Nicholas always sleeps with his right arm above his head.
I took Nicholas to the allergist/immunologist yesterday for his annual check up.� This is our first check up since we discovered his allergy to pine nuts� last year and I have been vacillating between pins and needles and flat denial.� The appointment should have happened sometime in April but I wasn’t ready.� I had the end of the year projects, presentations, and tests to handle for Mikey, not to mention the end of his baseball season, and I wanted to focus my attention on him.� And, yes, I was also scared.� Scared of putting Nicholas through the pain of blood work and scared of the results of the blood work.
I may be speaking too soon, but things are looking exceptionally good.� We ended up needing to do two different tests.� The scratch test on the back that Victoria and Melissa mentioned in the comments yesterday and some blood work.� For those who aren’t familiar with the procedure, a nurse uses a pricking device (it looks similar to the finger prick diabetics use to test their glucose) to apply an allergen in the epidermis.� In order for things to stay organized, the nurse will first draw a line on your arm or back for each prick (in Nicholas’s case, 55 lines across his entire back).� Because Nicholas is allergic to pine nuts, a rare allergy in this country, he also had to have blood drawn because there is no “prick” for pine nuts.� Pine nuts, on the other hand, remain pricks in my book. ;)
Mikey remembered having this done last year and helpfully informed the entire room, with Nicholas beside him, that Nicholas would hate this because it really, really hurt.� Thanks, Mikey.
In the end it was fine.� Uncomfortable, but fine.� The worst part for Nicholas was the necessary immobilization by three different sets of adult hands, only one set belonging to someone he knew.� No one likes being pressed into a table when they would rather be sitting and playing.
Then came the blood work.� Again three different sets of hands held him down.� He said, “Ouchie, mama.”� They had me holding down his arms and head, but I eventually released his head, as that seemed to be the part that bothered him the most.� Once he could move his head and get a better view of the blood going into the vial, he was happy as a clam.� Mikey stood with his ears covered and his back to the proceedings.
The scratch test results were more than I hoped.� He showed a negative response for every common allergen with the exception of a mild response to dust mites.� No wheat, dairy, soy, corn, or nuts.� No response to nuts!� The mild response he had last year is gone.� Now we just have to wait for the results of his pine nut blood work.� If that comes back negative, we (1) celebrate and (2) go into the office for a medically supervised challenge.� They will take pine nuts, chop them up, and over the course of two hours–with an epi-pen and crash cart near by–feed them to Nicholas is increasing amounts.� Gulp.
What does this mean?� A few things.� First and foremost, there is a good chance Nicholas is one of the 9% of children who outgrow a nut allergy.� Fingers crossed on that one.� As for why he and Mikey spent the winter so sick?� My new philosophy is, “When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don’t expect to see a zebra.”
I had so many people warning me about the life of children with nut allergies that I started to believe everything that happened to Nicholas was related to his allergy.� It’s possible that Mikey, who does have several environmental allergies, is prone to getting sick more than most.� He brings it home and gives it to Nicholas, who is younger and hasn’t been exposed to as many viruses and bacteria.� It’s also possible that we just had a really lousy winter.� Nothing more, nothing less.
This means I am not going to do any complicated or strict diets for the boys, which is a good thing because I was really wondering how I was going to pull it off.� I am going to make a few key changes, however.
I’m going to reduce the number of convenience foods we eat.� The ones we eat are “healthy” in that they don’t have color, artificial ingredients, or preservatives, but they are still convenience food with questionable nutritional value.� Cereal is the biggest crutch for me, as are crackers and other bread based foods.� I’ve already found a few good sources for meal ideas that I will share soon.
I’m also going to try and reduce our toxic load around here as recommended to me by someone in the comments.� For months I have been checking out books from the library on greening up your home and what I have learned is mind boggling.� We really do pile up the toxins in our homes.� All the books I have read state that the toxins in our home far outweigh the toxins in our food.� The implication is that we incorrectly place our focus on our food instead of our living environment.� Do any of you who are well versed in this area agree with that statement?� What do you do to reduce the toxins in your environment?� I have house plants, but that’s about it!
Okay, I think I have gone on long enough.� Bless those of you who got this far.� Now I am off to pick up dog food and clean this disaster of a house.� I’ve done nothing this week but worry about Buddy and Nicholas!
Poor guy. My husband suffers from nut allergies and shellfish — and is allergic to nearly all environmental factors. Although, since pine nuts are not technically nuts, he can eat those. And peanuts!
I’m surprised you got warnings about kids with allergies, although I guess I don’t have the proper context. At home, it’s quite easy to avoid the wrong foods, and most restaurants are incredibly accommodating. But, then, there’s the kid factor. Not quite as responsible as a 30 year old man!
Fingers crossed for him!!
Oh, I’m SO thankful that things are looking good for Nicholas allergy-wise! I have a cousin whose oldest is severely allergic to a range of nuts, and although he lives a very full, normal life, it has been with a lot of worry and hand-wringing on his parents’ part.
So what kinds of things in the home are toxins? I’m sure many cleaning supplies are, as well as some of the materials that make up our furniture and buildings…is that the kind of thing you mean?
I have a fantastic book I bought years ago when I first started having houseplants called, “50 Ways to Grow Fresh Air.” It talks about which specific plants are good at ridding environments of specific toxins.
you are a good mom.
I don’t know if they are good or not but I just saw a blog mention on Shaklee and the woman did a before and after test. They looked like good products:) Bless the little man for being so brave!
I’m glad it went so well!!
