Blood test results

Last night we received Kalie's results from the blood tests she took that were to determine her food sensitivities.  I was so eager to read them, but I wish I hadn't been.  Shortly after I read them I received an email from our nutritionist, Amy, with details about foods and meal plans.  I was immediately overwhelmed, and kind of confused.  I didn't think about it too much because I knew we were going to meet with Amy (via Skype) the next morning and that she would be able to explain things better. 

 

So we're all on the same page- the food sensitivities are determined so we can eliminate certain foods and understand better what she's eating and how it's affecting her brain. She starts on a 30 day elimination diet and gradually gets to add a food.  By gradually, I mean one food a week.  After those are brought back we have to monitor her and be on the look out for any symptoms she might have been having before (constipation, fatigue, hard time concentrating, etc.).  If she does have them again, we have to eliminate them completely. 

 

We met with Amy and discussed the results.  On the result sheet it is color coded by groups of tolerances.  Severe, Moderate, Mild, and Acceptable.  On the severe list is banana, beef, corn, egg white, and yellow squash.  On the moderate list is almond, asparagus, avocado, basil, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, clam, coconut, mustard and vanilla.  On the mild list is apple, brewers yeast, garlic, grape, green pea, orange, peanut, pecan, psyllium, salmon, sesame, tomato and white potato.  

SO, anything on the severe and moderate we have to eliminate completely for these 30 days.  Then after those 30 days are over we can add one food a week.  There are 16 foods on those lists. That's another two months of adding and taking away food.

The foods on the mild list she can have twice a week and not the same one each time. 

She also has a mild reaction to candida (cane sugar, fructose, and honey), gluten (barley, rye, wheat, malt), and casein (cows milk, goats milk).  Because she wasn't having something sugary or with fructose in it everyday we can give that group to her twice a week as well.  The gluten and casein are things she was having everyday, so we have to cut them out completely.  Add all the things that fall in these groups and I'd say we have 6 months of this fun diet.

 

She still has tons she can have, which is good, but the part that freaks me out is the gluten free, dairy free.  It is completely overwhelming to me, especially as a baker.  How am I going to do this?  She can't have milk, yogurt, cheese.  She loves these things.  She can't have regular bread, crackers, cereal, muffins, donuts, cakes, CUPCAKES!  I have to find gluten free stuff, but here's where it gets tricky.  Remember the severe and moderate list?  Corn, egg whites and vanilla are on there.  A lot of gluten free things have corn in them so I have to read  gluten free (GF) labels double carefully now.  So in terms of baked goods...not only do they have to be GF, they also have to be egg free (EF) and dairy free (DF) (remember she has to cut out casein?).  Since she can't have vanilla, no flavoring cookies and such.  Well in my research looking for substitutes for eggs I found that you can use BANANAS.  Cool. Oh wait, that was number one on her severe list.  This is going to be tricky.

 

But wait just a second, there's more. Are you still with me?  or are you bored?  Within her 30 day elimination diet, we have to do a 4 day rotation of food.  Her nutritionist came up with a meal plan for each of those 4 days and she can't have anything from day 1 until day 5.  Make sense? Now, Amy told us that we shouldn't stress so much about the 4 day rotation because she knows sometimes its just not realistic for some families but our most high priority is that we keep Kalive GF, DF and stay away from the severe and moderate foods. I had a complete meltdown thinking about this.  I just started crying.  When my husband asked what was making me upset all I could say is "everything."  It's hard to explain.  I just feel so much stress right now and you know that song "Journey To The Past," from the movie Anastasia?

 

 Heart don't fail me now
Courage don't desert me, don't turn back now that we're here
People always say life is full of choices
No one ever mentions fear
or how the road can seem so long

 

That kind of sums up how I feel.  I know that we can't turn back, but I'm scared and fearful.  I have to be in charge of what she eats and I don't want to mess it up. Add on finding things that she will actually like and that taste good, taking special snacks for her to school (which means I have to talk to Ms. B who I try to avoid), all her exercises and school work. Suddenly I feel so much pressure.  Forgive me for rambling on.  There are a million things going on in my head on the daily and this has helped me to get a little out, to have in front of me what's really happening. I know it will take time and obviously we don't have to be perfect at it right away, it just seems a little daunting to me and I'm the kind of person that likes to have things mapped out in my head.  Wish us luck, we're gonna need it!