The beginning of our journey to Egg Desensitization....
We drove to Des Moines to meet a new allergist for Charlotte to start seeing and we really liked her and felt at ease with Charlotte severe food allergies. She came in the room and we immediately bombarded her with questions and she patiently answered all of our questions and then some! She said that Charlotte is a great candidate for food desensitization. And we actually signed her up and made an appointment to start the program after an hour and a half of talking and making sure this was right for Charlotte and our family!
We have decided to start with egg whites since this will open up so many more foods for her to start eating. So our first step is for her to be desensitized to egg then will come peanuts, then eventually all the nuts.
This is how the process will work...
The program introduces very small amounts of an allergen(egg) in a powder solution over a period of months as determined by the doctor. Each week, the solution becomes more concentrated, and as the child advances, small doses of the whole food are introduced for an additional time frame (again as determined by the doctor), resulting in tolerance to the allergen, thus allowing the child to consume eggs without any adverse reactions.
The first appointment is scheduled in Des Moines for 4 hours. We will arrive with lots of activities to keep us entertained as we will be limited to our exam room and the restroom. The nurse will bring in the first dose of powder solution. After each dose, Charlotte is required to take a drink of another beverage and swish it around in his mouth to avoid any contact sensations. We are allowed to bring a drink of our choice, which I'm sure I will bring something fun so she will want to drink it down:). We will repeat this process every 15 minutes for 3 hours. Once Charlotte has had the 12th and final dose of the egg powder solution, we will wait for an hour in the office to make sure there are no reactions. My understanding is that after 3 doses of the solution it is made a little stronger and more concentrated building up the amount of egg in the solution – but yet it was still not quite enough for his body to be able to detect it.
After this first visit we will bring home the egg powder which will be scary. Once there is a baseline of egg solution in Charlotte’s body, we will need to keep up the doses at home twice every day until our next visit to Des Moines the next week. Each week the doctor will increase in concentration which we will increase our amount at home to keep it maintained until the following week.
There is an emotional side to this process for me. The first couple home doses will be very difficult for me to give to Charlotte. Just knowing that I am giving my daughter something that her body naturally rejects and finds harmful will be hard for me. I will feel like I am poisoning her in some way. However, we have prayed about this program and I trust Dr. Molis 100%. The success rate for this program is 100%. What a blessing for a mother to know that there is something out there that can FINALLY help my child’s allergies. I can’t wait to have Charlotte's birthday party in December and her be able to eat a regular birthday cake and ice cream! Plus we will be able to buy food, and plan meals with just a little bit more ease.
It’s estimated that with the egg allergy this process takes approximately 5-6 months. It can take longer depending on each child. Once the child graduates from the program, they will eat one tablespoon of egg powder twice a day — every day — as maintenance. In addition, Charlotte will also be able to consume as many eggs and egg products as she wants. Cinnamon rolls, pizza, pasta, dinner roll, cupcakes, marsh mellows, cookies, baked breads, etc.
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| They don't look so harmful do they.. |
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| Next Easter she will be able to decorate real eggs! |
A little info about our new Doc!
Dr. Molis joined Pediatric and Adult Allergy, P.C./The Asthma Care Center as an associate physician in July 2007. An honors graduate and dean's list student, Dr. Molis has received numerous academic and leadership awards. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tulane University and graduated from Northwestern University Medical School. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Chicago and her allergy/immunology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Molis is board certified in pediatrics and in allergy/immunology. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics; a member of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; and a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
THE SWIM - 1500 Meters, just under one mile. The swim starts at the boat dock along the South shore in a rectangular pattern and back to the boat ramp for transition.
THE BIKE - The bike course is a 40 km, out and back, fast and rolling course. This is a great improvement over the original 2010 course. Out past Lake Cunningham East on State St. then North on 72nd, West on Bennington Road, merge right to HWY 36, and turn-around at Bennington Lake. Follow the same course back to the lake area.
THE RUN - 10 km run along the trail on the West side of Cunningham Lake to Garvin Rd. Then take 96th to Hwy 36 and back.
