Sounds like a book. Lol.

Our first allergist appointment went well. I was told things I already knew and we also found out some things we were 99% sure we knew and I found out something that made me feel very, I can’t find the right word, I’ll go with deflated.

First, the peanut allergy. When the nurse at the allergist’s office asked if he had any allergies, I said he was allergic to peanuts. She grimaced and said, “oh that’s a big one”, thank you I’m very aware of that. I know I sound snide but I’m well aware of how bad a peanut allergy is. Anyway, the doctor came in and asked about his past reactions and what prompted us to see her today. I told her that we had never seen an allergist and I just wanted to get her opinions on some things. She was very nice and we talked a lot about Alex’s history.

Second, other allergies. Although he was never formally diagnosed with cat, dog, seasonal allergies, we were pretty sure he had them. He can’t go to anyone’s house with a cat or dog without having an allergic reaction and come March, he is one miserable little man. So, you probably know how we find this stuff out. Skin test it is. Alex had 23 tests done on his back. The worst part of this whole thing was not having him touch his back for 15 minutes. He kept saying it itched. It was a loooooong 15 minutes.

Other allergies include cat, dog, grass pollen and lambs quarter. The latter is apparently a fall weed. Who knew. What the allergist found interesting is that he tested negative for tree pollen. So we aren’t sure what is causing his spring allergies. She said it could be a tree they don’t test for. Interesting.

Now for the biggie. The one that has left me deflated. Prior to this appointment, from what I have read, Alex had about a 50-75% chance of reacting to peanuts based on his RAST. However, today his wheal was 15mm and left me with the grave knowledge that he has a 95% chance of reacting to a peanut ingestion. It would be 100% but the allergist said that with a RAST as low as his it puts him in a very grey area.

She did say that she would not say he will never outgrow this. She has some patients where she tells the family point blank that there is no chance they will outgrow it based on wheal size and RAST. Again, Alex is in that grey area based on his own RAST, wheal and past reaction history. She told me it’s not futile to hold onto hope. So that’s what I’m doing. Hoping, praying, wishing.

We have our first allergist appointment tomorrow. When I say first, I literally mean first. Even though my son has been allergic to peanuts for four years, we have always relied on our pediatrician and our own investigating for his allergy. However, I felt it was finally time to see an allergist and get her opinion on where we stand. I know she’s not going to be able to tell me if he will outgrow this but I would like to know where the allergists stand on a future “cure”. I’ll post about our experience after the appointment.

On another note, we made it through the holidays reaction-free. However, we did find ourselves in a very unsettling situation on Saturday night. We were at a Christmas party and my aunt made a peanut butter cake forgetting about Alex’s allergy. That’s fine, I made a dessert too, one he could have. As I wandered into the kitchen I noticed a bowl of nuts. Oh goody. I told Alex not to go near the bowl or the counter it was on. I did let him eat the chips that were in the bowl on the other counter. About an hour later I saw my aunt get a handful of nuts and then go and put her hand in the bowl of chips. Needless to say my breath was caught in my throat at this sight. Alex did not get any more chips the rest of the night and I remembered that we are always learning with this allergy.

Now that the school situation is figured out, we are moving on to bigger and better things for Alex. Up until now we have solely relied on our pediatricians for peanut allergy information. I have decided to take Alex to an actual allergist. We need to figure out what we can do to keep him more safe and to see if there are any trials he can participate in. A lot of trials seem to want candidates who have actually gone through anaphylaxis. Thankfully Alex has not but it also makes him a less likely candidate.

The trials we are most interested in are the ones where the patient ingests small amounts of peanut protein on a daily basis until they are ingesting the equivalent of several (like 13) peanuts. The plan here is not to make the patient no longer allergic to peanuts, it is to avoid the cross contamination issues we face on a daily basis. We wouldn’t have to worry that the chocolate chip cookie he ate was made on the same line as the Nutter Butters or that the ice cream he had wasn’t made in the same machine as a peanut containing ice cream. Anything we can do to make Alex’s world a little safer is what we want to do, as any parent would.

Now, the problem with all of this is that the allergist doesn’t have an appointment until December 30! Literally the end of the year. We’re on a cancellation list but even that is long. We’ll see. Hopefully, fingers crossed we will get in earlier.