Food Allergy Institute TIP Patient Interview: Josh Franklin

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Josh Franklin is a food allergy dad to Jack, a 7 year old allergic to peanut and egg. They live in San Diego and Jack is in maintenance for egg, is currently dosing peanut, and no longer needs to worry about peanut or egg cross-contact. Josh’s advice to anyone interested in TIP is to believe the stories about how much it’s changed people’s lives. His favorite moment from Jack’s time in the program was when their family was able to go to a restaurant together for the first time, which was made even sweeter as it was Josh’s birthday.

 

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What were you doing before TIP to stay safe?

Strict avoidance.

How were you feeling before joining TIP? What was your state of mind?

I was feeling worried about the future. A coworker of mine had an anaphylactic reaction at a work event that really scared me. It made me think there had to be something I could do to help Jack in the future so I started looking into what our options were.

How did you find out about TIP?

I actually found out about it through Spokin! I ended up talking to Spokin’s founder, Susie, about the program.

What was your biggest concern or reservation about starting the program? 

I was skeptical. The statistics I saw on the program seemed unbelievable at first. The difference between TIP’s success rate of over 90% compared to OIT’s success rate of around 30% was shocking. I was also worried about safety.

How did you navigate it?

I went to a TIP information session and the presentations I saw helped me overcome my concerns. I also joined a TIP Facebook group.

What was the deciding factor for you to join TIP?

The Facebook group was really the deciding factor for me. Seeing the sense of community in the group and all the people talking about their progress and how life changing the program was made it sink in for me that this was real. I was impressed by the Food Allergy Institute’s data and how thorough their testing was, too. I liked their unique approach to treatment, with the customized plan for each patient and the use of machine learning to find related foods that help a patient build tolerance to their allergens. I also liked that they could do more than just prescribe avoidance.

Did you know anyone in the program or connect with anyone before starting?

I talked to the people in the Facebook group I joined.

How have you kept your child motivated in the program?

I told Jack this was something we were trying that was completely safe and could possibly reduce the severity of his allergies so they weren’t life threatening. He was totally on board until he learned he had to do blood tests but we were able to do exposure therapy to help him overcome those fears, which really helped.

What would you tell someone considering TIP?

Get on the waitlist right away! I struggle with feeling like I’m preaching when I talk about TIP because I’m so excited about it. I know it might seem unbelievable—I tell everyone I was skeptical about it too but now my son is eating 2 peanuts and a bunch of eggs every day.

What’s been your favorite moment in the program?

Jack reached the point of being safe from cross-contact with his allergens three days before my birthday and on my birthday, we were able to go to a restaurant as a family for the first time in his life. We also went to a gourmet cookie shop for dessert. It was a huge outcome for us.

How has TIP changed your child’s life?

Jack has so much less anxiety in his life. He used to not be able to eat at a restaurant and we could only order from Chipotle because that was the one place that didn’t have any of his allergens. Now he’s able to eat at any restaurant. Getting to the point of being safe from cross-contact opened up things like going to birthday parties and allowed him to participate in so much more.

How has TIP changed your life?

We have so much less anxiety in our lives as a family, too. Food is always around and we were always worried about Jack because of that. It was heartbreaking to think about what he couldn’t do. He got used to being disappointed and as a parent, that just makes you feel powerless. When they told us Jack was safe from cross-contact, it was such a big moment because we knew he could live a relatively normal life even if we stopped there. The way our lives have changed feels surreal.

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