And the Heaven's Sang, well a little bit...

IT'S NOT WHEAT!!!! Thank goodness, it's not wheat! I was so worried that we would have to turn our entire kitchen upside-down to rid our pantry of wheat based products, and now we don't.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to what the SPT revealed.

What we aren't allergic to: Soy bean; Egg White; Corn; Rice; Whole-wheat; Orange; Apple; Tuna; Tomato; Beef; Chicken; Pork. The two in this list that were of most concern to me were the wheat & tomato. Wheat because that was what we had assumed was the cause of all those horrible rashes. Tomato because as a small child, I developed an allergy to tomato & strawberries (both are along the same lines). At first glance, Mason seems to be in the all clear, but there are two more possible offenders, and unfortunately we drew the short straw.

What we are allergic to: Cow's milk & Peanut. His reaction to the milk was much worse & way more apparent than the peanut, but the peanut is a popular allergen on the rise.

Mason did very well for the actual test. The nursing staff was short handed that day, so they seemed to be rushing things along, which didn't help what little anxiety Mason had to begin with. The actual pricking of his back wasn't so bad, until the sting set in, which resulted in about 20 seconds of crying & a couple of large tears. We had to sit, without rubbing his back or letting him run loose in the hospital for 20 minutes. Any one who's ever had to keep a 1 year old corralled for 20 minutes without running, bumping or falling down into something is near impossible. Almost instantly the milk spot began to grow & radiate red. It became larger than the control Histamine spot, which is supposed to envoke a reaction as a baseline. The Peanut bump was significant, but not as extreme as the milk.

Then we met with the Allergist, Dr. H. A very tall gentleman & Mason was very distracted by the large size of his shoes. :) Dr. H explained that we didn't have to worry at all with wheat, but couldn't rest completely because of the milk. We should continue to read labels & avoid all milk products. If Mason should become exposed, over the counter anti-histamine should ease the symptoms (and the biggie) his allergy isn't life threatening! Dr. H also suggested that we treat the peanut, and nuts in general, with the same kid gloves, but didn't think exposure would be anything to warrent a trip to the emergency room. We are to continue to introduce new foods with at least a 3 day, but more like 5 day waiting period in between to be sure of no reaction. Should something spark a reaction, we should call him to discuss the possibility of another SPT. If nothing new presents, then we don't have to see him again for another SPT until Mason is 4 years old!

Such a weight has been lifted from our home. We still have to be careful & read food labels & ask for ingredients at restaraunts, but we don't have to live in fear of what the reaction might lead to. We will get in the habit of bringing Benadryl everywhere & keeping some at the homes we frequent (Grandparents, this means you), as well as a cortizone cream should we accidently have an exposure.

Oh, Dr. H did suggest that if we have peanut butter to wash our hands & mouth before interacting with Mason. So far, the peanut hasn't caused a major reaction, but food allergies aren't predictable & warrent an extra step or two.

With much delight in the fact that wheat came back negative, Mr. & I headed to the store to collect some bread! Turns out the store brand is milk free, made with soy, so we snatched up a loaf & headed home. I tested out a quarter of a slice of dry toast(Food Challenge). Mason was so happy to see it, I felt awful for having deprived him of it for so long. We kept a close eye on his legs, and diaper area & to our delight, there was no reaction. Before this test, it was noted he had two slight patches of eczema on each thigh, and I can only assume it was from the SPT. Since then the two patches have all but disappeared & we have no recurring affects from the toast.

I'm going to continue this blog as a journal to our food trials & as a resource for anyone else who may be battling milk & peanut allergies. Thank you for being my sounding board.

**Did you know, that McDonald's, uses milk in their french fries, fish sandwich, and nuggets of all things? We won't be visiting Ronald any time soon.**