God knows how I'm going to 'substitute' this one....!!!
Previously he has eaten it, and 'seemed' fine.
Definitely not any more!
When dealing with allergies, you are clued up to the signs to look out for incase of reaction. The classic signs, reflux style symptoms, loose/very loose stools, discomfort, rash/ eczema flaring.....! Well, that's been Callum over the past couple of weeks. I only twigged what was causing the problem because of the violent reaction he got!
During the food shop a couple of weeks ago, mini corn-on-the-cob was on special offer, bogof! Great I thought, nice and healthy for the kids, I'll do jacket potatoes and some grilled chicken to go with it, and some side salad. They loved it, wolfed it down!
Fast forward to 1am, and Callum had me up til gone 4am, in pain 'sore mummy, mine itchy, mine tummy sore'. Finally calmed him down, and got about 2hrs sleep, and then I get woken up to Callum screaming.
He had pooed.
But this wasn't just any poo, oh no, this was exploded absolutely bleeding everywhere, all over the pyjamas, needing scraping off the legs, seeped onto the cot sheets and blanket type of poo!
Off to the bathroom we went, instant bath, peeled everything off, washing machine on boil cycle......
Then came the extreme eczema flare up, top end steroids came out, slapped on, constant creaming etc to try to control.
No more nasty nappies for a few days..... until I gave the kids the mini corn-on-the-cob with their dinner again 3 days later.
Guess what happened at 1am again.... yup, awake and sore, uncomfortable etc, etc.
Then guess what happened at 8am, right as we're walking out the door for the school and work run.......! Oh yes, that was timed to perfection!!
My only conclusion from this, absolutely no more sweetcorn for the little dude!!
When he has his appointment through for his repeat allergy testing, I will be asking for sweetcorn to be included, and I am certain it will be a positive result, based on his reactions!
It just goes to show, even when you think you've nailed it, and there can't possibly be any more allergies, it can sometimes, quite literally, bite you on the ass!
