Moment of truth.

So today was the BIG allergy test day. And I'm SO proud of my little 4 year old & the way that he handled everything. He wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he was going to be.

And while I am finally relieved to have some answers, I'm actually left just that much more frustrated.

My poor Jayden.

From the moment the child was 5 months old and we switched from breastmilk to formula, my happy, easy, low-key baby changed forever. He was plagued with itchy skin rashes, running nose, wheezing, & allergy induced asthma. We went through a nightmare, rough couple of months trying to figure out the formula issue. It was then, at about 6-7 months, he underwent his first round of allergy testing. We didn't suspect much from it and we didn't get much from it. But he spent the rest of his life under a year on Alimentum. We struggled to get the wheezing and eczema under control. And as you can see, we still haven't succeeded.

From that moment on, he seems like his health has somewhat been a constant battle. And topple that with his mood & behavior at times, and things haven't been the easiest.

You guys know me & have read the blog. I've learned to laugh, cry, & try not to do bodily harm to myself or him. He hasn't always been easy.

Somewhere under the defiant, aggressive, agitated, uncooperative, & moody child, was a sweet innocent loving little boy. I knew it & I'd seen it.

I am constantly put down because I refuse to treat the mood swings & behavior problems with beating my child. Or punishing him in a way that's as violent as he can get.

Something told me things just weren't right.

I've spent countless hours scouring the internet for answers, most of the time scared $hitless by what I read. But something finally triggered inside me & told me there had to be a food allergy somewhere. There just had to be something we were missing.

I never thought it would be what we are now working on trying to eliminate.

CORN.

The skin test for corn was pretty prevalent. Closely followed by SOY in the food category.

Now the scary part, the tests aren't 100% accurate. But, given his history & problems, we could be close to 100%. I pray. And I pray hard.

So now I am met with the biggest challenge of my life, thus far. For 2 weeks, we have to eliminate corn.

I challenge you to look into your pantry and fridge and discover just how much of what we eat and drink is laced with corn, corn: syrup /oil / meal / starch / sugar. It's OVERWHELMING, to say the least.

And instead of getting the support I need to do this, I'm met with SO many condescending remarks. From being told that this is impossible and he will just have to learn to deal with it, I'm really left speechless and in tears.

Can't he just stay on medication the rest of his life? You know you can't eliminate corn completely. Why waste your time and worry? He'll learn to deal with it. Your being stupid.

How, just how, can people be so mean?

Is it right for anyone, especially a child, be left to deal with something that is out of his control & left to someone he is suppose to trust?

How can any parent turn their back on a child & not want to help them?

Why should any child be left to suffer when changes can be made to help them?

Isn't it our duty as parents to not have to watch our children suffer?

Granted, I could be so far off base here with Jayden & the connection between his behavior issues & a food allergy/intolerance, but don't I owe him to find out. What if I'm not off base? Only the next 2 weeks will tell.

Please give me the strength to dig deep & be able to put the nasty comments & reactions behind me. Jayden deserves it. He doesn't deserve the reputation of being rowdy, hard to handle & nuisance if it isn't his fault. He doesn't deserve being treated with such negativity.

There's also the fun of being allergic to every tree, grass & animal around. And dust mites. My poor child.

And an interesting tidbit..........for those with dust mite allergies. You have to wash all bedding in water 140 degrees or warmer to actually kill dust mites. If you wash in 139 degrees, you will just have really clean dust mites. So I'm off to adjust the water heater to be sure I'm KILLING those little buggers so that my kids get a good, allergy free good nights sleep. They deserve it, even if it only makes me work a little harder.

My kids deserve a good quality of life if I can help control what makes them happy & healthy individuals.

If I can cut back on the $10 bottle of Zrytec every 4 days, the $30 Singulair a month, the $30 Elidel every month, the $30 Nasonex a month, and let's not forget the Albuterol, Pulmnicort, & Xoeponex that adds up to about another $75 a month..................WOW.

Eating a healthy diet just might be good for all of us. It can't hurt right?

Hey, if I could possibly get a happy, less moody, less aggressive child out of this, it's worth the world to me know matter what anybody in the world says.