From Ah-choo to Anaphylaxes, The Not-So-Wonderful World of Allergies

I've previously lamented our lack of medical history for our 20 month old son. But our visit to the allergist yesterday brought the issue back to the forefront. It's not that his health history is a blank slate; he has a story, but we can't read it. The writing is obscured.

We can't anticipate any illness or predisposition, because the information is not available to us. So his health care has become a guessing game. I wish it didn't have to be that way. I know it's standard to ask birth families to provide as much medical information as they can, but it's not required. Do our children through adoption not have a genetic right -- if not legal right -- to know their birth family's medical history?

We have no idea what our son's genes hold for him in terms of genetic predisposition. I couldn't tell you if his great-grandparents lived til they were ninety or died of a heart attack at fifty-five. I won't be able to warn him to go for early screenings for genetically predisposed cancers, and I had no idea if allergies ran in his birth families or if he will someday outgrow them.

So we go for extra tests, more tests, early tests. Spend more time in waiting rooms then we should, but we have to because his health is too important.

At the allergist yesterday, we got some answers. The following is not a complete list. But we learned that our son is allergic to the following foods:

peanuts (severely, which we already knew)

milk/dairy (we already knew this, too)

almonds

cashews

molds

peas

rice

apples

kiwi

avocado

carrots

and soy.

Soy? Excuse me? He's only been drinking soy milk for the past 14 months!

The allergist indicated that because his reactions were so numerous, we should "go with" whatever foods Little Man can tolerate. Most of the foods he reacted to had been previously offered to him and promptly rejected (with the exception of apples, which he loves.) Our only instructions were to avoid peanuts at all costs, and try to and get him off of soy since he did react to it, and he consumes it multiple times a day.

So last night we heated up a bottle of hypoallergenic *stuff* (I think the main ingredient was tapioca!) to feed our Little Man.

He held the bottle with both hands and stared at it. "Boh-yul, Momma?"

"Yes, honey, it's a new kind of bottle for you. Try it."

He stuck the nipple in his eye. "Ow."

"Drink it, silly man."

Poor trusting babe... he took one swig and gagged. "Sick!" he exclaimed.

"Come on, hon, it's good. Drink it!"

He made one more valiant attempt before hurling the bottle across the room. The bottle ricocheted off the TV and landed in a plant.

"Disgusting!" he screamed. "Gross! Garfage!" [garbage]

Ooooo-kay. Not a fan of the allergy formula. Got it.

For now, we're back on the soy. And we're considering ordering him a medic alert bracelet that reads "Allergic to everything".