Allergy News

Don't have time to compose a fantastic new entry, so I've copied the email I sent to family about our good allergy news for today:

Today E had a Skin Prick Test (SPT) at the allergist's office.

We were not seeing much promising news in the yearly blood tests, and we all agreed it is time to find out more. We went into this test
agreeing that any news would be good because, if nothing else, confirmation of the allergies shows us we aren't doing all this for
nothing. But, once you see that hive is is hard to feel happy about it. Nonetheless, it was overall very positive. Here are the details, as
briefly as possible:

Peanut, Wheat, and Egg were all 4+ reactions (I think that's pretty much the highest). The peanut and egg scores on the SPT correlate with
her significant blood test scores--these the doctor feels are unquestionable "serious" allergies. The wheat score on the SPT
surprised him, as he felt that her blood tests scores gave us more hope. He'd like us to consider a food challenge for wheat, when we feel
comfortable, as her past reactions and test results are all rather strange--wheat isn't normally that severe an allergen. I think we'd
feel more comfortable if we saw better test results, having already experienced the severe reaction.

Sunflower seeds had a score of 3+, sort of a surprise too. He doesn't feel they are a major danger--still, she cannot eat them.

The milk score causes more confusion: it was negative. No welt, no reaction. Her past blood test scores for milk make him feel she has a
significant allergy to milk. He doesn't trust the SPT score. I'm disappointed, but I do trust him. He wants to see her blood scores go
down before food challenging it. We'll do another blood test this summer.

Her oat score was non-existent! It's never been a huge concern, but oats are usually processed with wheat so her past mild reaction could
have been due to that. We are clear to begin cautiously introducing oats. I've already purchased some gluten-free brands of oats (oatmeal cookies! hip hip, hooray!)

Her tree-nut scores were great! Only one of the 6 nuts tested produced a welt (size 1+), BUT she still cannot eat them, it's not something I
understand completely, but  treenuts are usually off limits for the peanut allergic.

Her sesame score was also negative! The doctor says she cannot eat it until we food challenge it, so that goes on the list of things to challenge.

Also, E's seafood and shellfish scores were completely negative!!! She will go back to the allergist's office next month to do a food
challenge for shrimp, and if she passes the doctor feels she can have shrimp, lobster, crabs, clams, and scallops. Since we are going to
Maine this year I think it is perfect timing!

So, in an effort to end this long note, I'll give a little recap: E will most likely be gaining some delicious and exciting new foods! Because she remains allergic to some of the more common allergens, she'll continue to be "homefed," bringing her own food to events and having limited "dining out" experiences (no Red Lobster for us--yet!) We have more insight into her current sensitivity, and will soon have plans in place for more testing and more food challenges. In all, it was a very successful day. E was excited going into the test, was very brave throughout it (Spongebob on the iPod helped a bit, I think), and despite having hoped to see "no welts," she came home with a smile on her face about the good stuff.

We'll let you know all future developments.