Hey Jin Chong, MD, PhD

"My husband brought our son to Dr. Chong after months of us trying to find answers to his illness-persistent watery eyes, runny/stuffy nose, irritability, and diarrhea. He was tested for the Alpha-gal (AGS) allergy due to being newly allergic to dairy out of no where-which then led to a panel showing he was allergic to beef, pork, and lamb. His AGS levels were less than 10 due to us not giving him any of those items weeks prior to the test by recommendations of an GI practitioner-but she misinterpreted the test by saying it was just negative and that he didn’t have the AGS allergy. We were first told that she was an expert in AGS, but were told that she had only treated one person in her 25 year career. Not truly understanding this illness, she completely disregarded our concerns and continued to talk over my husband while he tried to explain everything we were going through. She then followed up the visit with a call to our pediatrician’s office with concerns that we have been starving our child with dietary restrictions and religious restrictions-not ever once asking if we followed religious restrictions. We are parents of 3 kids: 11, 6, and 2. All being healthy until our 2 year old son developed this random allergy overnight. She failed to listen to the concerns. She failed to show empathy and decided that our son is “too young for such a rare allergy.” The allergy is brought on by a bite from a Lone Star Tick and causes an allergy response to mammal products. Prior to the tick bite he received in March 2023-he was a happy and healthy little boy who had a love for all foods and had absolutely no reactions prior. Her knowledge was less than fascinating despite being represented by her office as an expert. We asked for help and got no where-except being scrutinized by our pediatrician’s office now."