Awww, Nuts!!

When Luke was born we immediately noticed that he has super sensitive skin. His ezcema was so bad at one point that his skin was oozing plasma.

It cleared up mostly but lately it's been bad again and I keep seeing him scratch and scratch at it.

Knowing he's my "sensitive" boy (both body and emotions) I kind of joked that I bet he'll be the one allergic to everything.

A few months ago I gave him his first taste of peanut butter in the form of a pb cracker. I can't really remember his reaction but I do remember the next time he had one. His whole face broke out with red blotches with white welt looking bumps or lines.

Immediately I was like "he's allergic!" and ran to give him a bath. Marcus looked closer at him and said "no, I think he just scratched himself up with the cracker." oh. That made sense to me. With his sensitive skin that was definitely a possibility and I did see him sort of scratching his face with the cracker.

So recently I decided to give him a pb and j sandwich that was soft so if he reacted I would know for sure it was the peanut butter and not the cracker.

This is what he looked like after he ate it.

(his cheeks were red before hand from ezcema but the redness around his mouth and chin appeared after the peanut butter)
(his eye is okay- it's pressure from the helmet that makes his left eye lid push down because it puts a lot of pressure on that part of his forehead since that's the part of his head that protrudes)

About a week later I did a skin test on him. I just rubbed a little pb on his arm. Not long after he had a small red circle with a white bump in the middle. A friend who is has educated herself a lot regarding food allergies because her son has them told me this sounds like a classic hive reaction.

The day before Thanksgiving I took Luke to the ENT and allergy doctor and explained the situation. He said that from what I did and saw that I have pretty much proven that he has a peanut allergy and to avoid all peanuts and other nuts (the similar protein strand of other nuts can also set off a reaction)

We talked a while about food allergies and his ezcema. 20% of people with peanut allergies out grow it so there's a good chance he'll always be allergic. We talked about different testing options and he said a new blood test will be available in a few months that is much better than the current one so we should wait for that.

Meanwhile he recommended a skin prick test to see if he is allergic to other foods.

Next Friday I will be taking Luke in to get his little chubby thighs poked again and again to check for allergies. I know it's going to break my heart but I also know that it is going to help him if we know what to avoid. Hopefully it will help clear his ezcema some and stop his frequent diarrhea and random rashes (I have to apply a cream topical anesthetic on his thighs an hour before the testing so that will help with some of the pain)

Meanwhile I have been reading up some about myths and truths about food allergies and different tests. There is a TON of information out there and it's tricky because some of it is false. Food allergies are somewhat unpredictable because every kid is different and in the past there hasn't been a lot of testing.

We now have Epi Pens on us at all times and also at daycare. You never know with a food allergy what the reaction could be if exposed. Sometimes it can be mild, sometimes severe and life threatening. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

I just keep thinking about reeses cups and snickers and all the lovely yummies that contain peanut butter that Luke won't be a able to have. Of course missing out on stuff like that isn't a big deal but still...I love me some snickers :)

Please pray for us regarding his skin prick testing. I hope I can be there for him and not fall apart if he gives me that look. The "why is this happening to me" look (it doesn't sounds like it's a quick thing and then done, the pokes will take a little bit). I know the information we gain will be worth it although there is still guessing involved since you have to take much more into account than just the skin prick test. Pray for me as we travel this crazy road of allergies that's so new to me since they don't really run in our families.

Thank you so much and I'll keep the blog updated about it.