Continuing to progress
When we started OIT in May of 2018, we thought we'd be done by the end of 2018, maaaaaybe early 2019 at the latest. We quickly found that our journey would be different than that, which took all of us awhile to absorb and accept. But, we learned that going slower was better for Brandon's particular case, so we embraced our slow progress, because slow progress was better than no progress at all.
Our first summer of OIT was rough, not going to lie. Brandon had an anaphylactic reaction during one of his updoses (you can read about that visit here), and he had surgery to place a 3rd set of ear tubes in. We were glad to bid farewell to summer of 2018. 😎 Thankfully, summer of 2019 was much smoother than that for him, and we kind of just breezed through in terms of OIT. And with OIT, boring is good!! 🤣🥜
Some of the milestones Brandon hit over the summer of 2019 with regards to OIT are . . .
🥜 He crossed the one full peanut threshold on June 19th by eating 2 peanut M&Ms.
🥜 He played with dosing options a bit over the summer - he decided he didn't like the peanut M&Ms and went back to Reese's pieces.
🥜 He held for a full month at a dose of 2 peanuts. This is not uncommon to do in OIT . . . when a patient exhibits any symptoms of not processing the dose well (could be hives, itchiness, eczema, heartburn, upset stomach, etc.), then it's normal to hold at a dose for an extra week or two. Brandon's normal 'schedule' is to updose in his allergist's office (i.e. increase his daily dosing amount under doctor observation) every two weeks, so over the summer when he experienced a few days of heartburn on a dose, his doctor suggested we hold at that dose for an extra two weeks. One less doctor's appointment during the summer is always a win for a kid! 😉
🥜 He saw more progress in August, as he upped to 3 full peanuts at the beginning of August, and then to 4 full peanuts by the week before school started.
Being the planner/Type A personality that I am 🤓, I'm usually 'counting' updoses and weeks and doses left until we reach another milestone and/or graduation. Back at the end of the 2019 school year, I calculated that he might be at 6 peanuts by the time school started, and due to holding a dose for 2 weeks in July, he made it to 4 peanuts by the start of school. Total success in our book still!! 🎊
Making it that far by the beginning of school meant that he was then 'cross-contamination' safe or 'bite proof' - a HUGE milestone for this kid who has separated himself (to an extent) from other kids at lunch for his entire school career. More on that in another post soon.
He also adopted a favorite dosing recipe . . . . crushed honey roasted peanuts, stirred into cinnamon applesauce. I bought myself a mortar and pestle, channeled my inner high school chemistry student 🤣, and got to work on his new favored form of dosing.
I highly recommend this form of dosing for anyone doing any type of nut OIT, because it really eliminates both taste and texture issues, both of which are huge hurdles for OIT patients. He doesn't have to hear the audible 'crunch' of a full peanut, and the slight sweetness of the honey roasted peanut, along with the smoothness of the applesauce - and a dash of cinnamon for extra flavor help - seems to help the dose go down easily for him. Not to mention, the applesauce helps with digestion of the peanut itself because of the polyphenols in it. (Check out the section called "Starting OIT" on this site for more about that.)
Here's what that daily dose looks like for him. When he increases peanuts, we just add a bit more applesauce, and the increase doesn't seem quite so bad.
Needless to say, Brandon had a fantastic summer with regards to OIT.
⭐ No reactions
⭐ Steady progress
⭐ Cross-contamination safe at the lunch table
Win. Win. Win.
Keep it comin', OIT. We're ready!
Until next time,
MKB 🐢💚🥜
Our first summer of OIT was rough, not going to lie. Brandon had an anaphylactic reaction during one of his updoses (you can read about that visit here), and he had surgery to place a 3rd set of ear tubes in. We were glad to bid farewell to summer of 2018. 😎 Thankfully, summer of 2019 was much smoother than that for him, and we kind of just breezed through in terms of OIT. And with OIT, boring is good!! 🤣🥜
Some of the milestones Brandon hit over the summer of 2019 with regards to OIT are . . .
🥜 He crossed the one full peanut threshold on June 19th by eating 2 peanut M&Ms.
🥜 He played with dosing options a bit over the summer - he decided he didn't like the peanut M&Ms and went back to Reese's pieces.
🥜 He held for a full month at a dose of 2 peanuts. This is not uncommon to do in OIT . . . when a patient exhibits any symptoms of not processing the dose well (could be hives, itchiness, eczema, heartburn, upset stomach, etc.), then it's normal to hold at a dose for an extra week or two. Brandon's normal 'schedule' is to updose in his allergist's office (i.e. increase his daily dosing amount under doctor observation) every two weeks, so over the summer when he experienced a few days of heartburn on a dose, his doctor suggested we hold at that dose for an extra two weeks. One less doctor's appointment during the summer is always a win for a kid! 😉
🥜 He saw more progress in August, as he upped to 3 full peanuts at the beginning of August, and then to 4 full peanuts by the week before school started.
Being the planner/Type A personality that I am 🤓, I'm usually 'counting' updoses and weeks and doses left until we reach another milestone and/or graduation. Back at the end of the 2019 school year, I calculated that he might be at 6 peanuts by the time school started, and due to holding a dose for 2 weeks in July, he made it to 4 peanuts by the start of school. Total success in our book still!! 🎊
Making it that far by the beginning of school meant that he was then 'cross-contamination' safe or 'bite proof' - a HUGE milestone for this kid who has separated himself (to an extent) from other kids at lunch for his entire school career. More on that in another post soon.
He also adopted a favorite dosing recipe . . . . crushed honey roasted peanuts, stirred into cinnamon applesauce. I bought myself a mortar and pestle, channeled my inner high school chemistry student 🤣, and got to work on his new favored form of dosing.
I highly recommend this form of dosing for anyone doing any type of nut OIT, because it really eliminates both taste and texture issues, both of which are huge hurdles for OIT patients. He doesn't have to hear the audible 'crunch' of a full peanut, and the slight sweetness of the honey roasted peanut, along with the smoothness of the applesauce - and a dash of cinnamon for extra flavor help - seems to help the dose go down easily for him. Not to mention, the applesauce helps with digestion of the peanut itself because of the polyphenols in it. (Check out the section called "Starting OIT" on this site for more about that.)
Here's what that daily dose looks like for him. When he increases peanuts, we just add a bit more applesauce, and the increase doesn't seem quite so bad.
Needless to say, Brandon had a fantastic summer with regards to OIT.
⭐ No reactions
⭐ Steady progress
⭐ Cross-contamination safe at the lunch table
Win. Win. Win.
Keep it comin', OIT. We're ready!
Until next time,
MKB 🐢💚🥜
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