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

Walk for Food Allergy

More than 12 million Americans have food allergies, and 3 million of them are
children. Food allergy can be deadly. We must find a cure, and we need your help! Join Team Cress on October 10th in Baltimore, MD as we walk toward a cure. Click on this link and join us!

http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/TR/2009Walk/2009Design?fr_id=1311&pg=entry

Our team name is "Team Cress".

There is no cost to signing up. And if you can't join us in person, show your support by being a "virtual walker."

Hives on his arm, splotchyness around his mouth

Today Owen was playing with a puzzle at the kitchen table. He started itching his left forearm. There were about 30 hives. Then some hives appeared on his right forearm. And then I noticed red splotches around his mouth. I gave him a teaspoon of benadryl, and the hives resolved in 20 minutes.

I don't know what happened. He was not eating. Maybe I didn't clean the table good enough before he played. I just don't know.

Bald Spot

I cut Owen's hair 5 weeks ago, and there was a quarter size bald spot on the back of his head. I thought I made a mistake with the trimmer, and gave him a bald spot. Well, the bald spot hasn't improved at all. It is still just as bald. There is some hairs, but it is mostly bald. I am starting to wonder if I should see a dermatologist to see if something else is going on.

The bald spot is 2 cm by 2.5 cm.

Messy Face and Neck

Owen has had a red, irritated face and neck for the past 3-4 days. When the irritation began, I stopped ketchup (which was a dime size amount once a day). I give Benadryl once a day. There seems to be a minor improvement with Benadryl, but not significant.

Today when Doug dropped Owen off at day care, he had one large hive on his cheek. Doug gave him Benadryl. The hive improved, but the red irritation on his face continued.

The only thing Owen ate this morning before day care was chocolate soy milk.

The only new food that Owen has eaten is Dum Dum lollipops and jelly beans. The ingredients labels don't list any of his allergens.

I don't really know what is going on.

Garlic Update

Owen received increased increments of ketchup. It started with a jelly bean size, then a dime size, then a nickel size. There was some increased redness on his face, especially under his eyes. Then he accidentally ate 1 tablespoons of ketchup. It seemed that the redness on his face spiked at that time.

We decided to temporarily stop the garlic trial at that time. There were too many variables in the equation, and we were not positive that the redness was from the garlic. At the time, we were at the beach. Owen was exposed to sunblock, sun, and sand, which could have contributed to the redness. It seemed like his skin improved when we stopped the ketchup (even though he was still exposed to sun, sunblock, sand, etc).

Once we returned from vacation, we started eating ketchup again. I give him penny sized amounts, and he seems to be tolerating it. I gave him a dime sized piece of chicken nugget, and there was no reaction.

So we are still in the midst of a garlic trial. I am taking it extremely slow, because I want it to work so badly.

And by the way, he LOVES garlic. He want it on everything- hot dogs, hamburger, chicken, mandarin oranges, anything!

Garlic Trial

Yesterday was day 1 of our garlic trial. At lunch time I gave him a pea size drop of ketchup with his hot dog. He really like it! He asked for more, but I told him that the doctor said he can have more next time if he doesn't get itchy. He accepted that response (I love how excepting he is of his allergies).

He made sure that he ate up all the ketchup. He swirled around his hot dogs in it and used his finger to make sure he got everything.

No problems. No itching. No redness.

At dinner time I gave him a dime size of ketchup. No problems. No itching. No redness.

The following morning he woke up with a tennis ball size rash on his neck that was itchy and red. He has had eczema, but this is a new spot. I put on some ointment. And he is doing fine. I will try more ketchup at lunch.

6 Month Research Study Check Up

Owen is in an observational research study at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The doctors and nurses at JHH are amazing, and have helped us through the food allergy maze. I am so grateful to have Owen be under their medical care.

Yesterday was a 6 month check up that was done via the phone. (they give tremendous phone support). The doctor thinks that Owen increased eczema may have less to do with soy and more to do with the heat. In any case, we are only giving him 2 cups of soy milk a day.

The doctor said he does not believe Owen is growing out of the wheat allergy because of the issue he had with play doh in May. The doctor said we can start trying fish.

I asked the doctor about the likelihood of Owen growing out of his garlic allergy. Garlic is a huge pain. He can't eat ketchup, barbecue sauce, salad dressing, marinades, allergy free chicken nuggets, sausages, etc.

