From your recent post in the discussion about viewfinders.. wait.. I forget the connection. Well, it has to do with the fact that I was thinking about you and your cooking (and you too PeteZ). Today there was a very interesting program on gluten free cooking.

Here's the link.

Here's the blurb.

I'm a regular visitor to Shauna's site. She's a good egg.

EGG??!! I thought eggs were verboten!

Did you know that most people with an egg allergy are actually only allergic to chicken eggs, and can eat duck eggs or goose eggs with wild abandon?

Duck eggs have just a whiff of game-iness if you're eating them completely unaccompanied, but they are larger and firmer than chicken eggs and a delight to bake with. There was a very brief time (like, maybe 10 minutes) where I investigated the possibility of actually having ducks in our backyard... but it's far easier to just buy the eggs from a local duck egg guy.

I wonder if the chicken egg allergy is related to their feed or just decades of over exposure/consumption.

I'd guess that both are contributing factors. Most allergies are at least partially related to whatever happens to be in your system when your immune system decides to go briefly apeshit. It's why people who move, from anywhere to anywhere, usually find that their seasonal allergies are vastly improved. They're allergic to northern (or whatever) species of trees/pollen, but the people who have lived in Destination City since childhood are allergic to their own trees/pollen. But if the things that happen to be in your system also happen to have crazy-ass non-biological chemical components, like food that's been processed/pesticided/overfed with antibiotics, those food molecules are also more likely to be chosen by an immune system looking for something to attack.

A number of vaccines are cultured in chicken eggs as well - so over exposure just isn't by eating it.

Oh, and hi :)

Heya, Dagney!

The vaccines cultured in chicken egg aren't even as freaky as the ones that are grown in aborted fetal tissue. There's a rapidly growing movement of Catholics who are refusing vaccines once they find out that fun factoid.

Hi Dagney!

Long time no see. Welcome back.

I love me a bit of duck egg. And I agree about the game-iness. But I like it :)
Having visited houses where they keep ducks, I certainly agree about the mess. Ick.

Tiger's penultimate Speech Therapy assessment today.
She did not even want to see him.
This I get, because she has told me all along exactly what she is doing. Her previous assessment was all that she needed to grade him on the aspects of communication that had previously been identified. Passed on all. Of course I knew he would. 10 months maturity plus classroom assistance plus one to one.

Now we just have to focus on his autism/ asbergers, but the official diagnosis only came through two weeks ago. I'm hoping for a fairly seamless transition, but at the very least he has me.

The ST approved my most recent Social Story. She added some sentences in to expand it, but left everything else in tact, including the lower third (it was split into three sections). What she added really made sense to me, and made the story so much better. But she's a trained therapist and this is new to me, so for once I am not beating myself up.

I have another Social Story to write for next week. Then I'm done until next year. Arrgh! Clod - I might bug you between now & 21st July...

I know I can contact the Speech Therapy dept next Sept if it's a difficult transition. SD said I can. But technically, Tiger will come under a different dept - Special Teaching Needs. Meh - I know how slowly wheels turn. I'll keep my Speech Therapy contacts as long as I possibly can.

Hijack over.

Sure, whatever you need. I'm glad the first few have worked out so well!

'Duck egg' is a common phrase used here when someone's been a bit daft:

You duck egg.

A very effective summer! The Crohn's disease meds are awesome (a combination of Prednisone, Entocort, and Pentasa,) and the GI doctor is a saint. There was the potential for some negative behavioral side effects from the Prednisone ('roid rage, essentially,) but we didn't see any. Both kids did get a little bit hairier, but neither became wolfman, and it falls out once they're off it. Minifobette's stools became completely perfect and solid, and stayed that way after stopping the Prednisone, so she's done with that part, and is now just maintaining with the other two. The doctor is encouraging me to try to add some foods back into her diet, but I have to admit I'm terrified to do so. So far we have one new food, and then she got sick with some bug from school, so we went back on hold for awhile. Minifob's stools got almost perfect, but his behavior started regressing just a few days off the Prednisone, so he's back on it for another month.

Not-so-funny story: at the pharmacy one month, they accidentally rang up the real price of the Entocort prescription, then undid it and put in the insurance copay. One month's supply of Entocort for one child? $805.95. No shit. Thank fucking God we have insurance.

But check this out! Minifob drew this in Kindergarten yesterday. Before the summer, he could barely form a legible letter, and couldn't use representational shapes at all. He's not just improving, he's catching up. I've been trying really hard not to jump the gun on any declarations, but he really is about 95% of the way to "maintained recovery" (i.e. symptom-free, but only if he stays on his diet/meds.)

One down (almost,) one to go.

Wow. That's a leap and no mistake. Glad things are starting to come together for your babies.

So, so glad to see the Clod. You're the one who's a saint, you know. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this all keeps heading the same way!