After Witt's annual allergy tests came back negative, his allergist said that we could do an at-home trial with peanuts after Witt turned three. Well, he turned 3 in May.
I haven't really had the guts to do the trial as of yet because that does take some planning. There needs to be two adults in the house: 1 to take Witt to the hospital if needed and 1 to watch the other boys. Then, of course, we'd need a few hours to kill at the hospital. And then, to be honest, when there is a day with both Jeff and I home and we've got a few hours to kill... who wants to mess up the day with a possible trip to the hospital? LOL!
So, I decided to take it slow. I already knew that he could be around peanuts because Will eats peanut butter sandwiches. I decided to check for a contact allergy and smeared some peanut butter on the back of his neck so I could see it, but he couldn't. Thankfully, no contact allergy!!
Then two days ago, my MIL had the boys while I ran errands and decided to give Witt a peanut butter cookie. (My FIL was there with her.) NO REACTION! YAY!
So, we know that he can be around peanuts, have peanuts touch him, and ingest small amounts. Next step will be to gradually increase the amount that he ingest, but for now, we are so thrilled!
SO THANKFUL!!!
3 comments:
I'm so happy for you guys. What a relief! I can't wait for that day. :)
Praise God that it went smoothly for your little guy. That's a pretty risky way to food-challenge a chid, though. With my food-allergic son, we've been told he needs to have negative bloodwork for 2+ years and the food challenge for whatever allergen he grows out of will be done in the hospital. I wonder why there's such a disparity between what you were allowed to do & what I've been told. Thankfully, it went well for you!! I pray we'll get to that point with our son.
Thanks for celebrating with me, ladies! :)
Dorothy,
Just to clarify (since I didn't go into all the history in this little post), Witt did actually have negative bloodwork on the peanuts for two years. The reasoning behind an at-home trial was because he only (skin) tested positive for peanuts (never actually having had one) coupled with the fact that he had outgrown his life-threatening allergy. At least, that's my understanding. :)
His milk allergy was the life threatening one and we did conduct that food challenge in the allergist's office under constant supervision.
I agree that at-home trials are a risky way (and nerve-racking way!!!) to food-challenge a child, but with the "mild" allergies I've seen at-home trials be the common suggestion (from other allergy moms). We were also told to do an at-home trial with eggs since it was also not considered life-threatening.
If you'd like to read more of the back-history regarding Witt's allergies, you can click the tag "food allergies". I've tried to document all of our steps for the last 2 1/2 years in regards to them.
Hope that answers your questions. I have found lots of differing opinions in the food allergy world. Being in touch with several food allergy moms and hearing what their allergist tells them sometimes confuses me as well. Unfortunately, it's just not that exact of a science.
I hope both you & Scottish Twins (and the other allergy moms) find that day soon where you don't have to deal with food allergies anymore!! :)
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