Hola Mexico, and goodbye to 2012

While life is not completely normal for us, it is infinitely better than when we were here in Cabo one year ago. Last year at this time, we brought a suitcase full of safe food, wipes and medicines, and a laminated card that explained (in Spanish) about the boys' allergies and the detailed precautions needed to be taken by food preparers, house cleaners, etc. I watched over every pool toy that was shared with them and worried all day, every day. Vacations weren't really vacations, a year ago; they were just chaos – exacerbated by new, unknown fears - in a new location. This time, it's different. We boarded the plane together (brings tears to my eyes to be able to board as a family without a full decontamination!), the kids play freely with other kids at the pool, we can order any food at any restaurant we want, and while we brought a lot of food with us again this time - specially-made nut brownies & cookies, hazelnut milk and pecan crunch (a pecan trail mix that has, surprisingly, met with rave reviews from Ari) - it's only for their dose.

The stresses on vacation this year are more of the standard parental variety: kids fighting and trying to drown each other in the pool, mosquito bites, sunburn. While none of the anxiety comes from fear of food or surfaces, there is still some food-related stress: the stress of getting the dose in, and once in, the effect on mind and body. Ari's stomach discomfort continues as he struggles with eating his very filling dose and wanting to eat normal foods, and the challenge is magnified here in a destination where there are so many new and interesting local foods to try. The result is a constantly bloated tummy (see picture of seemingly 8 month pregnant child, right), digestive challenges and frustration. He was SO excited to eat tortilla soup, empanadas, fish tacos and stuffed sea bass the other evening after finishing his dose (what a blessing, normally, to have a child who truly loves food), but boy did he pay for it over the next 24 hours. So yes, there are still aspects that we are hoping smooth themselves out to enable a true feeling of normalcy, but we count our blessings for how far we’ve come.

As 2012 comes to a close, we take a deep breath and ready ourselves for another year forward. Another year of miracles and firsts; another year of helping to further research toward treating food allergies; another year of feeling so grateful and thankful for all of the amazing people in our lives who have enabled us to live a very different life today than we did a year ago. Our holiday card, summarizing and wrapping up this year, is below. Wishing you all the best for a safe, healthy, happy new year.
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Our lives have changed dramatically since our last holiday newsletter. You may recall us sharing last year that the boys were being considered for a clinical trial to treat their food allergies. Since January, the boys have been participating in the trial and the results have been nothing short of miraculous. Both kids have been desensitized to their life threatening allergies to nuts, and Aviv has even gone negative to five of his nuts… that means his DNA actually changed, removing the allergy from his body. The boys not only can eat nuts (and all foods made in a facility with nuts) now, they must! Every day they must eat a maintenance dose of their allergens to keep their bodies remembering the immunity they have built up. This part is not fun for them, as they don’t enjoy eating the food that for so long was dangerous to them, but it’s what keeps them desensitized, and we’ve been tapping every creative method we can think of to make it easier.

We would be lying if we said this hasn’t been tough – emotionally, physically, logistically – as we focused almost exclusively on supporting their successful participation in the trial, and there were moments we didn’t think we’d be able to continue with it. We are thrilled to be able to say that thanks to the best research team in the world at Stanford, amazing friends and family who supported us along the way, incredibly supportive schools, two boys that put in a lot of hard work and defied the odds, a lot of creativity and some very large prayers being answered, we have been able to continue in the trial and our family is now free from the fear that used to weigh on us at every turn and with every interaction. If you’d like to support this amazing research with a donation, we’d love for you to join us in giving here: http://foodallergies.stanford.edu/

Thanks to the life changing results of the trial, this was an amazing year of ‘firsts’ for us. We created a Wishing Wall of all the things we wanted to do (but couldn’t do previously due to their allergies), and savored each item that we were able to check off as the year progressed. The kids were able to experience their first trip to Disneyland, first sleepovers, fresh bread and pastries, ice cream with toppings, Thai food, boarding an airplane together as a family, trick-or-treating, the freedom to eat or play wherever they want, and the return of Orr’s delicious chocolate pecan pie to our Thanksgiving table. Trust me when I say that you don’t know pure, innocent pleasure until you’ve seen kids stand and stare into a bakery counter for the first time, awestruck at the smells and sights, and then savor the sweet tastes we take for granted for the very first time.

When Ari and Aviv aren’t changing the world one nut at a time, they’re two regular boys growing, thriving and loving school. Aviv has embraced Kindergarten and riding the school bus like a pro, and continues to keep all of us on our toes with his endless energy and ability to find the loophole in any set of rules. He enjoys tennis, tee ball, and foos ball, and loves to climb, explore, build and destroy. Ari won his first chess trophy, and loves Hebrew, math, reading, and everything else that First Grade has to offer. He continues to lose teeth and grow out of his clothes at a rate we can’t keep up with, and both boys spend their time fascinated by Star Wars, building Legos, playing board games and hiking.

As 2012 wraps up, to say we feel blessed – despite the exhaustion! – is an understatement. We couldn’t have imagined this time last year that our kids would be able to go on play dates, on sleepovers, to school and to the playground without fear of anaphylaxis, but now they can. We feel truly blessed and grateful for all that this year brought, and wish for the gifts of good health, miracles and happy firsts for you and your family in 2013, as well.