Food Allergy Hero of the Month: Rebecca Wachen

By Rebecca Wachen

I’m halfway through overcoming my dairy allergy -- here’s my story.

When my mom told me that I got off the waitlist for the Southern California Food Allergy Institute (SCFAI), I was initially hesitant. I had previously been enrolled in a baked milk study, and while I was able to get to the final stage, I continued to have reactions when I had uncooked milk and also developed Eosinophilic Esophagitis. I assumed that enrolling in SCFAI would be much of the same, but after doing more research and reading about its high success levels compared to other desensitization programs, my parents and I decided that I should give it a try.

I knew it was going to be a big commitment from the beginning. First of all, the program is only based in California, and I would need to come there every few months from New York. Second, I was aware of all the odd foods that I would potentially have to eat, and I knew I would need to be willing to eat them. But I also had begun to think about the possibilities if I were to successfully graduate. It was not only the food freedom that I began dreaming about, but also knowing that I would be safe and could eat wherever I wanted without my allergy stopping me. For example, not having to tell every waiter that I have a dairy allergy, or if I accidentally ingested something with dairy, knowing that would not automatically warrant a trip to the emergency room.

After my initial trek to SCFAI for our initial lab work and intake assessments, my mom and I returned to California 5 months later, to begin my journey to food freedom. We started by meeting with the doctor to hear about my individualized plan, where I learned about all the milks I would be drinking that would eventually lead up to cow’s milk. Instead of starting right with cow’s milk like is done in OIT, SCFAI slowly introduces milks that share proteins with cow to lower the chances of a severe reaction. I would be starting with camel milk and would be making my way through mare, donkey, and goat milk, before reaching cow’s milk.

In my plan, I have 10 visits total and will soon be going for visit 6 of 10. To think that I will be starting to drink cow’s milk at the end of the summer is astonishing to me. While I still have a good amount of time to go before I reach food freedom, I can already feel that the program is working. I have yet to have a reaction to foods related to the program despite the fact that I have clarified butter every morning from a bottle that says “Contains Milk”.

While at times it has been challenging to keep up with all the foods I have to eat, I have absolutely no regret in enrolling in the Tolerance Induction Program. It is simply a short-term commitment to solving a long-term problem that no other place in the world has been able to solve with such success. Unlike with OIT programs, once I reach food freedom, I know I will not need to eat dairy products every day, and rather, I can eat them as much or as little as I want to.

The process to get to that point is certainly not a walk in the park. As a college student, I have had to coincide my dosing schedule with my classes, extracurriculars, and other college commitments. Because of this, I have learned how to better manage my time to get my daily maintenance and dosing in.

But even with the time commitments, I know what I am doing will be worth it in the end because it will not only allow me to reach food freedom, but also I will be able to live a safer life. I will know that my life is not in danger every time I take a bite of food.

And for parents who are reading this who are considering enrolling their child at SCFAI, I hope you take the leap. It can save your child’s life in more ways than one.