Well, it’s time for visit 10 in the Tolerance Induction Program (TIP) at the *SoCal* Food Allergy Institute and I really have to get better about sharing right after each trip! (See Visit 1: https://myallergicfoodie.com/visit-1/).
In all honesty, there hasn’t been a lot to share other than things are going very smoothly. We have a great routine going and this entire process, while exciting to see progress, is actually pretty tedious. That’s what we want though! Drama isn’t something you want in this program. If things are boring, that means it’s working and we aren’t seeing any adverse reactions, hallelujah!
So here’s a quick recap!
Visit 8:
We had appointments on 3/2-3/3/23. I traveled with Jacob and we stayed at the Staybridge Suites in Irvine, CA which is our go-to hotel for affordability and the convenience of a kitchen.
At the first appointment Jacob challenged hazelnut, Brazil nut, and pistachio. All 3 foods moved to his morning maintenance. It’s crazy to think that he’s eating all of these tree nuts on a daily basis now! This was the last step for pistachio and Brazil nut. He will escalate hazelnut at a later time which means he’ll challenge a larger amount and it will go back into a dosing cycle before he fully clears it.
The next day he successfully introduced almond, duck egg white, and sesame for the first time. Sesame is a food that Jacob actually challenged years back with our local allergist and he had been cleared to eat it. But honestly we weren’t giving it to him on any consistent basis and testing for TIP indicated that he is anaphylactic to it again. One thing I love about this program is that there’s no wiggle room on them eating the foods consistently. Doing this is what solidifies their tolerance to each food!
For fun this time around we checked out the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. We checked out a fun local park: the Bill Barber Playground, and the Rockin’ Jump Trampoline Park.
We did have a bit of a scare here… we went to the trampoline park the afternoon after Jacob’s food introductions. We were supposed to head back home that evening but there was a big snow storm back home in Chicago and we were afraid our flights would be cancelled. So I opted to stay an extra night. So we needed an activity to keep us entertained for the extra time. It was several hours after he’d introduced his foods and after playing and exerting himself for about an hour, he suddenly felt weak and a little dizzy. My gut told me his blood pressure was dropping so I got him some orange juice and gave him scenario 1 meds just in case. We headed back to the hotel where I kept a close eye on him and he ended up being just fine. I honestly have no clue if it was random or treatment related but thankfully all turned out ok!
All in all, another successful trip!