Second Visit
This appointment was much anticipated and very nerve wracking. After a 10 week delay, we were ready to fly to Long Beach with masks on, wipes in hand and prayers that we would get there and back successfully…and we did!
Travel
Traveling during COVID times presented even more uncertainty with flights changing/cancelling and trying to keep ourselves safe from the virus itself. I made sure I had Lysol wipes, Wet Ones, hand sanitizer and face masks ready to go way in advance. It is hard to come by these items nowadays and we aren’t going to stop traveling anytime soon so it’s good to buy in bulk.
Our flight was 70% full both ways with the middle seats in each row left empty. Musa was great with keeping his mask on. I had two child sized cloth masks for him as well as a few disposable ones that I tied the sides for to make sure they went over his ears. He dropped his first cloth mask 5 minutes into getting to the airport…so I put that away to wash. Next, I opted for a disposable mask which he kept on just fine until we reached LA. The only time he took it off was to eat his lunch and snacks on the plane. I was honestly surprised that he kept it on without complaint for so long!
Both airports were relatively empty and people kept distanced. We don’t typically get food from the airports but at O’hare most restaurants were closed excepts for Starbucks and McDonalds. At LAX, there was a sub shop and Dunkin’ open. We were able to go through TSA as we usually do and much quicker since not many people were traveling. The only new procedure they had in place at both airports was to take all food out of carryons and place in a bin. A TSA agent at LAX told me they wouldn’t pull bags over with food to check if the food was placed into bins. I never took out food from my carryon prior to this time. All in all, everything went smoothly.
Appointments
Due to COVID, we made this stay as short as we could. From the airport, we went to our hotel to drop our stuff off, wash up and went to Vons to grab som hen eggs and chips and salsa for our appointments before heading to the clinic for 3 food challenges.
The clinic has a great, streamlined process to keep up with social distancing measures. We waited for a few minutes in our car until I got the text to head in. Before going in the building we had our temperatures checked and we were ready to go straight into our room.
Once in our room, we had an hour delay due to another patient having a reaction. This was out of our hands and the doctor’s and we had no problem waiting. Once we started, thought, I did feel a bit rushed since it was closer to the end of the day. Challenging 3 foods sounds like a great idea since you get through more foods at a quicker pace, but it’s also a lot of food to eat at one time for a 5 year old. I didn’t realize that and towards the end Musa was struggling to eat the chestnut which he hates as it is. At home, we dosed it with ice cream but at the clinic I brought chips and salsa. He was trying so hard but really struggling with the taste. I was recommended to try to find ice cream and come back the next morning and redo the challenge. I decided to carry on though because we had two food intros in the morning and then a flight out in the afternoon. Plus, I didn’t know where I would go looking for Musa’s safe ice cream which is hard enough for us to find back at home. It took quite a bit of coaxing but he did it and passed!
I am happy I decided to continue with the challenge because I know my child and he wouldn’t have done much better in the morning than he was doing at that moment. Moreover, I’m glad the doctor and nurses were willing to stay a little longer with us so help Musa feel comfortable and supported.
The next morning we had hen egg yolk and lentil flour introductions. Musa completed those like a champ considering the amount of each food was SO little compared to the afternoon before.
Prep, Prep, Prep!
Chestnut, duck egg yolk and buckwheat were our challenge foods that are now our maintenance foods so we are up to 7 maintenance foods. It’s not too tough yet, but I did try to experiment with a few foods to make things tastier for Musa. He didn’t really care for any of them. So far, he’s happy with everything being mixed into his oatmeal bowl or pancake. I find I can also get some recommended seeds and flours in there that way too. Banana and chocolate chips especially helps with the not so pleasant taste of chestnut and buckwheat.
For dosing, I had ordered lentil flour a couple weeks before heading to the appointment plus the clinic gave 5 weeks worth of lentil doses to start us off. As for hen egg yolk, I’d like to think I am an egg yolk separating expert now- ha! I did find that hen egg yolks are a little tricker to separate if they aren’t Grade AA and cold. Duck egg yolks are bigger and easier to work with. Still, it’s been smooth going thankfully!
For the next appointment- yes, I was already thinking 10 weeks ahead- I have camel milk ready to denature but I still need to figure out what I will need for almond dosing. Better to be prepared generally but especially during this pandemic!
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