Redeemed

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20 (NIV)

Nearly four years ago, Brendan and I walked into a doctor's office and sat for a consultation that would change our lives. That day, as we heard Dr. Silvers offer us more than just an Epipen refill and advice on strict avoidance of our allergens, our family was filled with hope that a treatment called oral immunotherapy (OIT) could help Brendan defeat his food allergies.

Brendan in front of the wall of OIT grads, hopeful to be added one day.

Of course, our food allergy story began about 10 years before our first meeting with Dr. Silvers. Brendan developed hives and vomiting after eating his first piece of pasta. The beginning of Brendan's food allergy journey was fraught with anaphylaxis and fear. Food allergy life sucks, and with a kiddo allergic to wheat, barley, rye, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts, we were neck-deep in the suck-tastic-ness of it all. "What exactly DO you fed him?" well-meaning friends and acquaintances would ask. It wasn't easy. And it was nearly always stressful. Yet we soldiered on, giving him as much freedom as we could while still trying to keep him safe from foods that surrounded him on a daily basis.

One day when Brendan was a preschooler, I was praying that his food allergies would be taken away, and God placed a picture in my mind. He doesn't do that too often, so when it happens, I pay attention. It was a picture of Brendan shackled in chains. As he grew, Brendan threw off the chains. That picture left me puzzled. If Brendan were to outgrow his allergies, it would be a passive act-- something that would just happen to him. But in this picture, I clearly saw Brendan actively shedding the chains of his food allergies. How could that be?

I'd like to say that picture from God made immediate sense upon meeting Dr. Silvers that day four years ago, but in honesty, I didn't connect the dots until Brendan graduated from OIT. Upon his graduation, I remembered that prayer many years ago, and it was clear. Brendan actively fought his food allergies. And he fought hard. OIT wasn't always smooth for him, but he threw off the chains of his food allergies, and he hasn't looked back since!

Final victory from his food allergies in front of that same wall of grads!

So, when it comes to this God stuff, I'm definitely a little bit slow. It was a few months ago, when a friend from our old church, commenting about Brendan and OIT, mentioned, "Yours is one of my favorite redemption stories." I honestly had never thought of OIT as a story of redemption for us, but the moment she said it, it all clicked together. God is definitely in the redemption business (See: "Jesus saves us all from our sins," as example number one). And that's exactly what He's done here.

Brendan's free from his food allergies now, and that's awesome. But do you want to know what else is awesome? Where the amazing-ness of God's redemption comes into play here?

So many people have seen, heard, or read Brendan's story and gotten treatment for their own kids: REDEEMED.

These two make for some pretty good TV.

Brendan sometimes texts and talks with kiddos who are in treatment with OIT, helping to calm their fears: REDEEMED.

I'm lucky enough to work for Dr. Silvers now, helping food allergy families just like ours through the same treatment that changed our lives: REDEEMED.

Food allergy kiddos are the cutest people on the planet.
I love eating peanuts with these adorable patients!

I've been so changed by this experience that I'll begin PA school this summer, because I want to to be on the front lines, helping change others' lives, too: REDEEMED.

And so, I can't help but think back to that old bible story of Joseph, meeting his starving brothers years after they threw him in a pit and sold him to Egypt as a slave,"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Our food allergy story started out full of trials and fear, but it certainly didn't end that way. God has used our story to save lives. He's taken something harmful and made it help, not just Brendan, but so many others, as well. We may have begun our story shackled by the chains of food allergy, but we're just getting started on the ending-- an ending that will see countless food allergy families REDEEMED.

CURED

Yeah, I just used that word. CURED. I never dreamed we would get here. And yet three and a half years after we began our OIT journey, here we are. After nearly three years in maintenance for egg OIT, eating an egg every single day,  Brendan avoided egg for thirty days. No dosing. No deviled eggs. No donuts. Then he walked in to Dr. Silvers' office on September 25th and ate an egg LIKE A BOSS. Actually, it was much less dramatic than that-- he ate an egg in a graded food challenge over the course of about four hours, LIKE A BOSS. We brought donuts for the staff and celebrated with Dr. Silvers.

LIKE. A. BOSS.

The shirt says it all.

I don't toss around the word CURED very often. When telling others about OIT, I always mention that daily dosing will happen for years, possibly decades. I tell folks that their kiddo will be desensitized, not CURED. I never want to set the expectation that OIT CURES kids. Until one day it does, and the kid it CURES happens to be your own.

So, I've been throwing that word around like confetti. Brendan is CURED from his egg allergy. He only has to dose two or three times a week. He gets to pick the days. Every morning I get to ask him if he *wants* an egg. He's loving the freedom to be able to choose. Plus, he still gets to eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. No more food allergy life for this kid.

I threw the CURED word in Dr. Silvers' direction that afternoon, too, along with a hug and a few tears. Thanks for CURING my boy, Dr. Silvers. When other allergists sent us home with an Epi script and told us to avoid, you sent us home with a bottle of egg white solution. When others drew yearly labs that always seemed to increase, you faced our allergies head-on, and thanks to the science of desensitization, willed those numbers down. When others gave us hopelessness and sent us home in tears, you gave us hope AND tears-- tears of joy and relief.

Celebration time.
The guy on the left will tell you the kid on the right did all the hard work.
He's only partly lying.

So that's it. My kid is CURED from his egg allergy. He passed his hazelnut challenge, too, for those of you who are wondering, and only has to dose that one two or three times a week, too, but that's a story for another day. OIT has been a complete miracle in our lives. I can't sing its praises enough, and I will continue to talk about it to just about anyone who will listen. True Story.

So, if you're sitting out there with a list of food allergens, living the life of strict avoidance and trying to decide if OIT is worth it, just read this post one more time. In the end, OIT may not CURE your kid, but it will more than likely bring your kid FREEDOM. And who knows, maybe three and half years from now, you'll be throwing that CURED word around like confetti. Because OIT works. And TREATMENT or CURE, it can work on your kid, too.

Fall of 2017. Treated.

Fall of 2018. CURED.