Scratch Test Day

Witt and I went to the allergist today for his scratch test on milk, peanuts, egg whites, and egg yolk. When the nurse came in, I asked if we could also test for soy as we are changing our diet to include it instead of cow's milk. Not a problem, yes we can... Great!

So she does the 5 scratches along with the two control scratches all at once. Witt hardly noticed. Wait 15 minutes and measure the marks. She tells me they are all positive except milk! What!?!! The blood test for milk had come back positive! She remeasures all the marks and replies, "Oh, um... well, let's do the milk test again."

Another scratch and a whimper this time. Immediately it starts swelling, so I knew it would be positive. 15 minutes later she returns and confirms that it is positive. She says that she must not have scratched hard enough with the milk the first time. She also tells me that after remeasuring the first set of scratches, the soy and peanut butter were not positive. I'm getting a bit frustrated at this point and ask her politely, "What is the possibility that you didn't scratch hard enough on those two and they are actually positive?" She asks if I want to do them again and I tell her I'd rather be certain than leave with questions looming.

Since we were getting ready to do another round, I thought I'd ask about gluten. I've read tons of stuff on the internet about dairy and gluten allergies so I thought I might as well check since it is a common allergen. Apparently there is not a skin test for gluten. The nurse gave me a lesson in gluten none of which I can remember now; however, they can do a skin test for wheat and I agreed to that.

So this time it's 3 more scratches and a cry from Witt. Bless his little heart (and back full of scratches). Wait 15 minutes... all negative. So with the completion of the scratch testing, we resolve positives for milk, egg whites, and egg yolk. (Egg is a common allergy for this age.)

The doctor comes in and she is super nice. She answers all of my questions. I never feel rushed or feel like I'm asking stupid questions. Here are the bits & pieces I remember from our conversation:

• Because Witt never had a reaction to the dairy that was in my diet (I'm breastfeeding), I can continue to eat dairy in small amounts. However, she did tell me that the faster dairy exposure is removed, the sooner the allergy might go away. I've decided that I'll stick with a soy diet with the occasional dairy treat.
• Witt should not have a flu shot because of the egg allergy; I should.
• When cooking, the proteins in eggs seem to change, so I can eat eggs that are cooked in something, but not eggs by themselves. Witt, of course, should not be given eggs.
  
• I need to avoid the baby food that contains eggs and milk. Apparently there is a baby cereal called rice & apples that contains eggs (why?!). I must read ALL labels (which I already knew).
  
• 80% of children outgrow these allergies.
• Witt should not be given fish, shellfish, or any type of nut until he is at least 3 years old and I should not eat those while nursing.

I'd love to hear from those of you with personal experiences with food allergies. Is this information similar to what you have received?

I'd also be grateful for some tried and true recipes that don't contain milk products and if you have suggestions for egg substitutes, I'd love to hear those as well. I can't use commercial substitutes because they contain milk products... see my dilemma? :) Thanks!