I am super concerned about pine nut test, part II. I am a little puzzled over the line about the docs feeding them to him in increasing amounts – with epi pen and crash cart nearby. While I am no allergist, common sense tells me that this seems a bit extreme on the part of the docs. As someone with limited allergies, I can’t help but wonder if he’s allergic to pine nuts, isn’t it enough to know that and take the necessary precautions?? I am not questioning your choice of whether or not to take part in the test – that’s your business…. that particular next step just seems a little much for such a little guy. I hope everything turns out well & he doesn’t have to go through any additional testing at all!!
Amy–allergy tests are notoriously inaccurate. It’s one of the main problems with allergy testing. If Nicholas’s test for pine nuts comes back negative, meaning the results say he is not allergic to them, we can’t assume the test is accurate. That is why we then do a challenge. It is much, much safer to challenge a test in the office with safety precautions nearby than to take a test at face value, assume he is no longer allergic to pine nuts, and then watch him have a life threatening allergy during lunch at a California Pizza Kitchen, for example.
The only time doctors will ever do a challenge is when someone who was once allergic to something (based on tests and physical response) now shows a negative result on blood work, meaning the allergy no longer exists. If Nicholas’s test come back positive this year, then there is no challenge and we assume he is still allergic to pine nuts and carry on as we have been. :)
I hope that clears things up. It can be a bit confusing, but it’s actually the safer route to take–IF his blood work shows no allergy to pine nuts. That’s not to say, of course, that I won’t be terrified the entire time if he does have to do the challenge.
Thats great news! I hope next time they are completely gone!
Our dr. first did the blood work to retest things we knew he had reacted and tested positive to in the past. Then (like you said) because of all the false positives they did skin tests for the things we weren’t so sure about. Unfortunately, none of his have gone away and now I have to stop giving him a few other things. Still mangeable though…at least we did not come back positive for wheat, I was freaking out about that one!
Oh, and besides food I try to remove all chemicals from our lives. Green cleaners, organic soap & shampoo, no plastic containers or bags for food along with eating as natural as possible.
Im glad about the allergies!! I will be crossing my fingers on the pine nut results!! But I wanted to share that I think this winter has been especially harsh for a lot of people. Josh doesnt go to daycare or have an older sibling in school and we were sick so so so much this winter. It sucked really! I personally believe the viruses out there are stronger than they were probably because of all those toxins and antibacterial soaps that are so prevalent these days. I hope you guys have a nice relaxing weekend!!
Kristen–I agree. Also, the allergist said that because of the rain we got this year, allergies have been worse than usual. So, it’s more than likely that this was just a bad winter like you said. :)
would you share what you’ve been reading about toxins in the home?
Your boys are precious and the amount of love you have for them is almost palpable through the computer. I have two boys as well and love your blog for that reason (among others such as your choice of vocabulary such as vacillate)! Love it! My youngest has slight allergies but not enough to warrant medicinal interventions. I do try to limit his dairy and provide organic choices as well as no unnecessary dyes or sugar.
On another note, have you ever read the memoirs by Jen Lancaster? Your tone and style remind me of hers. Dry, funny, not trite or insipid. Have a great day!
In the past year I have slowly switched over 100% to organic cleaning products and the amount of migraines I have has significantly reduced- we’re talking from weekly to almost non-existent. Surprisingly, my stomach issues have even calmed down some. It is amazing how something so simple can have such a huge impact. I even figured out how to make my own swiffer pads.
Bec–whoa! That’s cool! Would you like to do a guest post on how to do it? Does it involve too much sewing, because I kind of suck.
Carolyn–Do you know you are 2nd or 3rd person to tell me that? Weird. I’m going to have to check out her books. As for vocabulary, I have a huge one. The angrier I get, the bigger the words I use, too. The Mister finds it really, really, really annoying. I’ll have to share where I picked up all my big girl words. It’s actually a funny story, and not what one would expect!
I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for you & your boys that food allergies of any kind will not be in your future! My daughter was diagnosed with nut allergies at 6 months (epidermal contact- we didn’t feed her nuts) and we’ve been doing the epi-pens (stashed everywhere) for the past 4 yrs (along with two emergency room visits. eek)
In May I had her re-tested/challenged since we’ve been filling out kindergarten forms & at the doctor’s for physicals… and lo and behold, she’s one of the very few (that very small percentage they throw around in statistics) that outgrew it and this past month we’ve thoroughly enjoyed peanut butter and various nuts for the first time in years in our house!! hooray.
All that being said, the past few years I’d turned to making as many things from scratch as possible (i’m a single working mom by the way- so i know it can be done!) and our allergist thinks that it helped her body overcome the nut thing. Less environmental stresses to overcome in our home (I also try to do as many ‘green’ cleaning things as I can). So- Keep doing the great work you’ve been doing! It IS worth it!
*i very much enjoy your daily blog. Have a wonderful weekend
i hope part 2 of the testing turns out ok. there are so many children in school that have nut allergies. i can’t imagine the steps you’d have to take to keep such a little one safe. we all have seasonal allergies here but i am thinking of getting the kids tested officially. i have had reactions to tuna too, besides pollen/dust, so i just avoid it. but if i have to put them through the skin test, i’ll do it too. we all have sensitive skin so i try to buy detergent with no dye/perfume and mostly green cleansers but am thinking more about mixing up my own green cleaners myself. these comments about reduced symptoms is thought provoking. i think we’d all be interested in any info you find on that subject!
I am also keeping my fingers crossed for you baby! Such a lot for the little one to go through.
You guys are in my thoughts xxx
Well good luck with the second part. I have a slight distrust for those prick tests. My eldest had one which showed her HIGHLY allergic to shrimp, yet she had been eating them for years, with never the slightest reaction.
Just a comment: Nico is starting to look SO much like Mikey now…It is so cute ;)
Melanirae–that’s exactly what the doctor says and why he does a challenge. Those tests are just unreliable. The best indication of an allergy is, unfortunately, a physical reaction.
Joy–I’ve noticed the same thing!