Thursday, August 23, 2007

Another Challenge

I'm not sure what God is doing these days. I don't know why He thinks I'm up for all this. Does God have faith? Does he have faith in people? If so, He has more faith in me than I do.

Remember how I was praying about laying down a few details just to keep things running around here? Things like maybe not beginning each recipe with the grain mill... Well, this is not the answer I was expecting, nor do I see how it is an 'answer' at all, but it should be interesting.

We got the results of Hubby's allergy blood-test back. The girls and I got up early yesterday to meet him in town because I knew this appointment would be as much information for me as it was for Hubby. Out of 115 food ... thingies ... tested, Hubby reacts to 19 of them. They are: kidney beans, carrots, cheese, chili peppers, clams, coffee, cranberries, eggs, garlic, cow's milk, mustard, onion, oysters, parsley, pumpkin, scallops, wheat, baker's yeast, and brewer's yeast. Most of these register low on the 'reaction' scale, but for at least a couple months he MUST be off all of them, completely. Not even a taste. Eventually he may be able to reintroduce some of these. If you knew my husband, you'd know that when we go out of town or camping, his coffee "paraphenalia" as I call it, takes up more room than his clothing. He can drink a gallon of espresso and still go to bed fine. He can probably live without the milk, but the cheese, and the cream cheese, and the pepper jack, and colby, and parmesan; these will be a terrible sacrifice. And I guess I have one fewer person to feed our few eggs to. The man adores garlic and onions and hot peppers. And wheat? That is rough. Everything is/has wheat. Which is probably why most of us shouldn't eat it. The yeasts are interesting; especially the brewer's yeast. This means no beer, wine, vinegar. No vinegar means no pickles. No pickled asparagus. No pickled pepperoncinis. No pickled jalapenos. No pickled beets. His favorites. How do you eat a low-cal salad without vinegar?

The things he tested ok for are many and varied. And things I'm not terribly familiar with. Like amaranth. I know it's a grain; that's about it. And I'm not really used to cooking with halibut, flounder, mackerel, haddock, whitefish, and a bunch of other fish which I can't recall, let alone find in a store. Sole. Sole? Whatever that is. I know salmon and tuna and cod. Actually, we're more like acquaintances. He can have zucchini, and black pepper, and almonds. Even cocoa.

But, don't start getting on my case now. Of course that doesn't look so bad. But we aren't done yet. All those "okay" ones aren't just always okay. No, the "okay" foods are put into four groups. These groups are your 'four day rotation'. We can't have any other food sensitivities developing by eating the same thing 2 days in a row, heaven forbid. No. Black pepper might be okay, but only on day 1. Want black pepper on your salmon? Sorry! Day one includes Beef and Weird Fish. Salmon is day 2. Are the bananas getting too ripe? Oh well! Banana day was yesterday, and you have to wait 3 more days. They should taste good then! Day 3 I will be calling Salad Day, because he can have lettuce, and avacados, and tomatoes that day. Not sure what he'll put on it. I love day 4. Day four is Rice Day. Rice for breakfast, with.. (drum roll..) rice milk! Yummy! And to sweeten it? What else? Brown Rice Syrup! That should be easy enough for digestion to figure out, eh?

He had millet today for breakfast. MMmm.. Millet. Millet with almond milk. Yes, day 1 includes almonds. And peaches! I hope the pile of peaches I bought will last thru our next day 1; four days from now.

So I question God. Am I part of some weird experiment? Or a great Heavenly Hee-Haw? Just when life is complicated enough; baby nearing, homeschool gearing up, housekeeping getting out of hand, garden producing, I have to take on this insane meal planning/shopping/preparing. And no, I didn't jump to this conclusion just based on this. Things have had me wondering lately. Like how pregnancy results in terrible clutziness for me. So I drop everything. Of course, compound that with the fact I can barely reach the floor, and you wonder. I'm less able to catch myself if I trip. Yet, I can't see my feet! I'm not keeping things as picked up as I should! All things work together for trouble... My downstairs bathroom is tiny and cramped. Yet, now that I need the roominess of the upstairs bathroom more than ever, I can hardly make it up the stairs! It just seems like this mountain before me is getting steeper and bigger with each day, and I'm not sure why God thinks that it's such a good idea. Barley for breakfast is great, but if you don't start thinking about that the day before, you will be breaking your teeth on it. And the day before I'll likely be thinking about laundry, and math, and handwriting, and keeping the Little Monkey from eating another $30+ Age-Fighting Lip Primer...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you want some good news (and perhaps bad, depending on how you look at it?) that I hope your doctor told you?! I'd be willing to bet that once his system "heals" from the wheat sensitivity, he'll be able to reintroduce almost everything else back in (though he may be off wheat forever). My college roommate had celiac (special, dramatic form of wheat/gluten sensitivity) and her whole family had it as well -- before they eliminated the wheat, they seemed to be allergic to everything (corn, eggs, dairy, etc.) but after several months on a wheat free diet, they were able to tolerate the other foods just fine. The theory is that the wheat sensitivity somehow perforates the digestive system, which then allows other proteins we eat to pass through the walls of the digestive system and into the bloodstream, creating reactions. With some time off wheat, these "perforations" heal and the body can again tolerate many foods it previously could not. None of that helps right NOW, with baby coming and everything else going on, but I find sometimes that thinking there might be a light at the end of the tunnel can make the tunnel more bearable! Hope it is helpful to you!

EllaJac said...

Andi, yes, the doctor talked of that (minus the possible wheat-connection). I think he called it 'leaky gut' syndrome or something. I don't know if it would mean anything to this possibility, but he scored a 1 on the wheat (low sensitivity) and a 2 on the cow's milk, cheese, and eggs. Also the baker's yeast. The only 3 he had was Brewer's yeast and he had no 4s, thankfully. I have been looking around lately and feeling like, "man, we're ALWAYS eating wheat!" I wonder if that was God trying to point me in a direction. In any case, Hubby enjoyed his barley for breakfast today (I think), and we'll all be adding in a lot more different grains. Thank you for the encouragement. So far I'm hanging in there, but I dare not ask "what else?" any more!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have a pretty decent doc :) Not sure if you knew this or not, but my son is allergic to dairy and soy, and while I'm still nursing him, I have to cut it out of my diet as well. It's by no means as dramatic as ALL the stuff you're having to cut, but I can empathize with the overwhelmingness of it at first. Really, you do get used to it :)

Anonymous said...

Just out of curiosity, what drove you guys to wanting this allergy test in the first place?Was he having certain symptoms? My husband has a horrible immune system. He has allergies to bees, hay horses, dust and maybe more things. He is always getting sore throats and sinus problems. He has anxiety attacks and some problems with depression now. I think I am going to have to get him tested to see if something is not agreeing with his body. Thanks for sharing this

EllaJac said...

Tanya, It wasn't really something we were asking to do. Hubby has been seeing a naturopath since February and this was his recommended "next step". The outfit that did the bloodwork was www.betterhealthusa.com I think. They have a guarantee that if you take the test, follow their recommendations (and doc's), and if after 90 days you have no changes in symptoms (everything from allergy-style things to ADD and emotional stuff) they will refund your money. Good luck!