Taking Flight: Theo’s First Adventure Toward Food Freedom

In less than three days, we flew all the way from Illinois to California and back. It was as exhausting as it sounds, but we made it. We officially began Theo’s journey to food freedom and had a little fun along the way.

Leading up to this trip, I had a lot of anxiety, especially as the departure date got closer. I could feel myself on the verge of a panic attack, and the number of breathing exercises I did on the drive to Chicago was quite excessive. I barely got any sleep the night before our flight, anticipating what could or might happen while traveling with a child with food allergies.

Planning a trip with someone who has food allergies requires much more effort than most people realize and can be incredibly nerve-wracking. How would I keep him safe from allergens on the plane? Was the hotel cleaned thoroughly, or would there be leftover food particles? If there were delays, would we have enough food for him? Some of Theo’s allergens aren’t in the top nine most common ones, so we can’t just grab fast food or dine at a restaurant. This meant a lot of extra planning and packing many snacks for him just in case! Fortunately, we’re lucky to have an aunt who lives in California and was extremely helpful in this department. I meal-planned all the food Theo would need, sent the plan to her, and gave her a grocery list with photos of safe foods. She had everything ready for us when we arrived, which was a huge relief.

We had an early morning flight, so we stayed in a hotel and got up bright and early to take a shuttle to the airport. Traveling with food and medicine for Theo drew some extra attention at security, but we got through in good time. Southwest allowed us to pre-board, which gave us time to pick a good seat and wipe down everything he might touch. I also brought a crib bedsheet that fit perfectly as a seat cover to create a little barrier between him and the seat.

I personally get bad anxiety while flying, and my motion sickness is triggered very easily, but Theo was a champ. I let him play on his tablet to distract him, and he was unfazed by takeoff, landing, and the excessive turbulence throughout the flight. He was relaxed, watching a movie while I was gripping the seat and holding a barf bag.

My Aunt was a huge help in chauffeuring us around and we knew Theo needed some fun after all that travel, so we went to the aquarium—his first time. He’s very into sea creatures right now, so he loved racing through to see all the different animals. His favorite exhibit was the frogs, and he had fun hunting for all the cool frogs hiding in their habitats.

After a very long day, it was time to rest. That night, we stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Long Beach. This house is equipped with a full kitchen, play areas for kids, laundry rooms, and it’s very close to the clinic, making it an ideal spot for an early morning appointment the next day.

To my surprise, they even had craft time for the kids, and a local hotel donated dinner for all the guests. Of course, Theo couldn’t eat any of it, but it seemed like a big help for the families staying there, and I was able to enjoy a nice meal while Theo ate the safe food we had packed for him.

Saturday morning, we arrived at the clinic, and he was welcomed with a golden ticket in line with their Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory theme. The place was perfectly decorated with Willy Wonka characters, a candy apple tree, and candy everywhere.

As we walked down the candy lane to our room, Theo started getting nervous. I had prepared him with the help of family and friends, but since he’s had many skin tests on his back before, he was very upset about having it done again. We pulled out all the stops—suckers, TV shows, prizes, and songs—but he was still sad during most of the skin test. It broke my heart, but we knew it was a necessary step in the process.

For those unfamiliar with the skin test, they make very small scratches on the skin’s surface with his allergens to see how he reacts. They do it as quickly as possible, and they were able to test 30 different foods in just five seconds. The hardest part is that allergic reactions feel like bug bites—itchy—but he couldn’t scratch them until they read the results. Once the results were in, we applied a strong cream to stop the itching completely.

The skin test is just one piece of the puzzle when diagnosing allergens. The next step was his blood test. He was sad about this too, but he sat very still and was incredibly brave as they filled colorful tubes with his blood for extremely detailed testing. Afterward, he was thrilled to turn in his special golden ticket, get a prize, and drink a special juice!

After that, he needed a break, so we relaxed in our room and ate lunch. Later, we headed to my aunt’s house, which was closer to the airport, to stay the night. Theo was spoiled with lots of new toys to play with, we enjoyed a pizza night, and then we drove around to see all the fun Halloween decorations. Some houses had really cool walk-through displays, but Theo was tired and a little scared, so we called it an early night.

The journey home was another early morning, with us arriving at the airport at 4:30 a.m. The flight was smoother for my motion sickness, but we had a hiccup when the plane had to land at a different airport. After over two hours of sitting and waiting on the plane, we were able to take off and finally head to the correct airport. Through it all, Theo had a great attitude, and we made it home safely.

Throughout the trip, I was on high alert—wipes in one hand, always searching for signs of a reaction. We had a few red spots pop up at the hotel, my aunt’s house, and on the plane home, but they disappeared quickly, and he didn’t need any medicine. Anytime redness or hives appear, it sends me into a spiral of “what if.” Sometimes that spiral leads to a full panic but  considering this was our first trip and I was riding solo with Theo, I think I did really well keeping my anxiety in check, although I didn’t fully breathe a sigh of relief until we walked through the doors at home.

But the hope is one day we will be able to travel all over with freedom from all the worry