Allergy Test Do-Over

William had his follow-up allergy appointment to re-test him on cat, dog and dust mites yesterday. He reacted ever so slightly to cat and dog with a small flare about 8 hours after the injection. The allergist just shakes his head at how delayed this kid is with reacting. In the office they look for a reaction after 15 minutes. No chance for that with us. That's my mellow boy! More importantly, however, he had some rather larger reactions this morning (approximately 24 hours later!) to the dust mite injections! Dust mite makes so much sense considering his ongoing nasal and eye symptoms. We called the doc back and he was relieved to have pinpointed an allergen for us so we can work on getting Will some relief!

Since there was a bit of confusion over his reactions after the initial testing, it feels good to have had a chance to re-test and get a better diagnosis. Now, off to procure allergy covers for all beds/pillows and /comforters. We're all feeling a little freaky about dust mites now and I am so ready to eliminate the problem as much as possible!

Good News/Bad News

William had his long-awaited allergy testing today. They did both percutaneous (skin prick) and intradermal (injection) testing for cat, dog, dust mite, molds, various trees and weeds and of course milk. He reacted to nothing. Did ya catch that? Nothing. The allergist was surprised and a little puzzled because William looks like a typical allergy patient with allergic shiners and creases under his eyes, post nasal drip, throat clearing and dry, dry, eczema skin. Evidently we just haven't tested for the right thing. So, the bad news is we don't really have any solid answers on what flares his eczema.

Percutaneous testing. The red flare at the top left of his back is reaction to histamine. On the far upper right of his back is an "M" for milk with nary a red wheal in sight.

They gave Will a little hand-held pinball game to play while he waited the 15 minutes reaction time.

Intradermal testing. Since Will didn't react to the skin prick tests, they went further and did injected tests where the serum is placed just under the first layer of skin, forming a small bubble. He was super nervous about this but did fine. Again, on the left hand side of the photo, you can see the "H" for histamine and his predictable reaction. On the right side of the photo, he maybe had the slightest reaction to maple trees and ragweed but not enough to even be sure about.

The good news is, of course, that he appears to have outgrown the dairy allergy and we may all now resume a lifestyle of wanton cheese eating!!!! And also, I am thankful he didn't end up having multiple allergies. Dr. S. gave us some great tips for skin care (evidently I have eczema too, by the way. I have many of the same skin characteristics as Will) and we're excited to see if we get some improvement in the look/feel of our skin this winter.

All in all, I was really pleased with this allergist and his clinic staff. Really nice man, very thorough and easy to talk to. The nurses talked Will through the testing every step of the way. He was pretty nervous about all the pokes, but once he knew what it was all about, he did great. And after this visit, despite not really knowing fully what his sensitivities are, I am feeling much less worried about him having another reaction.

Updated to add: Will is evidently a delayed reactor! This morning (Wednesday, 12/03/08) he woke up with reddened areas around two of his injection sites. Problem is, there seems to be some discrepancies that I just noticed on his testing sheet, causing the allergist's nurse and I to question whether a mistake was made in what he was tested for. The question now is: Did he react to cat and dog, or dust mites? Dust mites make more sense in a way, because of ongoing eye and nose symptoms. We rarely hang out with cats and dogs. Follow-up appointment in 2 weeks with a re-test might give us some answers. Ugggh! Allergies!

Dairy Free Once Again

About 5 years ago, when Will was just 3, it was discovered that he had a dairy allergy. The night we rushed him to the ER scratching furiously and welted up from chest to eyes still lives nightmarishly on in my mind. After getting the diagnosis of dairy allergy from an excellent allergist the whole family went dairy free. The only thing we ever missed was cheese. There is no good substitute for dairy cheese! I used to drink several glasses of milk a day and now I cannot bear the taste of it. It became so easy to live without dairy, and everyone in the family-from sibs to grandparents- was supportive and went out of their way to accommodate Will.

Then, about a year ago we decided to try some dairy on Will to see if things had changed for him. Lo and behold, he had no reaction to it. No eczema, no itching, no allergic shiners. I started worrying less about a bit of dairy here and there. We even had ice cream on occasion! Zounds! He never had a single reaction.

Until this past Saturday.

I noticed he had a few red bumps around his mouth. Then a few more. Then I noticed the red rash peeking out from his shirt collar. His chest was a rashy mess! Then one eye got a big red "shiner". I was astounded. We hadn't seen this kind of thing in literally years because we had avoided dairy so well. There are pictures to document it, but I can't bear to post them.

Then mommy guilt kicked in. We have had a ton of dairy lately. I remembered the chocolate cheesecake we had on Thursday... The cheese sticks I tossed to the kids in the car on Wednesday. The Mac and cheese twice the week before... Then there was the cheese in the bean and rice burrito.... Carmel corn.. buttered popcorn...Parmesan cheese crackers...heavy cream in a soup....cheese on a sandwich...chocolates snitched from Nana's candy dish.... and who knows what else.

I could just cry. Daily intake of dairy was obviously too much for him, especially at this time of year with pollens and molds flying rampant through the air. Can you say allergen overload?

I am sooooooooo guilt ridden right now. The rash is finally subsiding and the itching is "Not so itchy" as Will puts it. He has been dosed with Benedryl every 4 hours the past few days. Poor kid.

So, needless to say, we are back to dairy free. It's really not a problem to make substitutions, just a matter of being diligent about reading labels.

Mea Culpa. Mea Culpa.

Did You Know That October Is...

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Do yourself a favor and make an appointment to go and have your girls checked out. I did this morning and I have to say it was such an easy test to have done. It was not at all painful, I wouldn't really even say it was uncomfortable. And it will go a long way for peace of mind for me. We are lucky to have digital mammography available locally at our brand new clinic and hospital. Digital mammography is a relatively new technology and there currently are a small number of facilities with digital units. With computer-aided reading, it is a highly accurate and in-depth screening and diagnostic tool. The technique used is the same for x-ray mammography, but with digital imaging, an x-ray like image is available on the computer screen immediately and is ready for review in a shorter time.

One interesting tidbit about our new digital mammogram technology...it's existence in our small community hospital was made possible largely through a generous matching contribution by Horst Rechelbacher of Aveda salon fame. Way to go, Horst! An awesome contribution to the community!