The doctor said that if I would like, I can give him a little bit of ketchup and see how he does. If he tolerates it, and can very slowly increase the amount over several days. The tricky thing about ketchup is the acidity of the tomatoes can cause redness and it is difficult to tell an allergy from tomato irritation.

I am going to give the ketchup a try. I am so excited!

Hive on Owen's face

Yesterday during small group, Owen got some hives, redness, and itching on his face. There was 5 kids and 1 babysitter in the basement at my house. There was no food. Owen started itching his face. I went to check on him, and I saw some hives on his face. I gave him benadryl, and the itching and hives went away in 20 minutes.

Just a Heat Rash

Caroline is fine. She woke up this morning with the same bumps she had last night. There is no way that they are hives. It must be a heat rash or something. I don't care, as long as it is not hives.

Yummy, Yummy Fly

Owen likes to read the book "Yummy, Yummy Fly." In the book, the fly eats pizza. Owen turns to me and says "I allergic to pizza. Pizza makes me sick. I don't eat pizza."

I started to cry.

Hives on Caroline's back?

Tonight I am sad. I think Caroline had hives after dinner.

Caroline has had red dots on her back before, but I just thought they were pimples. The spots are always on her back, and never anywhere else. Sometimes the spots may have been slightly raised. The dots are sporadic and there didn't seem to be a pattern, so I wasn't that worried.

But tonight, the spots looked liked hives. There was about 15 bumps. And now I am worried. I asked Doug to look at the spots, and he also felt like they looked like hives. I took some pictures.

Caroline ate sweet potatos, multigrain (wheat) cereal, and an apple wagon wheel. After dinner, I bathed her. It was in the bath that I noticed the raised red dots.

I am hoping that this is just a random event.

Hives from Play-Doh

One of today's activities at church nursery was playing with play-doh. Unfortunately, Owen broke out in hives on his face and hands. Luckily, a friend noticed the problem, and wiped Owen down. I gave him some benadryl, and he quickly recovered.

I talked to the Children's director about the incident, and her response was amazing. Since a lot of their activities include play-doh, they said they would obtain gluten-free play doh.

I am so grateful for such great support, and the extent that people go to include Owen.

No Signs of Food Allergies for Caroline

I hesitantly gave Caroline some wheat cereal and a wheat biscuit. She had wheat on 5 separate occasions, and no signs of food allergies. I am so relieved!

We've Come A Long Way

I just looked over some of my old blog posts- wow, we are doing so much better now. Thank God! Those were some rough times.

Food Allergy Awareness Week- May 10-16

From FAAN:

FAIRFAX, Va. (April 28, 2009) – As part of its ongoing efforts to educate people about food allergies and reduce risk-taking behavior during Food Allergy Awareness Week and on a daily basis, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) reminds everyone to CAP It!

Carry your medicine. Avoid your allergen. Plan ahead to prevent a reaction. Simply put, CAP It can save a life.

For the 12th annual Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 10-16, 2009, FAAN is highlighting the need for improved education and awareness about food allergies and the need to "Take Action, Prevent Reactions." These efforts are vital to improving safety and avoiding a reaction, whether it's teaching a child's classmates how to recognize the signs of an allergic reaction or encouraging teachers, athletic directors, or other school officials to learn how to use an epinephrine auto-injector. Though food allergies can be fatal, this is a condition that can be safely managed through education and preparedness.

"Food allergies can be challenging to manage, but we know that reactions can be prevented by taking a few simple steps," said Julia Bradsher, CEO of FAAN. "Adults and children with food allergies and their families can empower themselves every day by taking steps to safeguard against reactions. By sharing their knowledge with others during Food Allergy Awareness Week and throughout the year, we hope to reduce the number of reactions and save lives."

As the prevalence of food allergy rises, particularly among children, there is an increasing need for education and awareness about food allergies as well. About 12 million Americans, including 3 million children, have food allergies. While there are many encouraging research studies underway, there is no cure for food allergies. Avoidance is the only way to prevent a reaction.

"Food Allergy Awareness Week is a really good opportunity for people with food allergies to go out in the community and tell people exactly what they want them to know about food allergies," said Caitlin Krutsick, 17, of Bethlehem, Pa., who is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. She has learned to speak up about her food allergies, and is not only an advocate for herself, but for others with food allergies.

