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.