It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

That's become my new OIT motto.  A lot has happened since I last posted.  School started.  My hubby and I went on a WONDERFUL two and a half week trip that included a Transatlantic cruise.  AND Brendan has moved to "measured" doses instead of capsules for his egg OIT!!!  Can I hear a hallelujah and an amen?!

My sweet OIT boy on the first day of school :).

This new step means several things:

1) No more baking soda in doses.  The capsules have a bit of baking soda in them to help the egg white powder not stick to the capsule.  At first, it's hardly noticeable because the capsule doses are so small-- The first capsule dose is only 100 milligrams.  But, when you near the end of the capsule doses, you are taking a whopping 1200 milligrams (three good sized pills) full of egg white powder plus a bit of baking soda.  Brendan definitely noticed the taste near the end, and it was getting hard to cover up in our usual go-to, chocolate pudding.

2) I order my own egg white powder now.  I have a TON of the stuff, in fact.  I look like a drug dealer.  Since I have powder to spare, I can start experimenting with ways to make Brendan's dose more palatable, and I can taste the experiments myself.  We've been so busy that I've only done a little experimenting, but I plan to do more in the near future.

You thought I was kidding about the drug dealer thing, didn't you?!

3) Technically, we're only supposed to have 3 more updoses after this point.  "Technically."  That brings me back to my new motto:  It's a marathon, not a sprint.  Brendan has not sailed smoothly through all of his doses.  His main symptom seems to be nausea and/or vomiting.  It has only happened a handful of times, and it's always been within 30 minutes to an hour after taking his dose, but it has still happened enough to know that Brendan may not be able to tolerate the big jumps in doses that these last few weeks of the protocol usually require.  He is currently at 3/4 of a teaspoon of egg white powder.  Per the protocol, that amount would be DOUBLED next week to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.  But because of Brendan's tendency to not tolerate large updoses well, he will be increasing to 1 teaspoon instead, and then hopefully 1 and 1/2 teaspoons the following week.  It's a marathon, not a sprint.  I am cautiously optimistic that we will reach the 1 tablespoon goal, it's just not going to be in the next three weeks.  Maybe by Thanksgiving.  Maybe by Christmas.  Maybe not until Easter.  It's a marathon, not a sprint, and we are prepared to go the distance.