Take time during Food Allergy Awareness Week to help those with food allergies "Take Action, Prevent Reactions." Visit FAAN's website, www.foodallergy.org, to sign up for a free packet of information and to download a wealth of Web exclusive materials – from posters to children's activities to educational presentation templates.

FAAN would like to recognize this year's Platinum Corporate Sponsors of Food Allergy Awareness Week: Food Lion, LLC, McKee Foods Corporation, and Publix Super Market Charities, Inc., and this year's Silver Corporate Sponsor, the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

ABOUT FAAN

Founded in 1991, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the world leader in information about food allergy, a potentially fatal condition that afflicts approximately 12 million Americans, or one out of every 25. A nonprofit organization based in Fairfax, Va., FAAN has 30,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and 62 other countries. It is dedicated to increasing public awareness of food allergy and its consequences, to educating people about the condition, and to advancing research on behalf of all those affected by it. FAAN provides information and educational resources about food allergy to patients, their families, schools, health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, and government officials. For more information, please visit FAAN at www.foodallergy.org, www.faankids.org, and www.faanteen.org.

Tree Season Already???

Owen's face was messy yesterday. I believe it is because all the time we spent outside this weekend enjoying the beautiful weather. I believe we will have to give him Claritin every day, and not just on day care days. Owen went on a walk, rolled in the grass, climbed trees, and played with Chrissy (the neighbor's dog). By the end of Owen's time with Chrissy, he needed Benadryl. He had hives around his nose, cheeks, and eyes. Doug still does not think Owen is allergic to dogs. We'll see. I'm pretty convinced because of the raised hives he had.

I have already declared my hatred for peanuts. My hatred for trees is growing very quickly. Hopefully Claritin will get us through this tree season.

Caroline has had a red spot between her neck and chest for about 1 week. It is a 3 inch line that is 1/4 inch diameter. It has not changed much. It looks like eczema. I'm sad to think about what this may mean. But I am forcing myself to think positively.

Shout Out to My Church Nursery & Crusty Mouth

I want to start by recognizing my church nursery program, and how considerate they are of Owen. The nursery director called me up on Wednesday, and let me know that they are planning to have a party on Sunday with the kids, and she wants me to plan accordingly. See, in the past, Owen would regularly break out in hives when in the nursery during the church service. In order to address this problem, we not only bring in a snack for Owen, but all the kids, so that we don't have to worry about Owen coming into contact with the other kids snacks. My church is a big church, and there are many volunteers in the nursery. All the volunteers know about Owen, and his unique needs. And I am so happy that they let me know about this party, so I can plan ahead, and bring in special food. The proactive nature of their actions mean so much to me.

In other news, Owen has red, crustyness on the left side of his mouth. I have been putting antibiotic cream on it, and it is turning more brown than red. Also, his bum is all red, so we have been using the antifungal cream for that. He has had both of these problems since Friday.

Garlic Allergy

Garlic allergies make we want to scream and curse!!!

All of these specialty, allergy free foods are available. But it seems like garlic is always the last item listed. It makes me angry.

Food Allergy Reaction- don't know to what

I have not recorded a food allergy reaction since April 08, which is an eternity for me. But all that ended today. Owen came to the dinner table with redness under both eyes. He played in the basement before dinner. And he has had a stomach virus yesterday, so his eczema was bothering him. Owen ate applesauce, black beans, corn, and strawberry jello. Doug's fingers were "contaminated" and he touched Owen's spoon. While Owen was eating, many little hives developed around his eyes and cheeks. I gave him a 1.5 teaspoons of benadryl. The itching finally went away. When I put Owen to bed, there was no more bumps on his face, but his face was still red and splotchy.

It has been a long time since his last reaction. Even though the reaction was not that bad, it felt awful to feel vulnerable to whatever his immune system was going to do. That is the most stressful part, is not knowing when the reaction is going to end, and what the peak of the reaction will be. With Owen, his reactions have always just involved his skin, and I thank God that it has never affected his breathing.

Oh well. We almost got to 1 year with no food reactions.

