Ask About My Peanut Allergy

We received the awesome email below from a mother of a peanut allergic boy who credits Bo's blog chronicling his peanut allergy cure as a major factor in their inspiration for enrolling their son in a similar treatment program in Raleigh, NC. These kind of stories validate why we shared Bo's peanut desensitization treatments and still maintain this blog even though Bo is now cured of his peanut allergy!

"Bo is an inspiration!

Hello!  I just wanted to let you know that Bo’s story gave us the courage we needed to start OIT with our son.  That was over a year ago.  Tuesday is our last dose increase before maintenance and next December will be our peanut challenge.  So I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart!  I am so encouraged to see long-term maintenance is easy and not at all burdensome for your son.  Please continue to update every once in a while.  You can read about my son’s Peanut OIT journey at www.parrotseeds.blogspot.com. 

Anna C."

We also found a March 2013 post on Will's blog entitled "What Convinced Me?" that includes a reference and link to Bo's blog, as well as, other resources that any family considering the merits of food allergy desensitization treatment would find valuable.

Congratulations Will on your success so far with your peanut allergy desensitization. Thank you for sharing your own inspirational story of your courageous journey to cure your peanut allergy!

God bless and please join our prayers for the continued success and increased availability of treatment programs for life threatening food allergies.

Sincerely,

Bo & Family

As we approach this 2013 Thanksgiving our family wanted to give thanks and update you that Bo is now 12 years old and his peanut allergy is cured. We also relocated to the Dallas, TX area in Aug. of 2012.

Bo was 5 years old when he first started a multi-year peanut allergy desensitization program at Arkansas Children's Hospital, that at the time, was one of the first of its kind. You can read more details about the actual peanut allergy treatment by reading our previous posts that chronicled Bo's journey over the years, including that emotional day we learned that Bo's first year he had been actually receiving placebo and we realized we had to repeat the treatment protocal for year one.

For the past year and a half, Bo has simply eaten a Snicker's ice cream bar 3 days a week to maintain his peanut desensitization. Other than that, he is happily leading the life of a typical 12 year old young man. We no longer have to read food labels to ensure peanuts are not listed in the ingredients and we eat out without living in fear of cross-contamination. In fact, we don't carry Epi-Pens anymore since he purposely eats peanuts every week to maintain his body's tolerance for peanuts.

We are so blessed that so many of you from around the world have emailed us recently and over the years saying how Bo's peanut allergy desensitization success story and his courage has inspired others with life threatening food allergies. Several of them have gone on to participate in the many food allergy treatment programs now available and are reporting good results too! Quite simply that was the sole purpose of Bo's blog, to share our family's journey to find a cure for their little boy's life threatening peanut allergy and along the way replace despair with hope.

God bless you all and we will continue to pray for the cure of all life threatening food allergies. We leave you with some photos showing how Bo continues to live life to the fullest thanks to the prayers and medical support of so many, especially the wonderful staff in the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute.

Sincerely,

Bo, Betsy and Derek Talbot