... And they aren't pretty.
We got the blood test results on March 3rd. They showed clinically significant allergies to milk, egg whites, peanuts, and mustard. The threshold that they use to consider an allergy "clinically significant" is a result greater than 0.35. Dylan's results were 0.8 for milk, 1.6 for egg white, 2.4 for mustard, and a whopping 12.8 for peanut.
The allergist tried to present the results as good news, saying that it is likely that he will grow out of the milk, egg, and mustard allergies - not definite, and he made that clear, but probable given the relatively low IgE reaction. The peanut is a whole different ball game of course. He said that the much stronger IgE reaction, combined with the strong positive skin test result we got weeks before, makes it much less likely that he will grow out of that one.
He said that wants to redo the blood tests at age 3. If the milk, egg, and mustard IgE levels are similar or lower then he wants to do a food challenge at that point. He said that he doesn't ever do food challenges under age 3 as younger children can't communicate that they're having a reaction - you can see hives, swelling, and the like, but you can't see "my tongue feels funny" or "my throat is itchy". Ultimately, the results just meant that we had to keep doing what we were doing, eliminate peanuts from the house, and play the waiting game until October 2011.
At the time, I truly was hopeful that Dylan would outgrow some of his allergies. Unfortunately, with each passing day, and with each incident of hives (random or explained), that seems less and less likely. Anything is possible, and we are still going to repeat the blood work, but I would be amazed if he outgrew anything at this point. Which is why I decided to write this blog - to share our story, to share recipes, and to share our struggles. If my posts can help even one family going through the same challenges we are, then I consider this time well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment