Our Allergy Journey

Well, today was the much anticipated, big ALLERGIST APPOINTMENT! YAYYYYY! We were originally scheduled to go back in April, but I ended up getting realllllyyyyy sick from (guess what???) an ALLERGIC REACTION! Haha! I had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics (sulpha drugs) the day before Carson’s appointment. I was so sad to have to cancel! It isn’t easy to get a quick appointment there.  Then we had referral/insurance issues that pushed us back again a couple of weeks.  BUT, we finally made it!

Here’s our day…

We walked in to our appointment with about four different bags. I had been told to expect a long appointment time (up to three hours). I was armed with our normal going out diaper bag, our food bag, a big bag of favorite and new toys, and my big ol’ momma purse. LOL! Add a sister and a toddler to the mix and we probably looked like fools. Haha!

Our biggest hurdle of the appointment was the height and weight measurements right off the bat! I don’t know what it is with Carson…but she HATES to be weighed! LOL! I do too know…she takes after her Mama and every other woman on earth!!! I think she just doesn’t like that right away, I have to completely let her go. She is not a clingy tot, but she does need a little bit of warm up time in new situations. Letting go right away isn’t fun.

We had a sweet, sweet technician doing our measurements and administering the prick test. She was the cutest little Hispanic lady I ever did see. She was SOOO sweet with Carson! She got us all settled in and then the wait for the doctor began. Here is a little bit of how we killed some time waiting…

A new PUPPY coloring book :)  (She really didn't pay much attention to my carefully selected choice, though!  She just wanted to "colla!")

 

Ohhhhh!  I found the toy bag!

Dr. Wrenn was very sweet with Carson as well. He showed her all of his tools before using them and she did very well with the stethoscope (I was glad she got to see a real one in action after her fun with the ear buds yesterday!) and checking her ears and eyes. We went over Carson’s history of allergic reactions with the doctor and then our sweet little lady was back to do the pricks. Carson did GREAT! She only had one tiny little squirm on the third prick.

Markings on her back for the three groups of pricks.

The wait after that to keep the pesky samples on was 15 minutes with no scratching. Hahahahahaha! For a toddler???!!! Ha! Actually, Carson did great again. Our sweet technician (I didn’t get her name!...so I’ll just call her Sweetie…)…SWEETIE came back in with not one…not two…but THREE cute bracelets for Carson. Then she remembered we were holding our Abby Cadabby doll for comfort and came in with another bracelet especially for Abby! She even put it on Abby’s wrist for us. New bracelets were all that we needed to pass our 15 minutes. Carson only tried to scratch a couple of times. We were able to get washed up and get on some soothing cream right away. Dr. Wrenn came in and “read” the results off Carson’s back and then our longgggg wait began.  It took about an hour for Dr. Wrenn to return with results for the post consultation.

Let the waiting/watching begin...

Abby got to wear ALL the bracelets :)

Mama trying to keep Carson entertained.  I brought along our animal washcloths (which Carson now calls puppets very clearly, thanks to The Upside Down Show).

I made the mistake of pretending like Hippo ate one of her bracelets.  She felt it must make a good snack, so she gave it a taste.  Notice my, "Ewwww!  That's not for eating!" face.

We were SOOOO lucky to have our sweet Aunt SaSa with us.  Could not have managed it without her!  THANK YOU, SARAH!  You look good in kitty cat stickers.

To see how the pricks felt, Sarah and I pricked ourselves with the sample pricks the doctor had shown Carson...they left a mark and we felt bad for having messed with it!

I have a Pinkle on me! ;)  (Pinkle = Perwinkle from Blue's Clues)

Carson chose this spot on my chest as a resting spot for Pinkle.

Here are the final results…

Moderate Allergens:
(These scored a 2+ on a scale of 1 to 4. This means Carson can eat them a couple of times a week, using moderate amounts and with caution. The environmental ones (trees, mold, dog) will only cause typical stuffiness.)

• Mold

• Mixed Trees #1 (LOL! I thought this was funny!)

• Mites

• Dog

• Beans (ALL Beans)

• Pork

Severe Allergens:
(These all scored a 4+…the highest on the scale. We are to avoid these foods altogether…even mixed in with other foods, as in cookies, recipes, etc.)

• Peanuts – We knew about this one from the two times she’s had the TINIEST bite of peanut butter. Her extremities turn bright red and the second time we were headed to the ER because her face got so puffed up. (She’d snatched a spoon with peanut butter off the counter and taken a small lick before we realized she could even REACH the counter!) Luckily, the swelling was WAY down by the time we got to the ER and we decided to do some watchful waiting. It was completely gone in an hour. Scary! Dr. Wrenn didn’t even prick her for peanuts…he said those reactions were proof enough!

• Peas (ALL Types) – I’ve known about this one since she was about 6 months old.

• Egg Whites

• Beef

The surprise was the BEEF! I had NO idea! I’m just glad she outgrew her wheat and rice issues from when she first started solids. I’m crossing my fingers and praying hard that these others she will outgrow as well.  We were relieved that NO reaction at all was noted for cats or for our favorite foods...broccoli, apples and corn :)

NO SHOTS!!!  At least for now, we are going to try avoiding allergens and see how that goes before prescribing regular allergy shots :)  Whew!

Overall, we are now armed with an Epipen Junior Pack and Nana bought Carson a medical bracelet. I’m a worry wart ANYWAY, without being a mom! Add being a mom to the mix AND a nut allergy………I’m going crazy here! The Epipen prescription makes me so very much more calm about sending Carson to daycare. I still worry, though! What if another parent brings in cookies or a cake with nuts or with eggs baked in for their child’s birthday? Two things might happen…1) The teachers don’t realize what’s in them and give the treats to Carson and she has a reaction. 2) The teachers will not let her have the treat as a precaution and she will feel sad/left out. AHHHHHH!!!! Let the school worries begin….

We were also given lots of Allegra to switch out with Zyrtec to try to keep Carson’s eczema more under control. It’s been a battle during these hot summer months to keep her moisturized.

Here is the cute medical bracelet Nana has on order...(THANK YOU NANA!!!)

"Yay!!!  We're done and I have a marshmallow!!!"

Great lunch at Jason's Deli before heading home.

In reading back over this post, it seems ridiculously detailed and long for a simple allergist appointment! But if I could only explain in words the battle we’ve faced with allergies since Carson’s been born… Allergies have been almost a daily topic of discussion and worry with us for nearly two years. It is sweet relief to have some answers.

Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust our lifestyle to include no beef or eggs. Those will be tough! I’ll be a label reading fool for a while! Thank you to all those of you that kept us in your prayers today! They were felt for sure…as we had a very smooth appointment (and it really DID last three hours!) Love to all!