No planters for us

Today we went in for the follow up on Brandon's first allergy test. There was good news, bad news and, new news. The good news is they believe his original positive reaction to egg was either a false positive or he has grown out of it because today he had zero reaction. The reason I am so happy about this is that he was able to finally receive a flu shot (he could not before because part of the flu vaccine's binding solution contains egg). He also tested negative for strawberries and shell fish.

I told them of a time when he went to someones house with a large number of cats he came home wheezing and puffing around the eyes. I said I wasn't sure if it was cats, or if it was possible since the house was atrociously dirty he had encountered dried up peanut butter somewhere. They said both were a possibility and tested him. Sure enough, like his dad he has developed an allergy to cats.

I also advised the doctor about a time at a pumpkin patch, when he road donkeys he came home with breathing trouble, hives and swollen lips. Turns out he is allergic to horses, donkeys, goats, and other farm animals with similar hair. Guess I have to take back the pony I bought him for Christmas huh!

Finally they retested him for peanut. She poked him and walked away. He immediately went to itch. I of course had to hold his hands and refuse to let him itch because it could spread it, and alter other test areas. The next thing I know he was crying and screaming and writhing in pain. They made it stay on for 18 minutes. Here is how it looked after only 1 minute.

After they came in, they handed me a tissue and told me to gently wipe his back to relieve him. Instantly the small amount of whatever peanut trace could have been left behind caused the 8 other negative reactions to turn positive. The doctors were baffled by it. They said it was the most severe reaction they had seen. I have tons of restrictions for him now. He told me that grandparents are the number one cause of kids with allergies having reaction, after that was other peoples grandparents, church functions and then daycare. At daycare he said the biggest cause was children who had a peanut type breakfast, aka a granola bar and then coming to school and touching your child. The doctor said that while parents of course know the school is a peanut free zone, they often never consider what their kids ingest before coming to school, and most often they don't wash their hands first.

I recently interviewed a preschool and was appalled when they told me that they allow peanuts. The director said their solution was simply to place a child with a peanut allergy at a separate table. Can you even begin to imagine the danger that poses. Kids get peanut butter in their hair, on their clothes, on their hands, in their nails. In fact, one child bit Brandon today. Can you only imagine if that child had just ingested peanuts and then bit my kid.

I went to the lake recently for a family function where someone was serving sandwiches. There was peanut butter and salami. She said it would be fine if Brandon ate them. She was pretty sure she cut the salami first and then cut the peanut butter. They were on the same plate but different sides so it should probably be okay. I just stared at her stunned she would even suggest it, let alone feed the other three kids there peanut butter, knowing they had been touching Brandon all day.

The handout they gave me stated that 10% of products labeled "processed in a plant with or may contain trace amounts of peanuts" contain peanuts. Then it said 5% of those products contain enough peanut to cause an anaphylactic reaction. That scared the shit out of me. I had to remove probably 85% of the Halloween candy this year because it contained trace amounts or was processed in.

Finally they said that because of his allergies, dads allergies and my moms allergies, Codi has an 80% allergy of developing a sever allergy. The sad thing is they have no way of pinpointing what could cause the allergy. He is banned from all nuts, eggs and fish until after he is three.

Another interesting fact. They told me the large majority of the population is not allergic to strawberries. He said, strawberries contain high amounts of histamine, and when people ingest large quantities they will break out in hives. The doctor said this reaction often leads people to think they are allergic when really it is just a generic response to histamine. Neat fact, since I've actually had that happen to me, and I spent a long time thinking it was a strawberry allergy.