OT - for the 7 year old, I recommend first, before you start the diet, do a stool antibody test from enterolab dot come (you can order it yourself) for both gluten and dairy. Easier that sticking a kid for a blood test, and it's pretty sensitive.
Then you might start with just a month of a dairy-free gluten-free egg-free diet (those are the most common 3 I see on tests, and often found together). If that seems to help things, and nothing shows on the stool test, you might try reintroducing one at a time to see if you can find the culprit.
If that doesn't answer the question, then you can do a full-on elimination diet, starting with 3 days of just lamb, pears and rice, and then adding in one new food every day. If a food seems to cause a reaction, remove it again for a few days and try reintroducing.
Life Extension does offer a food allergy blood test you can order yourself somewhat similar to the U.S. Biotek one that I use, (although not as reliable). I like to say this test doesn't CONVICT any one food, but it does give you a police lineup of the likely culprits. I'd do the stool test on the 7 year old and consider the Life Extension test for hubby.
Back from the Pensacola Fl trip and wedding for my Nephew so I thought I'd update on how things went. Trip down was nice although it is a long drive to Pensacola FL from Fairfax - almost 1000 miles! However it was nice traveling with GF. We left right after work on Thursday and drove for about 7 hours before stopping. Arrived in Pensacola on Friday at 2:30pm. We stayed at a small resort which sits right on a golf course. Very nice. GF met my Mom, Sister and BIL, brother and SIL and Niece.
About an hour later GF went over to the chipping green for a mini golf lesson from my Uncle. As soon as she was out of earshot, my mother leaned over and said to me - "BA you need to make her permanent, she is absolutely a lovely woman!" She also received very high praise from both my sister and brother. Basically everyone loves her and I can't say I blame them as she is a very nice, warm and easygoing woman. Of course the reverse of that is how well did GF like my family and fortunately the feeling is mutual on her part. So it's all good.
The trip back included my mom since she wanted to come to see D17 graduation from HS and everything was smooth and relaxed all the way up. D17's graduation was very nice and she was so happy that her grandmother was there to see it. Afterwards we had dinner out with D17, D16 (and her BF), my mom, the ex and her BF. Dinner went really well and everyone had a nice time.
Thursday I'm taking GF to Wolf Trap to see Hall and Oates (for you youngsters they were popular in the 70's) . Right now we are having a heat wave of sorts (97 degrees today) so hopefully by Thursday the temperatures will taper off.
Next Wednesday I have my second skin cancer surgery on my nose - ugh. But the good news is that the Insurance company approved my appeal and has reinstated my Prime coverage with no gap in service so even the previous procedure will be fully covered - yeah!
That's awesome that things went so well for your GF's intro to your family. It all sounds great! Not sure you need to do something permanent though. You both seem happy with how it's going - no need to rush.
Congrats on your daughter's grad. Nice you could all be there for her. Enjoy Hall & Oates. I sure remember them. Sounds like fun!
That's awesome that things went so well for your GF's intro to your family. It all sounds great! Not sure you need to do something permanent though. You both seem happy with how it's going - no need to rush.
Thanks Barb. No worries on doing something permanent - I'm not even close to that point. My Mom was just letting me know that she really likes the GF a lot and thinks she's a good fit for me. Which so far I tend to agree.
BA--Good luck on the surgery this week! Thinking of ya.
FYI, my first IC appointment went pretty well. I gauge that by the simple fact that I spent half of it bawling. I know none of you will be surprised about my homework assignment. I have to check into Brene Brown's TED talks. She wants me to pay special attention to vulnerability. Crap. She didn't even get halfway into our session before she got that shitty part about me. It's all good. She's 28 weeks preggers, and we have a lot of ground to cover before she heads out on maternity leave. I'm fast tracking myself to feeling better... (I've listened to the one she assigned me, and it resonated, so I'm going to listen again.)
My solace is in my newfound desire to paint furniture and sell it. D20 and I took a class in using Annie Sloan's chalk paint, and I started on a baby dresser yesterday. D20 wasn't convinced she liked my idea, but when she walked in the house after a day of fishing with her dad, she said, "I don't know why I think you're nuts because I love this. The pale pink drawers look awesome." LOL. I know. I have good visions and the ability to think through possibilities. That's one good thing about me.
Nothing else much going on here. We're still waiting for someone to put a contract on the house, so until then, I wander over every other day to water the flowers on the front porch, do weekly hot tub maintenance, and keep my eye on the place. I sure hope it sells quickly. I haven't even planted flowers at my own house. Yet.
Keep us posted on the outcome, ok?
Bets
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
LOL, I had to "like" Jen Lancaster! Thanks for the heads up. I've got a total girl crush on a gal named Nancy who posts under Artsy Chicks Rule. She's a fellow Virginian and I totally love her moxy. She inspires me.
I'm not a blogger but I'll share the photo of the finished product when I get it done. I'll probably work on it a little bit tonight, hoping to finish by the weekend. I can't figure out the best medium to sell my stuff - CL or to find a good consignment shop. With CL, I have to deal with weirdos. I'll probably call the person we used for the estate sale and ask for her opinion and go with it. Who knows, maybe she'll sell my stuff when staging (which is like consignment, as she takes 1/3 of the take).
Thanks for the added inspiration!
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
Add me to the Cry Baby Team. I think I went through a full box of Kleenex (tissues) at every IC session for the first 6 months. One day she had to pick me up off the floor. But it was good to get it out.
Love the sounds of your dresser. Can't wait for photos.
So this is the day before my surgery and I have to admit I am more than a bit anxious about it. Thanks for all the well wishes.
The surgery last month was high up on my forehead and not as big a deal as the one tomorrow on my nose. Not only that, but it seems to me that there are now three other suspicious spots on my nose that either could be cancerous or are at best pre-cancerous. I'm going to ask the dermatologist about them as I'd rather just get this all taken care of at one time than have to come back in for multiple procedures. I'm not to happy that this ugly mug of mine is going to become even more unpleasant with all of these scars from surgery. Yes I guess that is being a bit vain, but seriously who wants to have their face turn into a scarred up mess.
In other news - D17 left this morning for her overnight college orientation. She is so excited for this next phase of her life to begin. She really kicked butt in her Senior year of course work earning all A's, including both of her AP classes. Her final GPA was 3.823 - can't help but brag about that!
Everything with the GF is going very, very well. She is taking off of work the next three days to accompany me to the surgery and to help take care of me the next could of days afterwards which is really nice of her. I'm thinking she's a keeper.
My two oldest kids are arriving next week to spend the July 4th weekend with me. We are taking my RV out to go camping. It should be a fun weekend and I am hoping that my nose will be healed enough to not gross out them or the general public!
She also received very high praise from both my sister and brother. Basically everyone loves her and I can't say I blame them as she is a very nice, warm and easygoing woman. Of course the reverse of that is how well did GF like my family and fortunately the feeling is mutual on her part. So it's all good. 
. Right now we are having a heat wave of sorts (97 degrees today) so hopefully by Thursday the temperatures will taper off.
Thanks for all the well wishes.