I have a 3 year old little boy. He is allergic to Dairy, Egg, Wheat, Peanut, Pork, Beef, Strawberry, Treenuts, Mustard and Rye. I learned of his allergies by trying Soy milk at 9 months and unfortunately a few hours later he went into an anaphylactic reaction.

He started vomiting terribly, turned blue on us and pretty much went into shock. We called 911 and they transported him to the hospital.

At the hospital, besides having a reaction he had a terrible gastro problem and we ended up staying for 3 days in the hospital. That was really a scare for us, especially at 9 months when they can not really tell you what is happening to them. After we left the hospital we ended up with him on Nutramigen formula and he stayed on that until he was 1 year. It was very hard to feed him baby cereal because all the cereals had soy in them. The only one we could use was Beechnut Oatmeal cereal which was soy-free.

As time went on we began experimenting to see what would be safe. I had to read every single label and was introduced to FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network). They have been wonderful and very helpful!

At 2 years old he decided to take a sip of another childs sippy cup and it had cows milk which also again put him into a anaphylactic reaction. Swelling of his whole body, I could not even see the brim of his nose his face was so swollen. Again he had to have medical attention.

Needless to say, I have experienced more than parents want to experience and I have learned many little lessons I am happy to share.

I have started a support group (Poca of DuPage) with another mom and we have been sharing our experiences, stories, ideas, recipes, having special speakers attend to share information with our members, etc. with others for about 1-2 years now.

As of today, my son has grown out of soy but is still allergic to the other allergens. With careful research and very careful care he is doing very well and is now in preschool enjoying life as he should be.

I am very happy to help other parents with children that have food allergies and I would be happy to have them attend any meetings.

Thanks again for letting us share our story.

Kellee K.