The Aftermath of Being Gluten-ed

On Tuesday, my son was fed a quarter of a slice of bread at the daycare centre he goes to three days a week.  A staff member served it to him accidentally.  Click here to read the post.  Yesterday morning when I posted, he had already had one diarrhea before heading off to daycare, and I posted that I hoped that would be the end of it.  Knowing all along, that of course it wouldn't.

The thing with being gluten-ed, as I like to refer to his ingesting gluten, is that unlike an allergy where the reaction is often almost immediate, the effects of gluten drag out over several days.  With my son, it usually begins with a rash, and progresses from there.  He has been on a prescription anti-allergic for the past few weeks, so the rash was suppressed, but the rest of the effects began strongly yesterday, and have carried into today.

Yesterday at daycare he had diarrhea that was so bad the staff had to change his entire outfit.  His eyes watered and his nose was stuffed, and he began to drool from breathing through his mouth.

Then there is his behaviour.  The gluten exposure changes his behaviour drastically.  He becomes whiny and defiant, unhappy about everything.  He was so whiny last night we finally just put him to bed.

This morning it was more of the same.  He stays home with me on Thursdays, and this morning he refused to participate at all in his mom-and-tot class, lying on the floor and rolling a truck back and forth for over 30 minutes.  The rest of the time he just wanted to be on my lap, watching the other children play.  Normally he sings and does crafts, playing with his friends.

Additionally, his appetite goes off the charts since nutrients aren't being absorbed.  Today, he ate a bowl of gluten free cereal, a gluten free waffle, a banana and two cups of rice milk for breakfast, followed by 1 cup of strawberries, another banana, a sandwich bag full of veggie chips and two packages of fruit gummies for his morning snack.  Then an entire box of fish sticks for lunch, followed by soy yogurt.  He's only two years old.  He gets so hungry he begins to cry and beg for food, something he normally never does.

All by noon.

This of course was interrupted by another bowel movement so horrendous that it was both up his back and down his legs, soiling even his socks, not to mention his shirt, his pants, his arm, my jeans, our couch and the floor.  As soon as I got that cleaned up and a new diaper on, it happened a second time.

All this because of 1/4 of a slice of bread, two days ago.

I'm so angry I could spit.  And heartbroken that my baby is suffering needlessly.  It wasn't a case of incorrect labeling, or a misunderstanding, or accidental cross-contamination in a prepared dish.  It was a result of carelessness on the part of the people I pay to care for my son.  An accident, but a careless, unnecessary one that should have been prevented.

I Answer Calls From the Daycare with Dread

This afternoon I received one of the dreaded daycare phone calls:  My son had ingested something containing gluten.

I know that these things happen, but sometimes the call annoys me more than other times.  Particularly when the contamination was completely avoidable.

Like today.

At the beginning, when they were still feeding him and trying to accommodate his needs, sometimes there was confusion on their part about which foods were safe, particularly when one brand is safe and another isn't.

Sometimes, there was cross-contamination from utensils, toasters, counter tops, etc.

So, in an effort to cut that out, I began providing all of his food in reheat-able containers to avoid the cross-contamination.

Still, the children eat together at tables.  Sometimes my son grabs for something he wants off someone's plate and shoves it in his mouth quickly.  I don't want him sitting at a table alone, but he's only two and so doesn't always understand why he can't eat everything that his friends eat. These things happen.

I know there are crumbs that may go astray, residue from playdoh paints that contain wheat that may somehow end up on his fingers or in his mouth.

But today..... today a staff member served him bread.  And then someone realized what had happened.  After he had shoved the piece in his mouth and eaten it.

So when I saw their number on the phone, I dreaded picking it up.  They only ever call when he's sick or when he's ingested gluten.  When I asked if he had grabbed the bread from someone's plate the response was "No.  Someone served it to him."

I think I said OH.

I like the people who are in charge of my son's particular room, and they are generally quite vigilant, but there have been more than a few incidents of cross contamination.  Most of the time when a "floater" or a replacement cook has somehow cross-contaminated his meal.

But that's not my son's fault.

The daycare has a printout (11 pages) of acceptable and unacceptable foods.

They have instructions on how to avoid cross-contamination.

They have all been briefed on what my son can and cannot eat, and how to avoid cross-contamination.
 
Tonight, there was only one diarrhea before bedtime.  I'm hoping that's the end of it.

Fingers crossed.