Who knew?

**warning, the photo at the end of the post is of a sensitive nature, proceed with caution**

I know it's been quite some time since my last update.

A little follow up first. The FAAN walk last year was quite the experience and so worthwhile. I'm hoping to get an even larger group together for this coming September when the walk is back in San Francisco.

Mason's food allergies seem to be managed between home and daycare well enough. There's an occassional slip up, but we know what to look for and how to treat it, so it's managed. We have not done any food trials since our accidental experiment over Thanksgiving and I'm in no rush to try.

Now's the time of year that seasonal allergies are on the rise. About this time last year it seemed we were constantly fighting a stuffy runny nose, a wet cough and sneezes abounded. Speaking with his allergist on several occassions we both suspected seasonal allergies (Hay Fever), but since he was so young, just over a year, it wasn't commonly seen and we were dealing with it as any other cold. For a child his age, there's not much you can do to offer relief in the stuffy, coughey, sneezy department.

Well, seems the seasonal stuff is back in full swing. Not only are we constantly battling a cough and runny nose, but his eczema on his legs is a constant battle to keep under control. It doesn't seem to bother him too terribly bad, but I just hate seeing those little red welts and scaley patches. Dealing with it myself is bad enough, but I just ache seeing that he has to deal with it too.

So there were plans put into place to do a blood screening for allergies (RAST). The environmental SPT didn't really come back with any strong hits, and we are all well aware of his food restrictions, but there might just be something more we're missing or wasn't included on the first round of SPT's.

We had arranged to do this on Friday, tomorrow, but as always, plans with a toddler are never permanent. Last night, on my way to pick up Mason from childcare, I get a call from the provider. She's just changed Mason's diaper and there's a palm sized welt on his left hip/buttock - what should she do. Mind you, we've never had a hive that large before and there weren't any others popping up. I was only 15 min away and asked that she keep him isolated until I arrived to inspect.

No joke, it was the size of an adults hand. I quickly stripped him down to inspect every inch of him & found no other spots. Curious. Normally with a reaction there's a cluster of spots. Some I would call large, but nothing like this. I'd never seen anything on this scale before, so I wasn't sold that it was a hive.

Next step, temperature read. It was a digital underarm read and by the time it pinged 100 I dropped it, said a quick good-bye to daycare and called the advice nurse. It didn't seem to be an emergency, he was breathing fine, no swelling, but of concern and worth an office visit the next day.

Which brings us to today. The welt is gone, temp is still fluctuating, but it's manageable with regular doses of Tylenol.

We managed to get a pretty good photo of the welt before it vanished & I emailed that along to his Dr. before our appointment. His assessment? It was a hive! It's not unheard of for a child to develop an allergic reaction when their body is fighting off a virus. Instead of just flushing out the bad guys, they hung around, so his body went into agressive fight mode and there you have a hive. Now this is in the most simplest terms, but essentially Mason is allergic to his cold.

It's now, as I mentioned previously, vanished. It could come back in a completely different area and we shouldn't be surprised if another one pops up with his next cold. Unless it's bothersome to him or being irritated by his clothing, we are to ignore them. Otherwise, we treat him with his anti-histamine and it should fade away swiftly.

Now's the time for those who are sensitive to look away. This is a hive, if you can believe it.

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.**

Butterflies all a flutter!

Today is the day we can breathe a little easier. While we won't be able to completely relax, having some answers will take off a huge weight from our minds & hearts.
Our appointment is set for 4PM today.
I've been talking with Mason here & there, trying to prepare him for the Skin Prick Test (SPT). I'm not certian that he fully understands, but we've talked about how we're going to visit the Dr. today & they are going to tickle his back. We talked about how it might itch or tingle or burn, but that we and the Dr. would keep him safe.
I think I need the talking to much more than he does. My nerves are all over the place. It's a strange excitement. I'm not looking forward to the challenging road that may lie ahead, or how Mason will react to the testing. Just having some answers, a direction to guide us toward a healthy life for our family, will be such a relief.
This evening may be a little chaotic depending how the testing goes, so I will do my best to post a recounting of the test & the results & the next steps tomorrow while Mason naps.
Please keep us in your thoughts - or at least pray for my sanity, I'm going to need it! :)