Onboarding Visit: 1 – 2 hours
At your first appointment, we conduct extensive diagnostics in order to obtain a complete picture of your child’s immune system and allergic profile. The testing allows our medical team to evaluate over 300 biomarkers. The result is a molecular snapshot of how your child’s system views allergens. This will be presented in your second visit, approximately 8-10 weeks after your first visit.
This will include: Review the food intake questionnaire | Skin Prick Test | Labs
Launch Visits: 2 Days
Day One – Patch Day: 30 minutes
A patch will be placed on your child’s back. The patch contains physical food antigen and must sit in an enclosed fashion on your child’s back for 24 hours. Patients who are 7+ years old will do a PFT (pulmonary function test) and ENO (exhaled nitric oxide test) before the patch is placed.
The patch testing allows us to assess how the patient’s GI tract reacts to various allergens.
Day Two – Launch Day: 2 – 3 hours
Day two of your second appointment will include:
Patch Removal: Our medical staff will remove the patch and record your results.
Treatment Plan: A physician will explain your child’s treatment plan and all the results gathered from our analytics. This is the best time to ask any questions. Please keep a running list of what you would like to know.
Food Dosing Strategy: Each child will receive a food dosing strategy that explains the order of allergens to be challenged and treated.
At-Home Dosing Regimen: Our medical staff will explain your child’s Recommended, Maintenance and Treatment foods.
Anaphylaxis Plan: Our medical staff will explain anaphylaxis and how to address it.
Food Challenge: Your child will challenge a food that is in the sensitized category of their allergy snapshot and then exercise for 5 minutes to get their heart rate above 150-160 beats per minute while being monitored closely.
Challenge Cycle Visit: 1 hour
Food Challenge: A food challenge will typically involve consuming 10 to 30 grams of an allergen. Your child will then be monitored while he or she exercises for 5 minutes to get their heart rate above 150-160 beats per minute. Our data predicts that there is 90% chance they will pass their food challenge.
Food Introduction: During the challenge visit a small amount of allergen will be introduced in clinic and then added to your at-home dosing regimen. Your child will typically challenge this allergen at your next visit.
At-Home Dosing Regimen: Our medical staff will explain which allergens will be added to your maintenance foods, recommended foods, and which allergens will now be treatment foods. Learn more about at-home dosing here.
All visits will be challenge visits until tolerance visits are achieved!
Tolerance Visits
Tolerance visits are designed to ensure long-term immunological dietary tolerance.
Tolerance Visit 1: A challenge of approximately 10 grams of the final food on your food dosing strategy will be followed by daily dosing of this food for 3 – 4 months before Tolerance Visit 2.
Tolerance Visit 2: A challenge of the highest allergen or a combined challenge of the two highest allergens followed by an escalation or daily dosing in preparation for Remission Visit 1.
Remission Visits
Pre-visit Lab Work: Lab work should be repeated at Foundation Labs 3 months prior to your child’s remission visit.
Remission Visit 1: A challenge of the highest allergen. After this, the dosing cycle for this allergen will be weekly. Follow up will be in 1 year (unless they have seeds, fish or shellfish to challenge).
Once your child achieves remission, we continue to monitor their immune systems via semi-annual and annual checkups. We’re committed to our patients’ health and safety for years to come.
Remission Visit 2: Review your child’s lab results and discuss any changes in maintenance.
Once your remission visits are complete, you will be advised to return on a semi-annual/annual basis!