Keeping afloat in a sea of Preservatives

Soy Lecithin. OK, so when I discovered this was soy bean crushed with egg I cried, and thought, oh no, how many things do I have to eliminate from Ryder s diet now? Well, lets fast forward to the end of that week, where I also discovered the airborne reaction he had to,what I thought was, Green Lentils.

You know the ones I'm talking about- those tiny little bean things that even Dr. Oz told me are so pumped full of fibre-y goodness. I thought what the heck, lets add these puppies for variation and a little healthy boost in our diet. I cooked them up and just before adding them to the main dish, I hopped online for a last minute Google search on Lentils.

Well, as I very well knew, I read that Lentils are a legume. For those of you not familiar, legumes are things like chick peas, beans, soybeans, etc and surprise surprise, they share a commonality with peanuts. I had heard this before, and this is what prompted my last minute Google search.

What I learned was that legumes share a protein that is similar to the protein found in peanuts. There is a 5% chance that a person allergic to peanuts will have a reaction to a legume. Well, that was it for me, the way our luck is with food allergens, we were not going to temp fate. I would wait until after the allergist appointment in March before testing theories.

I packed up the lentils in a Tupperware to take for my lunch the next day and enjoyed our chicken and pasta with spaghetti sauce and a new veggie, bean sprouts. Ryder had about 3 of them, and seemed to like them, which was a pleasant surprise.

About half way through dinner he started his usual routine of scratching his neck, pulling at his bib, whining, not sitting and refusing to eat. When I had had enough, I went to take his bib off and that's when I saw it. A hive. Instantly I grabbed Ryder out of the chair and started wiping him down with a cloth, and called for my brother to come and take him downstairs so I could air out the kitchen and clean up the contaminants. I tossed the lentils, container and all (plastic recycling does not count when your child's health is at risk), and decided that all legumes were out until further notice.

After Ryder went to bed, I got online and emailed daycare to advise them about the reaction Ryder had, as I know they often put uncooked lentils in their sensory bins. When I wrote that I wanted all legumes added to Ryder's list of allergies I realised I didn't know what all counted as a legume, so of course, I went to Google.

The list of legumes I found shocked me. Every type of bean was listed,from green beans to black turtle beans, locust bean, Guar, Carob,Soy bean as were peas, chickpeas and about 20 + names I didn't even recognise. What did stick out was Bean Sprouts- I had just fed Ryder bean sprouts and didn't even realise it was on the list! All my double checking, preparation, research and reading lists and I still managed to feed my severely allergic to everything son a Legume!!

The stress hit me, yet again. I just caused my son to have another allergic reaction, which starts off with itchy hives, and is followed by a severe flare up of eczema, and a stomach ache, cramps and diarrhea, which results in a night of crying and unnecessary pain. I also now have a list of 30 items or more, to add to the already ginormous list of preservatives I need to learn about and eliminate from Ryder's diet!

I went to bed feeling hopeless and depressed, and the next few days, and the following week were not any easier, which brings us to the present day. After spending last week going through the cupboards, yet again, reading label after label, and tossing box after box of crackers, and other snacks, I began to go through the fridge and freezer.Within a minute I eliminated bread (the only kind I had ever found that was safe for Ryder to eat), Jam, Cinnamon spread, and butter. What I had realised is that these foods had either preservatives, soy or both. Because Ryder had never had a true allergic reaction to these things, I had never eliminated them, and focused on the more serious triggers. Now that I have eliminated the serious triggers, it was time to get down to eliminating my babies constant eczema flare ups, stomach aches and sleep problems. This meant cleaning house and finding new foods, SOY, ADDITIVE and PRESERVATIVE FREE!

Well, I am apparently a slow learner because after my great proclamation of healthy eating, I sent Ryder to daycare where he ate his Life Brand cereal and had a reaction. I stopped at the store on my way to work the following day to read the ingredients, and Life Brand cereal is chocked full of, you guessed it, preservatives. I guess I fell for those marketing ploys, where the kids are sitting down for a hearty breakfast of good for you cereal, while the good meaning stay at home mom is in the background, packing their lunches with yet, more processed hearty goodness, smiling! Knowing my stupidity, I decided to stop by Sobey's after work that night and I read the label of every single box of cereal Ryder had, or could ever have eaten. This included the poster cereal for babies, Cheerios. And what do ya know, SOY, ADDITIVES and PRESERVATIVES on every single box!

Now, I know you may think I am naive for believing that food in a box, living on a shelf wouldn't need to have preservatives. But I like to think that there are people out there, like out good friends at General Mills, who promote good health for our most precious possessions, and who had found a way to keep a portion of the "bad stuff" out of their products. What I continue to learn is that what the Government and food agencies consider "healthy" or "safe" and what I consider healthy and safe are two very different things.

My new friends at Kashi, however, do sell a very yummy product called Organic Cinnamon Harvest, that Ryder now adores! It has 6g of fibre, which isn't helping the excitement of a new food right now:), and has only 3 ingredients: Wheat, evaporated can juice (form of liquid sugar), and Cinnamon! And to top it off, there are no nuts, or dairy or eggs present in this box, and as long as their packaging doesn't lie, this box of cereal is processed in a Allergen Free Zone!!! Now these are the kind of people whose commercials I will believe.

So I may be a little short on the learning curve, but I mean well. I should give myself a break because I am struggling to provide food for a child who can have next to nothing without me learning to make it from scratch, which for those of you who know me would agree, that cooking was never a strong quality for me. I am also a single mom, trying endlessly to balance work, with shopping for a list of groceries I have never heard of, in stores that Ryder cannot go into, and creating meals from unknown sources,researching hours a day for possible allergens, and ingredients to replace them and spending every waking second (that includes endless hours in the middle of the night) taking care of a child who does nothing but scratch and cry because something I am feeding him is still making him sick! And to top it all off, I am now forced to fight for what Ryder is owed, and deserves, because someone who is supposed to love him, will not make sure that everything in his power is being done to make sure that this amazing child has every opportunity to thrive, and the best chance at a normal life.

But I will move forward, because I have to, and I want to, for Ryder. As I put the lil man to bed tonight, he asked me to sing him a song. The one I sing to him every night before bed, and anytime he wakes in the middle of the night- The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow. I sing it because the few words to the chorus that I know inspire a positive attitude, and I want to inspire that in him. Tonight I cried while I sang it, because it had just been one of those days (to come in a future blog), and the thought of looking for a brighter tomorrow seemed like such a struggle. To make it through another day like today, like any other day, just seems to difficult to imagine. But I have to remember that I have had worse days, and there are always people out there suffering with more difficult struggles, and that in comparison, this is just another speed bump along the road to a wonderful, long life full of love and accomplishments.

My next Challenge - Home Made Bread. Sounds good in theory, but throw in a ton of allergies and a clueless baker, and you have an interesting situation.For my usual guinea pigs of all things "safe for Ryder" I thank you in advance (Uncle Rat:)