The end of the year is here and so is busy time, with work, holiday shopping, parties, and trying to take some personal time to unwind, relax, and reflect on the year.  With that, I’m about three weeks behind on “present state.”

To catch you up, we had to take Dean into the allergist for his flu shot this year.  I didn’t even know if he could have one.  Last year, he had one before we knew about his egg allergy and that shot has now likely been his only egg exposure (you typically don’t experience an allergic response your first exposure).  His allergist said he could have one, and recommended it, since the amount of egg protein is so small but that she had to administer it in her office vs. a pediatrician’s and indicated we had to wait the full 30 minutes afterward to ensure no reaction.  Thankfully, he received it with no issue…well, minus that shot part!

Since we were in anyway, we had him tested for the items that were currently on our watch list.  She performed a prick test followed by a blood test to check the suspected allergens.  We’re getting into more uncommon ones now so two of them (avocado and black beans) had to be sent to the Mayo Clinic for testing.  Who knew?!  At the same time, contrary to my knowledge, I asked her about other gluten options.  Seeing as we know he’s anaphylactic to wheat, I inaccurately had assumed this whole time that he had to avoid all gluten (barley and rye) but she explained that food allergies don’t work the same way intolerances or sensitivities do, like celiac disease.  Someone can be allergic to wheat but be totally fine with barley and rye.  I was excited to learn this and of course, had her test him for barley and rye then.  Anything to open up our diet options would be fantastic news!

Unfortunately, Dean failed every one.  We already suspected all of them, hence why they were on our watch list and had eliminated most of them while waiting for test results to confirm; therefore, it actually wasn’t that heartbreaking this time to hear.

So, we’ve officially added the following (in bold) to the list of items we already knew.  It’s getting so long, I actually have to check a list sometimes because I can’t remember them all.

Avocado, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, beans (ex: black, kidney, white), gluten (wheat, barley, rye), eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, peas, lentils.

At this point, it’s easier to write that he’s just allergic to all legumes other than soy, green beans, and lima beans.  All other legumes are off the table.

The sunflower seed one has me a little stumped.  I’m finally hitting a territory I don’t know much about.  In terms of sunflower oil (which is often a component of vegetable oil), most people who are allergic can tolerate highly refined oils which appear light in color and are often used for frying.  Most of the protein is removed so people are usually OK with it.  If they are cold-pressed, the appearance is darker and more cloudy because the protein remains and those usually don’t work.  Unfortunately, most items just list “sunflower oil” as an ingredient, not the processing method, so we are gambling a little every time we decide whether to try something with sunflower oil or not.  Ironically, the week we found out, we were roasting sunchokes for dinner, the tuber (kind of like the root) of the sunflower plant.  She thought it would be OK but we opted not to feed them to him.  I’m concerned about safflower oil as well since they’re relatives, another possible component of vegetable oil.  Once you get into the oils, this adds a whole other level of complexity in terms of dining out.  To date, Dean’s only ever eaten in a restaurant four times in his life, and he’s never had take-out.  This one also sucks because many of the companies that specialize in allergen-free friendly foods use sunbutter and sunflower seeds as a binder, such as one of the only granola bars he can eat and of course, sunbutter, a nice replacement for peanut butter.  We’re beginning to run out of options for any semblance of grab-and-go or eat-on-the-go convenience foods.  One of the only breads we can find that is egg-free and peanut/nut-free with gluten-free whole grains also has sunflower oil in it.  We haven’t tried it since going sunflower seed-free yet.

And, of course, eliminating avocado and chickpeas/beans just limits us further in what we can feed him in terms of healthy fat and protein sources.  Bummer!

I was hoping we were finishing the end of Dean’s allergen list but unfortunately, that’s not the case.  It’s a bummer but what can you do about it really.  I guess that’s just the way it goes…or…just the way the list grows.