Bryce goes twice annually to his pediatric allergist. His allergist is a nice guy and I trust his opinions. So, when I found out today that Bryce is now old enough to be re-skin tested, I didn't question. He was skin tested as a baby and they tend to not do that again to children until they are 4 or so.
The bummer part was that I had NO IDEA this was going to happen today, and I did not bring Cow and Blankie with us. I had nothing with which to try to make Bryce feel better. (note to self: always bring Cow and Blankie to the allergist.) So they needed to test/re-test Bryce for 16 things, including the control. Sigh. And this time it is to be done on his forearms instead of his back. What does that mean? That means that I get to sit with him on my lap, restraining him from bending his elbows or scratching his arms. Without Cow and Blankie, restraining Bryce was no easy task.
Here's a recreated photo of how he had to sit (you can see the identifying marker letters and the little dots that remain from the skin prick test):
This translates into 20 minutes of screaming. From Bryce. I was cursing food allergies on the inside, he was the one with the decibels you could hear in the parking lot. It's really the second worse part of food allergies. The first worst part of food allergies is the always being worried that he'll react to something. Skin prick testing comes in at a close 2nd.
Bryce required about half of them to be stopped at the 10 minute mark. They apply a topical gel to the prick sites to stop them. At the 20 minute mark, he was getting more hives and the ones they "stopped" were getting larger. He required Benadryl. Just the word "Benadryl" makes him cry, so now he was crying again. Lucky me, I got to restrain him to give him his meds. Fun times.
What's the verdict? No change. Some things were actually much worse, none were really improved and he added 1 new allergen: Barley. The kid is now allergic to barley. (insert any number of curse words here.)
The Dr. said, "So, looks like nothing will change in your kitchen."
Food allergies still stink.
Dort, that's horrible. Just horrible. Poor kiddo! It makes me glad we don't see an allergist. I definitely don't miss mine. :/ Next week, we have an appointment for Katie's first blood draw to do the Genova Labs food allergy test that I had done. My MD and I both ruled against it at this stage since we're already on GAPS, but it made such a difference for me that I feel I have to do it. NOT looking forward to it but I'm staying optimistic and having hubby's done at the same time to *hopefully* help boost her confidence with the needle and sitting still.
ReplyDeleteThe blood draws are always just.plain.hard. I hope Miss K does well for you!!! The good news for you (well, K, actually) is that her food issues are very different from Bryce's, so you have a lot more wiggle room regarding docs/treatment/GAPS, etc.
DeleteI'm very glad her allergies all seem to be IgG or latent allergies/sensitivities. I've learned a lot more about it since taking my test, especially that latent allergies still affect the immune system and cause our bodies to create antibodies. No wonder we feel awful most of the time! They just have a tendency to create undiagnosed 'don't feel well' symptoms and chronic illnesses as opposed to frenzied hospital visits and epi pens. I feel very lucky that we can heal IgG reactions much more easily and they don't cause emergency reactions if she ingests something once. Though I don't feel that we have more wiggle room with our diet and doctors but definitely do with treatments. We're much more restricted with diet than you can imagine. Suu-cky! Katie even reacts to small amounts of many foods so cross-contamination is an issue. I can only give her foods that don't come out of my kitchen if I'm prepared for the attitude changes, bellyaches, and not feeling well that come with ingesting packaged foods. As you know, it's very frustrating trying to keep them safe. GAPS has been wonderful for lessening her reactions though. She's able to go to the store without getting rashes from the cleaning products they use or cross-contamination from what other people have touched. Eczema flares and her reactions to a single ingestion of food are not nearly as strong as they were a year ago. Are you feeling too restricted to try GAPS? I have a few people dancing around it right now because that's where they feel most comfortable, but they're all finally coming around to a grain and sugar free lifestyle. Have you looked into the primal blueprint yet? I find that a lot of the concepts ring true for me, but, like everything, I'm still feeling my way. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to do the 80/20 or 90/10 rule with food and not have any restrictions. I can dream right? lol
DeleteI meant "wiggle room" in that you can see whatever doc you want, you can do different things to help her, etc. There is no wiggle room for Bryce as far as Docs are concerned. He's seeing the best one in MI!!
DeleteGAPS, honestly, is far too limiting and I'm at about the max of what I can do food-wise around here. I've looked at primal and actually tried it for myself a few weeks. It wasn't a good fit and I just couldn't maintain that lifestyle. I think we're going to keep with the status quo here for now. Maybe eventually I'll make some of those huge changes you've made, but for now, drastic change isn't on the horizon. Small tweaks--sure. =)
I think part of it is that I always think outside of and challenge the norm. I do so much better going by my intuition that I regret it when I listen to the 'experts.' We're too oddball for anyone else to help us. lol.
DeleteYou've already made HUGE changes so don't sell yourself short! Check out the recipes on Mark's Daily Apple and see if you're interested in slowly incorporating any of them as meals. If so, you can add in grain-free meals here and there (say once every 1-2 weeks). Work it into your meal rotation and see if occasionally going grain-free grows on everyone. You can mix it up with meals and snacks just to see. I think it's too hard to jump into any 'diet' that's so against the grain of what's familiar to our psyche and our bodies. That approach often makes people jump in feet first then throw the baby out with the bath water when they're body doesn't respond well to drastic change. I suggest dabbling instead. I still dabble in grains and other foods that make us more ill and note the changes. Sometimes I'm not strong enough and sometimes I want to gauge how our bodies react. You never know where you'll end up in the long run! (and don't we know that one! lol) I've had great feedback with many of these recipes (though we can't even use spices so I sadly haven't tried any yet). http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/#axzz1jeufGIrt
I'm so sorry! Why couldn't they do it on his back? It just seems easier. Poor kid and poor you! I always feel like I need to go out for a drink after restraining my kid for a medical procedure. It is so emotionally exhausting.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm not actually sure why they couldn't do it on his back. I asked if they could, and the nurse told me no. As you understand, I was so stressed about before we even started that I didn't have my brain working to ask "why not?" I really needed a drink when we were done. sigh.
DeletePoor Bryce (and you!). Michelle hasn't minded the skin tests or blood draws too much so far, esp. if they test on the arm. (She screamed bloodly murder with the back one because she was being restrained.)
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any cows, but we do have a Cars valentine with Bryce's name on it, so feel free to drop by anytime :)