If you are reading this, you know that my husband was diagnosed with the alpha-gal allergy in September of 2010 and my son was diagnosed with the same thing in June of 2012. They have had NO mammal meat (beef, pork, goat, buffalo, bison, etc.) since they were diagnosed. We decided to have them retested late this summer and had some very encouraging results. My husband started with an alpha-gal level of 30.6 and in 3 years without any red meat, was down to .60. My son started with an alpha-gal level of 74.7 (this is VERY high) and his level was down to 7.34. Both boys were very encouraged by these results. Anything above .35 is considered positive,  so even though my husband’s number is so close to being negative, he could still have a reaction at .60. Dr. Lane’s office recommended they both come back in 6 months and be retested. These guys are counting down the days until they can have a hamburger and steak again!

I, of course, am very happy for them. They both truly miss having red meat and will be thrilled to be free of this allergy. I was clear that we would NOT be having steak 5 nights a week, and my husband said that 4 nights a week would be just fine! Ha ha! That being said, I do have some concerns. For one thing, my husband works outside 8 to 9 months out of the year, so it is highly likely that he will get another tick bite at some point down the road. Will his reaction be worse next time because he has had this before? I think it could be very frustrating to have this allergy off and on. But until they come up with a way to prevent a reaction, we may just be on a roller coaster ride! I will keep you posted. Thanks for reading!