“There’s a lot of information with no definite answers,” said Dr. Sandra McMahan, a physician with Scott & White pediatric allergy-clinical immunology.
Mark and Carla Hahn Clardy have been dealing with food allergies for 17 years. Four of their five children have food allergies.
Both parents have allergies, but not to food. The thought is that the child inherits the capacity to develop an allergy from the parent, but not to any particular substance.
“One parent could be allergic to bee stings, another to penicillin and the child could be allergic to ragweed,” Dr. McMahan said.
The Clardys found out the hard way that their first child had food allergies with a near-death experience. It took the couple a few months to discover the extent of the problem.
The other children were given a radioallergosorbent test (RAST) to determine allergies. All but the youngest have food allergies and some have since outgrown the problem.
There are no medications that cure food allergies and strict avoidance is the only way to prevent a reaction.
Ben, 10, was born allergic to soy, milk, peanuts and eggs. He can now tolerate some soy oil, but not soy milk or edamame.
Ben says he knows almost immediately when he’s been exposed to a food he’s allergic to - his lips first tingle and then begin to swell.
“One time in Scouts, Michael was making toast, with all that spreadable butter and it splat on my face and hives started coming up,” he said.
Mrs. Clardy said when something like that happens, liquid Benadryl takes care of the problem.
In addition to the health component, the family and the child with severe allergies have to deal with social issues.
Support by friends and schools have been mixed, Ms. Clardy said.
“When we were first diagnosed with the older one, no one believed us,” she said. “I finally ordered and make each child wear a medical alert bracelet because people didn’t think we were telling the truth.”
Restaurants were less than helpful back then when special food preparations were requested, she said.
“Things have gotten a lot better,” Mrs. Clardy said.
Socially, allergies can create barriers for young children.
Allergies have resulted in Ben feeling left out of various school events. For birthday parties, parents bring in cupcakes and cakes that he can’t have.
If Mrs. Clardy knows about the party in advance, she’ll send a treat to school with Ben so he can participate, but there have been numerous times when she’s not told.
Six times during this school year Ben has been excluded from a party because of his allergies.
“It breaks my heart,” Mrs. Clardy said.
In prekindergarten, Ben said he had sit by himself at the “peanut free table” during lunch.
“Everybody could talk with all of their friends and I just had to sit there all alone,” he said.
Finding food her children can eat safely has been a challenge for Mrs. Clardy.
Much of what the typical consumer buys in grocery stores, Ben can’t eat. A lot of packaged food comes from manufacturing plants where peanuts might have been processed.
Package labeling has come a long way, she said.
The family ended up in the hospital after she fixed her child some pancakes from a package that was clearly marked dairy free, she said.
After calling the company, she discovered at that time the government allowed companies to label a food dairy free if it contained less that 2 percent dairy.
“A lot has changed since then,” she said.
Products change content constantly, Mrs. Clardy said.
“You can buy the same thing for years and years and suddenly the ingredients will change with no warning,” she said.
Ben said there was only one granola bar he could have - Cascadian Farms.
“I was so happy that I could have one and then they changed it and added peanuts,” he said.
Since some of her children are allergic to milk, finding sliced bread they could eat was a formidable task, Mrs. Clardy said.
“Until recently I had to bake my own bread, or buy very expensive bread,” she said. “Now I can buy Butter Crust bread.”
Dr. McMahan tells families with a lot of allergies that the primary shopper should really shop alone.
“If you have a child in the basket grabbing things and another tugging at your leg, you can’t really take the time to read the labels,” Dr. McMahan said. “If you’re going to buy things in a can or a box you have to carefully read the label. You shouldn’t bring it home if your child is allergic to the contents.”
Mrs. Clardy prepares all of her children’s school lunches and has to be careful not to accidentally put something in the lunch that will cause one of them to have an allergic reaction.
“It’s easy to make a mistake, you’d be surprised, in the hub of daily activity,” she said. “I try to be hyper-organized … everyone has their own colored plate.”
Having to be so guarded about such an important aspect of life - the food you eat - has had an impact on the Clardy family.
The two Clardy children who have had the more severe allergies look at life differently, Mrs. Clardy said.
“They are more mature and more responsible, not only more than their siblings at the same age, but also their peers,” she said.
The youngsters have had to become dependent on prayer to get through difficult times … during stays in the emergency room or the hospital, Mrs. Clardy said. They’ve had to come to terms with how different they are from their classmates.
“It’s a daily burden … they have to ask themselves ‘why am I so different, why did God make me this way,’” she said. “Those are hard questions to answer when you’re 5, 10 or 17.”
Despite his allergies, Ben stays active by playing soccer and participating in track. His mother wants him to stay clear of football. Since Ben has had to avoid dairy and doesn’t take his calcium supplements as often as he should, Mrs. Clardy’s concerned his bones might not be strong enough.
Looking on the positive side, Ben said because of his allergies he doesn’t think he’ll have a weight issue because he can’t have ice cream or cheese.
Likely Ben won’t outgrow his allergies, but a lot of work is being done to provide better treatment, other than avoidance, Dr. McMahan said.
“We’re waiting for something good to turn up, there certainly will be a big market for it,” she said.
