Keller Family Blog

Back in 1998 we discovered that our daughter Karlissa was allergic to Peanuts. We systematically eliminated Peanuts from her diet. Avoiding one item in life did not seem too difficult. Peanuts it seems are the one allergen that most companies and foods are willing to declare most often. Later we realized that Karlissa also has an allergic reaction to Aloe when she comes into skin contact with it. (Hopefully she won’t ever eat it.) This means that 95% of the sunscreens can’t be used on her. Hopefully when we move to Australia we will find one that we like that won’t have Aloe in it. She has also tested positive for Cinnamon allergy and Asparagus. Don’t need to worry about that last one, we won’t miss it.

In May 2005 we realized the second time our 10 month old child went to the hospital that he had food allergies too. Jaden is allergic to:

• Wheat
• Soy (all forms including Soy Oil and Soy Lecithin)
• Dairy (Cow, Goat and Sheep)
• Eggs
• Avocado (reason for the hospital trips)
• Cantelope / Rock Melon
• Pineapple
• Peanuts (Does not have reaction to Refined Peanut Oil such as used for frying waffle fries at Chick-fil-A as the Oil in theory has none of the Peanut protien in it.)
• Tree Nuts
• Barley
• Rye
• Peaches (possible)
• Cinnamon (probable)
• FDC Yellow 5 (possible)

Of the list above, he has tested positive on a scratch test for all of them except Yellow 5 though I don’t think he was tested for the Avacado. All but Peanuts and Tree Nuts he has ingested either before we knew or accidently since we first found out and has had a reaction. Basically of the top 8 allergens listed for the USA, Jaden is allergic to 6 of them. Only White Fish and Shell Fish do not cause him to have an allergic reaction.

What are his reactions? Well, it varies depending on the allergen. With the glutens (Wheat, Barley and Rye), he usually has a running nose and if left untreated with antihistimine, will develop into an Asthma response. Soy and Avocado both have caused severe Asthma responses, though Soy may start with a runny nose too, which may mean that taking an antihistimine immediately after some Soy may prevent the Asthma attack. Dairy and Pineapple causes Hives whether touched or eaten, and we honestly don’t remember the response to egg. Cantelope is one of those things that he only reacts sometimes to it and usually it will be runny nose and red cheeks but not always. We can’t tell if it is related to the actual strain of Cantelope or the amount eaten in some sort of timeframe. As for the Cinnamon, Karlissa actually tested positive for that in allergy testing and it appeared that when Jaden ate it that he would get a runny nose. Yellow 5 is something that we have been trying to watch. If he is allergic to Yellow 5 then the reaction is red cheeks I think.

What this means for food around here is that we have had to broaden our palate in some ways and learn to live without other foods. We are still learning and experimenting and watching. Of course if you haven’t guessed already, going out to eat is virutally impossible. We must travel with food for Jaden whenever we go to eat and even then the table may have been contaminated with a spill of food from the previous diner.

As for myself the father, I am allergic to Cats. So I guess cats will never be on the menu either.