Voov makes it to three--and eczema, food reactions continue

Looks like my daughter, Voov, is stuck with eczema for life. She recently turned three and had her annual checkup. The pediatrician told us what we already knew, which is that children whose eczema persists past the age of two usually carry it into adulthood.

But at least her affliction isn't severe. It's not nearly as bad as what I've dealt with myself and what I see discussed on forums and in the National Eczema Association newsletter.

We're also still waiting to see what will happen with her asthma. She takes medication twice a day through an inhaler, but only because when she gets sick, as she is now, she wheezes. She hasn't had an asthma attack.

Food allergies/reactions are another issue. God, she's been eating the same stuff for years. Let me see: chicken, turkey, soy. Rice and oatmeal. Carrots, peas, sweet potato, corn. Apple, pear, banana. That's it! How boring. We've also given her tomato, potato, orange, green beans, and pork, and she refuses to eat any of them, although she doesn't have a reaction.

Two weeks ago, my wife, Hidden B, gave her cow's milk instead of soy milk by mistake, and Voov announced she felt ill and then threw up all over the kitchen floor.

Bummer.

I like to cook, and I keep hoping that someday I'll be able to make one meal for the whole family. At the moment I cook food for Voov and then food for everyone else. We have to tell her over and over again that she can't eat what we and other people eat, because she's special. I wonder how long that fiction will hold up.

The weird thing is that she's hardly ever had an eczema flareup that we could connect to a food we've tried. Voov seems to have allergies or intolerances that aren't directly connected to eczema.

In a few weeks she's going to have a skin prick allergy test for all the same things she was tested for two years ago. We're hoping we'll find that she's grown out of some of her allergies. I myself would like to just give her foods and see whether she reacts, but Hidden B has overruled me. Probably wise, if Voov's reaction to milk is any indication.