Allergy Testing -- Take 2

As most of you know, we have been living with Ledger's food allergies since he was first diagnosed in March of 2010.  He is allergic to soy, corn, egg, and dairy.  And cockroach mix (not a food!).  At that time, the doctor recommended that we should get retested when he is 2 and 1/2 or 3 years old.  For the first year, we were VERY good at avoiding the foods that Ledger is allergic to -- reading labels and keeping him on weird diet of protien, carbs, and applesauce.  lol.  Over the last 6 months, we have been much more lax about food avoidance.  He eats (and LOVES) string cheese, cheese dip, corn chips, and a whole bunch of other things that are on the no-go list.  But we haven't seen a single problem or reaction to the foods.  He still doesn't get real milk -- he drinks rice milk pretty well.  He's never had a scrambled egg.  But mostly, we just let him live his life and keep his "allergy" foods in moderation.

Chris was especially anxious for this round of testing because we really felt like he would no longer show allergies to some of the foods -- especially dairy.  I was especially anxious about the testing because I knew it would be painful and that I would have to "hold" him down through most of the torture.

The allergy testing was indeed a type of torture.  They poked his back with 20-30 little needles.  He squirmed and cried and made me feel terrible.  But as soon as the pricks were over, Chris went to work distracting him and he quickly forgot the pain and was laughing and playing and chasing bubbles in the exam room.  We waited about 15 minutes until the results were read and then waited another 15 minutes for the doctor.  She had good news and bad news.  Good news: Ledger is no longer allergic to corn.  Bad news: He is still quite allergic to dairy and egg.  He also had mild reactions to soy and peanut, but she wanted to double check these results with some blood allergy testing.  She OK'd Ledger to get a flu shot as long as he was carefully monitored for allergic reaction, so we moved to the next room where a nurse gave him the flu shot in his thigh.  We impatiently waited the 30 minutes and didn't get any sort of vaccination reaction.  Yay!  For the last step, we went to another building and had a bunch of blood drawn for the remaining tests.  This was probably the most difficult one to hold him for -- he cried and said "it hurts Mommy!".  We were in the clinic for more than 3 hours!  It was a stressful morning for everyone.

Allergy testing pricks.

Just a few minutes after the skin prick test -- he's smiling and playing with Daddy.

So, overall, there are going to be no big changes in our lives.  We will continue on rice milk and keep those other foods -- eggs and dairy -- in moderation.  We will find out about nuts and soy in a few weeks and assimilate that into our current plan.  Ledger is still healthy and happy.  We are very proud of how tough he was through this testing and are thankful that we won't have to do this again for a while!