Austin had an endoscopy this morning. The good news is that everything looks good. The bad news is that this is the beginning of a very expensive and time consuming experiment/process. I want to thank everyone that has been patience with Austin’s allergies over the past year. We know that it is difficult to have this burden cast on you when spending time with Austin. I know that I sound like a freaked out overly cautious mother sometimes and I am sorry but if a little dairy, soy, egg or any other food allergy makes it in to his diet the results could have long term heartbreaking effect. My fear is cancer of the esophagus.
I have attached some pictures of what the endoscope took pictures of and what the results look like. On the left are pictures from 6 weeks ago. On the right are pictures from today. It isn’t easy to see the inflammation in these scans but trust me they are there.
Austin took an inhaled steroid twice a day for 6 weeks to get his esophagus back to normal. Dr. Hernandez didn’t even take a biopsy today because everything looked so good. Since everything looks so good we are taking him off the steroid for 6 weeks. During these six weeks it is imperative that Austin not be exposed to any of his food allergies. Which are:
Egg White
Egg Yolk
All Fish
Wheat
Milk – All milk (cow milk, goat milk, milk of the gods, ALL)
All Nuts
Soy
He will then have another endoscope to see if he can maintain without consistent steroid usage. If so then based upon a skin test and a blood test, the least offensive allergen will be introduced for 6 weeks followed by another endoscope.
I know that it is nice to share a meal with Austin out on the town or a quick fun snack from the store but you can’t. If you go to a restaurant with Austin have a piece of paper with his allergens written on it. Ask for a manager and share them with him. French Fries are almost always not allowed and the toughest because he loves them. The oils are generally vegetable, soy or peanut. FYI soy is a vegetable and often added to vegetable oil and not always properly marked. So the best practice is no vegetable oil. Fries are never fresh and are often fried and then frozen and shipped. What they fry them in at the factory may be peanut oil while in house is canola. Also just a little of any of his allergens will take us backwards. I know it is fun to be the good guy but if it says that there is dairy in it, no matter how little, he can’t have it because it will jeopardize all the time effort and money we have invested in to this new treatment plan.
I hope that everyone understands and I will keep everyone apprised of his treatments and results.
