Alexander was a champ at the allergy appointment today. It probably helped that we did it first thing in the morning and we had Dora on the iPod. Nonetheless, he cried very little during the pokes. And I gotta say, the nurse working the pokes went quick!
Naturally, as I held Alexander, I asked Eric to take pictures.
We asked the doctor to test for peanuts, several treenuts, horses, cats, dust, grass, trees, and a few other environmental ones.
His back, all numbered up, before she started poking.
10 minutes into it
15 minutes into it
The results: Alexander is allergic to dust, grass and peanuts.
The dust and grass allergies are easily managed through additionally cleaning of our home, weekly laundry of blankets and sheets, and after he plays in the grass, we shower him down and put on clean clothes when he comes inside. Nothing too major. And we don't have to get rid of the cats, which was a relief to all of us.
The peanut allergy is much more severe. As in life-threatening-anaphalactic shock-2 epi-pen-and-trip-to-ER allergy. But not airborne (always a silver lining). In the last picture, see the hives next to "dil, 28"? That's his reaction to a poke that was diluted 1/100th from the regular test they give for peanuts. Everything else given was at normal test rates. But after the doctor heard of his reaction to peanut butter at the age of 1, she had the test diluted. He had an instant reaction that confirmed her suspicion. Poor kid couldn't stop itching.
It is a relief to have answers. We have a plan for the preschool, we have a couple of epi-pens, and we have a lot of family and friends who are really good about remembering Alexander's peanut allergy. Eric and I have always said we want to parent from the angle of "responsibility" and now we have our chance to do so.
Thanks for your positive thoughts. We really appreciated the text messages, emails and phone calls.
