My son Sahil completed the updosing phase of peanut OIT in October 2017 when he was 13 years old. He has been in the maintenance phase for 2 years! His very first dose was 1/1000th of a peanut given in solution form; The amount was increased gradually by his allergist over almost 8 months until …
Food Allergy Awareness Presentation
My eldest child was diagnosed with a life threatening peanut allergy over 13 years ago. As time passed we added more allergens to that list. By the time my third child was 1 year old we were avoiding milk, egg, soy, peanuts and tree nuts. Thankfully, due to oral immunotherapy and passed oral food challenges…
Crushing the Peanut (sort of)
This past Wednesday Jaya and I went to see her allergist in Burlington for a peanut challenge. It’s her fourth oral food challenge since last year: July 30 2018 – Skin Test for peanut, individual tree nuts, cow’s milk and egg. August 29 2018 – Passed Almond challenge September 24 2018 – Passed Walnut…
Southern Nights
This past March break we went on our first family holiday outside of Canada since 2012. We stayed in a condo with a kitchen on the island of Key Biscayne, a 20 minute drive from Miami. I wrote part of this while we were away… Southern nights Have you ever felt a southern night? Free…
When Maintenance is Freedom
OIT update – April 2019 My 15 year old son Sahil is currently in the maintenance phase of a food allergy treatment called oral immunotherapy (OIT). He has been eating two peanuts (2 grams) daily since October 2017. The daily dose is necessary to maintain the desensitization to peanuts. Because he ingests 2 peanuts…
One Step at a Time
At the end of August, my youngest daughter Jaya successfully passed an oral food challenge for almonds. Since then, I have been giving her almond milk regularly and she seems to be tolerating it. Late last month, we returned to her allergist for a second oral food challenge – this time for walnuts. I bought…
Our Journey Continues
If you’ve been following us on our journey you will know that my son Sahil is starting high school this September with less allergies than when I started writing this blog. Sahil is still allergic to peanuts but he eats 2 peanuts a day since he completed peanut oral immunotherapy in October 2017. He has…
Burlington- Where Skies are Blue
Sahil and I returned to Burlington today for his soy challenge. History: Sahil – nutfree since age 2 – ate soy until he was six years old. In 2010, he reacted to soy and his allergy was confirmed with a skin prick test. He has been diligently avoiding soy for the past eight years. For…
Better Living Conditions
Today we returned to Dr Mack for a follow up appointment to check in on Sahil’s progress with peanut oral immunotherapy. Sahil reached his maintenance dose of 2 peanuts in October 2017. To put that in to perspective – he started with a dose equivalent to 1/1000th of a peanut in February 2017. Since October,…
The Challenges Continue
I never sleep well the night before an oral food challenge and last night was no different. So this morning, after a sleepless night, Sahil and I left for Burlington at 8 am and got there just in time for his 9 am appointment. It was the same a few weeks ago when he did…
Our Allergic Life 