Itchy, irritated face continues

Today was another day of an itchy irritated face. It might have been slightly improved from yesterday, but nothing to get excited about. I contact Dr. Wood's office, and they told me that eczema flares up when the immune system is triggered. Owen had a high fever on Sunday and Monday, and it triggered the eczema. They told me to keep him cool, bath frequently to clean off sweat, moisturize with aquaphor, and use prescription cream as needed.

I got approval to give Owen Jello. I was concerned about the gelatin ingredient, but I was told that Jello's gelatin comes from cows or pigs. Apparently, gelatin can also come from fish. I am going to make Jello tomorrow, and give it a try. Hopefully we will be able to eat soy soon, and that will open up a lot of opportunities for desserts.

I was reading a bunch of blogs about kids with food allergies. It started with Doug reading me a story from mykidshavefoodallergies.blogspot.com. The story he read me made me cry, and not just a little. I sobbed. The mom has 2 kids- Owen and Max. Over the past 5 months they have been undergoing food challenges, and have failed them all. I decided that I am just going to decide that it will take 20 years to outgrow the allergies, so that I don't get so disappointed with all the ups and downs that food allergies bring. Sometimes skin tests and blood test results can get your hopes up, only to be crushed by a food challenge that goes wrong. Food challenges are not fun. You eat a small bit of food, and then wait for 20 minutes to see what happens. If you tolerate it, they give you a slight bit more, and then you wait again. You need a lot of patience. And then when you fail, they load you up with Benadryl so you are exhausted and are very disappointed. I do not look forward to these events. We already have been through a wheat challenge, and Owen failed within 5 minutes after they put a dab of cream of wheat on his cheek. So I guess if you are going to fail, it is best to fail up front, just so the anxiety does not drag out.