Elimination Diet: The Dietician's Judgement

A few nights ago I had a dream that I was eating miniature jelly beans.  The following night I dreamt that I was eating steak bathed in ketchup.  In both dreams, my immediate response was Why am I eating this?  It will ruin the diet.

I've never had this response to a diet before, but then this diet is different.  After 30 days, I can identify every item of food that my son and I have consumed.  For the past 23 days I can count on my thumbs every item of food my son or I ate that we weren't allowed.  And on day 30 a dietitian reviewed our progress.

The visit to the dietitian was the source of some trepidation.  The severity of my son's eczema has reduced dramatically, so we've obviously done something right.  We could be ready to start the challenge phase of the diet, which would mean indulging in fruits, vegetables, and spices.  But the eczema is not gone, so maybe we've done something wrong.  We could be about to face two of the hardest weeks yet, with no wheat or cow's milk.  As the appointment with the dietitian approached and the severity of my son's eczema bounced around I got more and more concerned.  It's no wonder I was dreaming about things going awry.

I met with the dietitian yesterday.  She greeted me with a smile and asked how things were going.  Then she examined the food log.  I sat for a few minutes listening to nothing but the occassional sound of a page turning.  She broke the silence by saying You're ready to start the challenges.  Ready to start the challenges?  I was ready to jump out of my seat.  I wanted to do a little victory dance.  Actually, I wanted to do a big victory dance.

Tomorrow I'll be having strawberries on my breakfast, watermelon at my picnic, taziki for my afternoon tea, and carrots and capsicum in my stir fry.  I'll make lentil curry and pumpkin soup.  I'll eat apricots, and cherries, and bake apple pie.  And I'll do it all in the name of science.

I'm so happy about this new food freedom that I need to remind myself of the sour note: if one of us reacts to salicylates then we'll have to stop eating all these wonderful foods, and when the discovery part of the diet ends we still won't be able to eat them.  But I'm not about to let that ruin my fantasizing now.

I still won't be allowed to eat miniature jelly beans or ketchup on my steak, but who'd want to when there are so many wonderful things to eat instead?