Chest Pain Just Before Bed

Someone brought to our house very yummy homemade smore brownies.  My friend said that none of the ingredients stated that it was made in a factory with any kind of nuts.  There was milk, but Owen is tolerating a tablespoon of ice cream a night.  Owen ate the brownie at 8 pm.  At 8:30, not knowing he already ate the brownie, Doug gave him a "healthy" tablespoon of Friendly's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  He also got his nightly does of 1 teaspoon of Hydroxyzine.  At 8:45 he was upset stating he had a squeezing pain in his chest.  I asked when the pain started, and he said while he was in the basement (which is where he ate the brownie).  I gave him 1 teaspoon of benadryl, and he fell asleep at 9:15.  He was not in distress, but he continued to have pain.  There were not other symptoms.  I checked in with the on-call physician at Hopkins- I can't say how much I LOVE them- and she told me to keep an eye on him for the next hour, but it is most likely that he will not wake up and will be fine. 

I am so grateful for Hopkins that gives me great peace of mind.

Peanut Fight on The Bus

Today Owen celebrated his Grammy's birthday, and I thank God for the village of people who kept him safe today.

The middle schoolers had a peanut fight on the bus today.  One of the students told their parents about the incident.   That vigilant parent called Owen's school to make them aware that there could be peanuts all over the bus that the elementary school kids was about to get on.  The school nurse then investigated all the students on that bus, and flagged Owen since he had a nut allergy.  The nurse called me and asked me to pick him up.  I wasn't home, so they called my neighbor.

I am truly amazed at the vigilance that the student, parent, nurse, and neighbor had today.  I am so very thankful for their keeping Owen safe today. 

My biggest concerns:
1. Was the bus cleaned at the end of the day?
2. I know there is a video camera on the bus. How does the middle school plan on addressing a nut fight on the bus, and the possible danger it poses to kindergarteners who load on the bus 30 minutes later?
3. This is Owen's 3rd food incident on the bus.  None of the events were life threatening, but I am concerned if I am doing everything I should to keep him safe.  

Wheat Challenge

The wheat challenge was off to a shaky start. Owen complained about an itchy throat and mouth during the 1st 3 weeks. Tonight, Owen ate 2 oreos and a 1/4 slice of cake without any complaints. I am so excited. Thank you God for this tremendous progress!!!

RAST Results

The results are in! Owens' RAST scores are:

peanut (12.54) was 19.35, 22.87, 13.32, 9.19, and 6.81
egg (2.02) was 7.33, 21.72, 11.7, 2.9, and 1.46
milk (20.67) was 33.2 in 02/11, 77.08 in 01/10, 20.52 in 01/09, 11.89 in 07/08 and 3.26 in 01/08
almond (0.38), was negative
barley (9.25), was 18.9
hazelnut (5.24), was 5.36
pecan (14.0), was 17.5
sesame (4.57), was 3.62
wheat (23.4), was 35.8
cashew (25.5), was 37.7
walnut (33.2), was 18.2
pistachio (17.9) was 37.8
and negative to crab, pea, shrimp , chick pea

The wheat is heading in the right direction. We started a wheat challenge, but it is going much slower than I was hoping. 1/5 of an Oreo cookie will make his throat start to itch. We have had a couple of scary moments when he panicked because of a reaction to wheat. Benadryl has always wiped out all his symptoms, and it only takes 5 minutes for him to be 100% back to normal, but it is a bit scary.

The sesame is low enough that we can try that at home. The milk is low enough that we could try baked milk. But we will not pursue milk or sesame until the wheat challenge is complete.

The nuts are heading in the right direction (except for walnut), but the doctor said he won't feel comfortable until those numbers are about a 2. So we have time. But we don't mind. Getting wheat back is our only goal right now. Adding wheat to Owen's diet would be a huge improvement in his quality of life.

Out of Breath

I feel like Owen gets out of breath very easily. I did this video of Owen playing in the basement, because I feel like he was breathing hard while he was playing. It is very subtle, but it just seems like a bit more heavy than normal.

Here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuea7mDLYfo

Last week, my babysitter gave Owen an inhaler twice because of slight shortness of breath and a dry cough.

Today, at the pool, Owen was holding hands with 2 girls, and jumping the in water. My babysitter said that Owen became short of breath, and was coughing a lot. She told him to take a break, but he was still coughing. He said his throat felt funny, and he must be allergic to the water. :) My babysitter asked the girl, who Owen was holding hands with, what she had just ate for lunch (because she had just finished eating), and the girl said she had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Because of everything that was happening, my babysitter gave Owen a drink, and then took the kids home, and Owen improved immediately.

Egg Trial - Day 3

In January, Owen's doctor told us that we start a baked egg trial. I made 2 dozen cookies using 1 egg. Therefore, 2 cookies equals 1 serving. Thursday evening I gave him a cookie just before bed time (which is a bad idea for many reasons.) He started complaining of nasal congestion, which isn't abnormal for bed time. Since it was at bedtime, I decided to give him Benadryl, just in case. Since we had a babysitter on Friday, I didn't give him any of the cookies. This morning I gave him one cookie. He was itching his head a bit, but it is normal for him in hot and humid weather. T wo hours later, I gave him another cookie without any incident. Woo hoo!

The cookies are from a recipe from The Allergen Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal. This cookbook is my favorite, because it avoids all the top allergens. A girl friend had a cookie, and she was very surprised when I told her it was Owen friendly. She couldn't believe how good it was.

Random Labored Breathing

Owen was quietly playing at the beach house. Everyone just sat down for dinner, but Owen had his dinner 30 minutes earlier. He started coughing and using his accessory muscles to take deep breaths of air. His respiratory rate was normal, and he had no other signs of distress. I gave him his inhaler, and symptoms resolved in a few minutes.