Allergies
Emma has been having episodes of coughing for several months, often has a runny nose, and other signs of allergies.
Once we were pretty sure that it was something chronic, and not just repeated colds and what not, we scheduled an allergy test, which Lisa just took Emma to this morning. (there was quite a wait list)
And… apparently… Emma is allergic to a LOT of things. 
Cat? Allergic. We figured this was going to be the case and we were prepared to have to get rid of the cat. Now it’s confirmed, the cat has to go, OK. Sucks, but not a big deal.
But… I had prepared myself for the cat, but didn’t think anything else was going to be an issue.
Wow, I was wrong.
Milk? Allergic.
So, we go with Soy?
No. She had a slight reaction to soy
So that means goat or rice milk.
So no (or very limited selection) milk, no yogurt, no cheese, etc… all of which Emma LOVES.
Then, it gets worse.
Wheat… allergic.
That’s bread and almost every other processed food under the sun! At least it seems that way. >_<
Bread, cereal, cookies, cereal bars, soups, sauces, stuffing, mustard, ketchup, deli meat, artificial color/flavours (pretty much in EVERYTHING), and the list goes on… all these things are off-limits, or at least we have to be sure to check the ingredients.
Again, several of these things are among the foods that Emma consistently LOVES to eat… bread and cereal especially.
So… yeah… milk, soy, wheat, and cat.
Oh, and we have to watch her with dogs. Oh, yeah, she also had a slight reaction to one kind of grass. Doh!
Pretty much some of the most prevalent allergens known to man. lol I laugh, but it’s not funny. o_O
The one positive, I think, is that these allergens, especially wheat, are quite common, and so there’s a big market for allergen-free products of these kinds… so we SHOULD be able to find a reasonable selection of substitutes.
I am worried about the increased cost of a lot of it though.
We may be focusing on meat/potato/vegetable/beans/etc for a lot of meals. Which isn’t a problem, nothing wrong with that… it just is a boring selection.
Anyhoo… yeah, just venting.
Like I said, I was expecting the cat allergy, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the others.
Makes me sad for the little girl. 
mothman
That sure is tough. Bad enough for an adult but for a kid it’s really rough.
Indeed. It makes me feel like I’m going to be depriving her of what she likes. =(
I too am allergic to wheat/gluten, dairy, egg, tomato, vanilla, pineapple and soy. There are lots of good foods out there but it does take a lot of planning. Once you cut all these allergens out of Emma’s diet she is going to be doing splendidly…so that is definitely a positive. Sorry about the cat though…that probably was the hardest.
Thanks for the support Kinni. =)
Since spreading the news about this, I’ve realized there are a lot of people with a very similar range of allergies.
Vent all you want, it’s going to be an adjustment time for you and any type of changes in our lives sometimes make us into ornery peeps. We all know you utterly adore that little girl and don’t see “her” as the issue, it’s the allergies and the changes that are entering your lives. I’m sure you and Lisa will find a way to get everyone adjusted, and before you know it, you won’t even realize you’ve made such changes.
Hang in there – it’s going to be frustrating sometimes, but she’s worth it. : )
Thanks Deej. I appreciate your comment.
We’re already over the “shock” of it, and are on our way to adjusting.
It’s actually, in a way, interesting… focusing on actually reading the ingredients of foods.
Some things, I’ve found frustrating… and even odd.
eg. looking for alternatives to crackers… we’ve often given Emma a Ritz cracker, or soda cracker, etc, to munch on while waiting for a meal. So I was looking at alternatives, and found some other crackers that looked to have potential. OK, cool… look at the ingredients, they’ve got rice flour (yay), corn flour (yay), this and that, all good. Then right at the end, “may contain traces of wheat”.
Sunuva.
Not that potential traces of wheat is going to do Emma any great harm, but i can’t help but think “What’s the point of those crackers”.
The ingredients, the name of the product, the packaging, suggest a good choice as an alternative to wheat… but then you find out it may have wheat. Dang it! lol
Same with breakfast cereals… looking for something to replace Emmas fave snack (Cheerios) and I found a couple options that were made of oats (which is OK for Emma). And yet the ingredients indicate it “may contain wheat”.
Doh!
I assume the product is made on the same production line as wheat products, so they HAVE to say that on the ingredient list… but it just seems like… what’s the point of that product, marketing itself as a wheat alternative, when it may contain wheat? >_<
“looking for alternatives to crackers”
@mothman – hey hey, no need to make racist comments
>_<
lol
For cereal try Corn Chex, I believe it is wheat AND gluten free(it’s supported by/endorsed by the celiac disease foundation) also maybe Pebbles, I remember my cousins eating them and they had wheat allergies.
Goat milk is great stuff, and goat cheese is to die for, I hope Emma can acquire a taste for it.
Having a little kiddo with so many allergies is going to be tough but I’m sure you’ll see rewards in a healthy happy kid very soon.
Hey nysak. Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll keep an eye out for the Corn Chex.
Re: Pebbles… isn’t that a really sugary one?
Lisa did find a few cereal-type things as Super Store last night that are completely wheat/gluten free. Expensive, but at least there are options. I don’t remember the manufacturer, but one was called Koala… Koala bites or something. The other was Gorilla something. Some environmental slant… anyways, haven’t eaten them yet. Wonder f they taste like Koala and Gorilla? :p
We also have found Bob’s Red Mill to have some good options for pancake mix, and breakfast cereals, and I’ve had some of those before and they are quite tasty.
Re: the goat cheese, Emma seems to really like it. And the milk too, she’s had both goats milk and rice milk, and chugs it down no questions asked. Haven’t tried her with the almond milk, but I’m guessing it’s probably actually pretty tasty (but sweet).