Soy Update

Despite the doctor's advise to "go slow" with incorporating soy into Owen's diet, I gave him one serving size of soy each day. On Friday, I decided to stop giving him this much soy because he was irritated. He had mild skin irritation before the Tuesday challenge. After the challenge his face had increased redness around his eyes, and his eczema has increased. And his facial redness would spike at times, and I could not figure out what triggered the spikes. I stopped the soy, and I used a whole bunch of topical medicine, and now his skin looks good again. I am going to introduce soy more slowly this time, and see how he does.

RAST Score- 2 year visit

The numbers are what the doctor prepared us for. It is not uncommon for the numbers to increase until the age of 2, and then they like to see the numbers plateau, and then hopefully decrease. These tests don't predict type or severity of the reaction, but it does give you an indicator of becoming more or less allergic.

milk 20.52 (was 11.9 in July '08 and 3.26 in Jan '08)
egg 11.7 (was 8.93 and 1.46)
peanut 13.32 (was 9.19 and 6.18)
barley 43.3 (was 21.8)
garlic 10.7 (was 7.01)
sesame 15.8 (was 10.0)
wheat 86.2 (was 60.1)
lentil 2.12
chickpea 0.92

Not great news. I'm sad. But I am still hopeful for the future.

So The World May Know

I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at least once a day when I was pregnant. Last year I learned that those sandwiches may have contributed to Owen developing allergies. Needless to say I am very mad at peanuts. I do not tolerate any kind of nuts in my home. Someone threw out a peanut candy bar wrapper in my garbage can, and that was not acceptable. The trash needed to be thrown out immediately.

I hope the salmonella scare that is happening with peanut butter makes people realize how difficult it is to avoid peanuts. It is in everything! All my favorite snacks were made in a factory with other peanut products. Check out those labels- peanuts have infiltrated every part of your pantry. Some think that it is easy to avoid foods that you are allergic too, but I hope that this salmonella scare will open the eyes of some.

1 down, 10 to go

Owen passed his soy challenge!!! He ate soy chocolate pudding with only a minor skin reaction. Owen was such a trooper. He ate the pudding even when he did not want to eat it any more, and he did great during the skin and blood tests. After the skin tests were complete, the nurse put benadryl cream on his back and told Owen it was to help him feel better. 30 Minutes later Owen pointed to his back and said "feel better." He did that a few more times that day. He did great. We are already having so much fun with new foods. And I am trying to proceed slowly like the doctor recommended, but it is too exciting!!!

Soy Challenge & Contact Allergies

I can't wait till the soy challenge. I can't stop thinking about it, and dreaming about all the opportunities that soy could bring to our lives! I don't want to be hopeful, but like I said in an earlier post, I just can't help it! In church today, I was reminded how Owen's life is in God's hands. I need to trust God's sovereignty with Owen. No matter what, Owen will be fine, and he will have and get everything he needs, because he is in God's hands. But I still just can't wait to find out Tuesday's results!

We went over a friends for dinner this evening. We provided Owen's food, of course. Owen eyes and parts of his face became more red throughout the evening. By the time we got home, it was worse. Normally, I would have given him benadryl, but if I gave him benadryl, we would not be able to have the Soy challenge on Tuesday (you can't give benadryl within 5 days of the challenge). I was uncomfortable putting Owen to sleep since the redness was only getting worse. But I listened on the monitor for a while, and he seemed to go down ok. Owen has been doing so well with his food allergies. I was wondering if he really has contact allergies, or maybe his food allergies were getting better. But today was a reminder that he still has contact allergy problems. Oh well.

Animal Cookies

I found another food product that I love- Orgran Vanilla Animal Cookies. They are gluten, egg, milk, soy, nut, etc, etc, Owen allergen free! And most importantly- Owen loves them. I can give Owen a bunch without having to think about the cost of each bite. It is not cheap, but at least there are more than 9 cookies in the package. Try them. Your kids will love them!

Soy Food Challenge- keep us in your prayers

I promised myself never to get too excited about food challenges. But I can't help it! Owen has a soy food challenge next week. I can't help but be optimistic. I think he is going to pass. His soy RAST score is fabulous. I just have a feeling that we are going to pass. The thing is that I promised myself that I would not get hopeful. But I just can't help it.

I am not looking forward to the actual test, and having to be at the doctor's office for a few hours. Owen is only 2. What am I possibly going to do with him? I am going to go to the library and load up on books and DVDs. I will bring crayons and craft stuff. It is going to be a very long morning!