I Am Not a Corn Nazi Anymore!

In May, Ben's gastroenterologist recommended that we have Ben retested for his corn allergy. It took me a while to process that idea, but I eventually came around to it. The thing that put me over the edge occurred last month when Ben had a fever, and I could not give him medicine for it. I have some compounded Tylenol that expired last year, but it still works...if you can get Ben to take it. It does have flavoring added, but I am pretty sure nothing can help make it palatable. If you are wondering what it tastes like, grab a Tylenol tablet and chew it up. Yes, it is that good. There is not a drug available that is corn free. Since Ben has never had another incident of eosinophilic esophagitis, and we know of a few instances in which he had been exposed to corn, we were thinking he had outgrown a nasty allergy.

Last week we took Ben in to his allergist. He repeated the "patch test" for corn, a process which involved three different trips to Mesa...Ugh! To do the patch test, a small amount of organic corn meal is placed on a small disk, and it is taped to the back with hypo-allergenic tape. It is left in place for 48 hours, then removed. Back in 2006, his reaction was so severe that when his patch was removed, blood immediately came pouring out of his back. The corn had literally eaten his skin off. So as this patch was pulled, Geoff and I were holding our breath. When we saw his back this time, we were amazed and so relieved! There wasn't even a red mark. Nothing! Ben had outgrown his corn allergy. Thank heavens!

Ben's doctor suggested that we allow Ben to have corn-based fillers in food, like corn starch, corn syrup, food starch, dextrose, etc. He told us to hold off on cornmeal, or corn kernels for a month. Seriously, I don't care if he never eats those things, but it is such an awesome thing to be able to give him other foods. That really simplifies things for us. It is such a relief to not have to worry about every little thing that goes into his mouth, not that he wants to put anything into his mouth at all.

He is doing well in school. Every once in a while he has a bad behavior day, but so do a lot of kids his age. He is catching on quickly to the things he is taught, and I really like his teacher. She is so perfect for him. He is also doing well with his lunch plan that we came up with for him at school.

I am so thankful that we got him tested again, and that we had good results. I am looking forward to relaxing, and not having to worry about what goes into his mouth.