Phone Call From the Babysitter

When I gave Owen a bath tonight, he had some red bumps (hives?) on this chest. His right eye was slightly swollen. His right cheek has also been irritated for 4 days. I gave Owen benadryl before I left for the night. Owen played in the basement 30 minutes, and then it was time for bed. As the babysitter was getting ready for bed, she noticed that the redness on Owen face was getting worse. My babysitter called me because she was getting concerned.

I asked my neighbor, Diane, to stop by the house and evaluate the situation. Diane reassured me that Owen was improving with Benadryl.

I love my babysitter. She did such a great job evaluating the situation, and called me when she became concerned. That is all I can ever ask for!! And I am so grateful for my neighbor, Diane, who does a great job caring for Owen.

Breaking My Heart

The great news is that we went to our third birthday in a row, and Owen did not break out in hives!!! There was lots of people and lots of food, but Owen had clean skin the whole time.

As Doug put Owen down to sleep, he said "I don't feel good." Doug asked why, and Owen's response was "I have alleriges, and I can't have cake." :( I did bring a cupcake, but it was not very good, and he certainly sees that it is different from the other kids. I am proud that he doesn't complain at all during the party.

Ugh. Hopefully we will get some good RAST results, and get some hope.

Allergist Appointment- 3 year visit

What a morning! Owen was such a trooper at the allergist this morning. It was a 2 hour appointment with exams from 2 nurses, 1 doctor (Dr. Woods at Johns Hopkins is the best!!!), 15 skin tests, and a blood test. He was so brave. I thank God for helping Owen through this doctor's appointment. I know many people were praying for him.

The doctor was very happy that Owen does not have asthma. At his 2 year appointment, the doctor told me there was a 100% chance that Owen would get asthma. He was extremely pleased that Owen did not develop asthma this year, and he said now there is only a 50% chance of him developing asthma. Apparently, having asthma is like adding lighter fluid when you have an allergic reation.

Owen's skin tests results were not good. His response to egg, milk, and peanut were off the charts. Wheat was bad. And his reaction to indoor allergens (like dust on carpets) was pretty bad. Nurse Kim (who is an amazing nurse) recommended I get a mat for him to play on, instead of letting him play on the carpet. She said it is bad when he is laying on his belly with his face so close to the carpet. She also told me to pick up covers for his mattresses and box spring.

I will get the RAST test results in 2 weeks. I can hardly wait!!!!

I am so grateful that Owen has gone a whole year without any accidental ingestion exposures to his allergens. With all his allergies, he hasn't eaten any of it!!! He has had contact exposures, but those reactions are nothing compared to an ingestion of an allergen.

It was a great day! He is still very allergic, but we got encouraging news. Woo hoo!

Hives Before Bed

I was reading Owen a book around 7pm, and I noticed that he had some generalized itching on his face, neck, and back. At 7:30 he continued to have itching, and I noticed hives on his neck and back. I gave him benadryl.

I don't know what started the itching. He ate dinner at 5 pm. He was playing games at the dinner table, so maybe he contacted an allergen that way. I did wipe down the table after dinner. I just don't know.

Hives in the Church Nursery

Owen had a reaction in the church nursery. I think it is because a child brought a pastry into the play area. I asked that the child finish his breakfast in a different place, and the volunteer gave me a cross look. About 30 minutes later, the same volunteer called me out of the service because Owen broke out in hives. I felt so bad for Owen, but I felt justified in my earlier request to have the boy eat his pastry somewhere else. I didn't give Owen benadryl, because it wasn't that bad. His face remained red and itchy for about 5 hours.

Alopecia?

Owen's bald spot has grown just a little bit- 2.5 cm by 3 cm. There is no sign of hair regrowth. The pediatrician has confirmed that it is not a fungus. She said the next step is to follow up with a pediatric dermatologist.

The spot does not bother Owen. And since there is nothing you can do for Alopecia, why go to a dermatologist?

Egg Allergies and the Flu Vaccine

Below is a note I received from Dr. Wood's Johns Hopkins Pediatric Food Allergy clinic:

Update on H1N1 flu and regular flu vaccine as of 9/17/09.

The regular flu vaccine is currently available through your child’s primary care provider, local allergy office and Johns Hopkins Allergy Pediatric Clinic. It is anticipated that the H1N1 flu vaccine will be available to local pediatrician offices, local allergy offices and Johns Hopkins Pediatric Allergy Clinic sometime in mid October. As of this date it is still unknown if there will be an H1N1 flu vaccine available that will be safe for children who are strictly avoiding egg.

We do not make recommendations about whether your child should receive either flu vaccine. That decision is between you and your child’s primary care provider. If your child is tolerating any amount of egg in baked products then it is safe to get the regular flu and H1N1 flu vaccine through your child’s primary care provider. If your child is strictly avoiding egg then it is not recommended that the child receive the regular flu or the H1N1 flu vaccine. However, if you and your child’s primary care provider feel your child should have either or both flu vaccines, then your child should be skin tested to the actual vial of vaccine that your child will receive. If the skin test is negative or small positive then the vaccine will be administered and your child monitored for 30 minutes afterwards. If the skin test is moderately or largely positive the vaccine should not be given. The Flu Mist vaccine contains more egg than the regular flu shot vaccine and is also contraindicated in children with an egg allergy.

The skin prick test and flu vaccine administration can be done through your local allergist, or in our Allergy Clinic here at Johns Hopkins. To make an appointment to have the flu shot administered to your egg allergic child here at Johns Hopkins:

Call the main line: 410-955-5883

Push the option for allergy appointments

Schedule your child for a Flu Vaccine Only appointment.

The vaccine costs $18.02 and you will be asked to pay for that at the time of registration. There are other fees associated with this visit. We strongly encourage you to check with your insurance company before you make that appointment to make sure the visit and vaccine administration will be covered if your child has it done at Johns Hopkins. Otherwise, you could incur a large bill you were not expecting. The skin test, vaccine administration and monitoring is done by our certified medical assistant. You will not be seen by a physician or nurse practitioner unless there is a questionable skin test result or if your child experiences any problems after administration of the vaccine.

WE ARE NOT SCHEDULING FOR THE H1N1 FLU VACCINE AT THIS TIME, ONLY FOR THE REGULAR FLU VACCINE. We will update this information when we get the go ahead to start scheduling for the H1N1 flu vaccine. If you call for a flu vaccine only appointment now, your child will only receive the regular flu vaccine.

Please refer to the website CDC.gov and click on updates for the H1N1 flu to learn more about the disease and the vaccine. Many of your other questions, such as Tamiflu and updates when the flu vaccine will actually be available will be at that site and that is the site we use for our updates. We will update our voice mail and e-mail messages when new information becomes available.

The Johns Hopkins Pediatric Allergy Team