When is an egg not just an egg?

When eating that egg could put you into anaphylactic shock. My DS is allergic to eggs. We found out when DS was 10 months old and he had a reaction to egg whites. After two bites of scrambled egg, he broke out in hives from head to toe. What a scary day that was for all of us. I am convinced that God worked a miracle that day. DS did not have breathing trouble during that reaction, but when tested later at the allergist, he tested off the charts (a pseudopod, as they call it) for allergy to egg whites. He could have very easily gone into anaphylactic shock.

Anyhow, this week was "E" week at DS’s school, and guess what they were cookin’ on Monday? Yup. Eggs. Initially, I was going to send DS in with his safe snack, but after talking to Bob about it, we decided it would be best to keep him home. His teacher was going to be out that day…all the kids were going to be scrambling their own eggs…it just was looking more and more like a recipe for disaster.

I’ve been thinking about it this week, and this was the first time DS really had to miss out on something fun because of his allergy. Usually, if something they are serving at school has egg, he simply has the egg free snacks that I keep in his backpack. If someone at school is having a birthday and the typical cupcakes are brought in, DS could not care less. Because he has never had cakes and the like, he really doesn’t have a taste for them. Even when I make him egg free cupcakes (which taste delicious, by the way) he doesn’t want more than a few bites.

I’m so proud of how my little guy deals with his allergy. At almost five years old, he is very good about asking if snacks he is given have egg in them. We are blessed that he is allergic to egg only. There is actually very little that we have to eliminate from his diet. Even waffles have egg free brands available, if you look hard enough. It seems most of the egg laden products aren’t that good for him anyway.

Which brings me to another effect this allergy has had on our family. Because I am endlessly reading ingredient labels, I have become acutely aware of the chemicals and additives that my family ingests. Because of all this ingredient reading, our family is now about 90% all natural and about 50% of that is organic. I feel better about what I am feeding myself and my kids than ever before.

I do hope my little man outgrows his allergy. As he gets bigger, I’m sure he’ll be more perturbed by having to pass on certain cupcakes, cookies, and other goodies. That is something that only time will tell. But I will always see this allergy as a kind of blessing in disguise for our family.