Return from the Funny Farm and Food Allergy Fun, Part 3

Hey, you can't start here... that's like cheating!  This is the 3rd installment of a 3-part series... try:
Bumper Sticker Moms and Food Allergy Fun, Part 1 

and 

A Texas Road Trip and Food Allergy Fun, Part 2.  

If you've done that, then read on...!

So after we traveled back from the deep south, back into spectacularly low temperatures and snow (what were we thinking??), we unpacked, got out our winter gear, found our routine again and I promptly realized that I had signed up to work in Riley's classroom... every Thursday in March.  RJ's allergist is only in our local office on Thursdays.  Bah.  

So I moved the peanut challenge appt, from days away, all the way until the end of the month.  I had taken him to our primary right after we got back, his weight was down nearly 2 pounds, doesn't sound like a lot, but when you only weigh 24 pounds to begin with, it makes a bit of a difference.  We discuss the confusion.  We totally love our primary, I always say I wish she would just go back to school and become every kind of specialist we need.  But we still have no answers, and she's not qualified to give them. 

I'm glad I pushed off the challenge appt, it doesn't sound right to me, something's still missing, and I sort of need a break.  

We're still cautious about peanuts, but not as much, meaning peanut butter is back in our house and I don't check every label with a magnifying glass.  Gluten is back in, we as a family have been discussing carbs and sugars for some time, and cutting back on both of those slowly, so we focus more on that as a whole rather than having to watch what RJ eats.  He still hasn't had any of the 3 things from that day he went to the hospital - apples, peanut butter, or cantaloupe.  

2 weeks later, I can't wait any longer.  Mama Rebel has moved in, and she has a plan.  I decide to start in order of less scary to potentially scary.  

March 16 - RJ gets sliced apple for lunch.  I take a picture of him eating, then at 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour and later than night.   Nada.  

March 18 - RJ gets cantaloupe for lunch.  I do the same thing with pictures, and low and behold, Dr. Mom gets an answer.  

I feel validated... there IS actually something going on, I'm not crazy!  I also feel sad, that my little boy reacts like this.  And I feel scared, what else could make this happen to him?  And most of all, how bad can this get?  

Dr. Google isn't much help, cantaloupe allergy seems quite rare, and most google answers have to do with Oral Allergy Syndrome, which his symptoms are not representative of.  I, of course, in my mad googling, happen to stumble on the few blogs of moms whose severely-allergic kids have had near-death experiences, which only manages to further scare the shiz-nits out of me.  (I sort of wish those blogs didn't get so popular, I think they end up fueling the food allergy issue, especially the false positives, not to mention scaring parents everywhere... )

March 20 - Just to round out my data, since he DID react to cantaloupe, all testing was negative, and I KNOW he's been accidentally exposed without a problematic reaction, I give him a fingerful of peanut butter with his lunch.  I was still nervous, as the hospital staff and allergist's office staff's reactions and their sureness that it was peanuts was still engraved in my brain, and peanuts can be such a scary allergy. 

**PLEASE NOTE HERE - I AM IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, ADVOCATING THAT ANYONE EVER TRY THEIR OWN FORM OF ALLERGY TESTING IF THEY SUSPECT THEIR CHILD HAS AN ALLERGY, ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR.** 

RJ had no reaction to the peanut butter.  

With data in hand, I compiled a 7 page document, starting with the day in the hospital, red fingers and cheeks at Chuck E. Cheese, arm welts after a party, all the way up to and including my Rebel Tests.  Dates, times, descriptions, labels and pictures.  My husband said I was insane.  But I thrive on data.  

I waited a few days and called the allergist's office.  I politely explained to the receptionist that I sort of did my own testing... "yes, I know the doctors don't like that... yes, I had benadryl and an Epi-Pen...yes.... ok... well...so, what I need is to change that challenge appt to a regular follow-up....yes... ok, good, thanks."  

We go to the appt and I hand the nurse a copy of my 7-page report.  When the doctor comes in, she is nearly speechless... "I've...I mean, I've never, ever, had anyone come in so prepared...this...this timeline... with pictures... this...this is great," she says.  I really can't tell if she's actually impressed or if she's mocking me.  Or maybe she just knows that I made her job easy.  I have no idea.   

We talk.  For a while.  She says page 5 (that's my testing and the cantaloupe pics) does look like a reaction. She gives me a few options.  I walk out of there and get in the car and get home, and I'm like, wait a minute... what just happened?  Give him food and see what happens?  Give him claritin every day just in case?  Umm, no.  Not really sure how I walked out of there without an answer, but I did.  Now I'm mad again.  Mad and staying away from the fruit bar.  

In the next few weeks we try honeydew... nothing... watermelon... nothing.  Just the bad, evil, cantaloupe so far.  I happen to be talking to a friend one day, who's just come back from taking her kids to a new allergist, a new allergist who tells her that her kids actually have no allergies, this after having her son over-tested, plus not being informed about high rates of false-positives (especially in young patients), and basically misinformed about the occurrence of true food allergies.  Listening to her describe this new doctor's matter-of-factness... I like him already.  Turns out he's in the same practice, but I'd have to travel about 25 minutes away to a different location.  I make an appointment pronto.  

He is everything I hoped he would be.  Matter-of-fact, direct, no sugar-coating, no iffyness, and he comes with a great bedside-manner and some humor.  According to him, no one should be just openly tested for everything.  False positives on skin tests are around 40% or higher, based on all kinds of factors.  Many people that react on skin tests can still be exposed regularly, or eat the foods (if it's a food test) and not have a problem.  He himself gets a giant skin reaction for peanuts, but eats peanut butter every morning.  I silently wish all the Bumper Sticker Moms could meet this guy so he can tell them how it really is.  He looks over my 7 pages of data, and asks if I want a skin test for cantaloupe.  

Absa-friggin-lutely. 

The skin test is negative.  It's slightly red, but not big enough to count.  I'm confused.  Really, I am.  The doc comes back in and gives me the facts.  Skin Tests have a high false positive rate, as mentioned, but only a 1% false negative rate.  As he looks over all my data, he tells me that some people get hives with a virus.  It can come and go for hours, days, weeks.  It can have welts with it, too.  It can appear just like allergy hives, and present just like anaphylactic hives.  Some kids are just hive-makers, he says.  It's not anaphylaxis, and usually isn't a problem.  I wonder out loud why no one, no doctor especially, has told me this before?  Why I haven't been given this as even a "maybe" from the hospital or other doctors?  Why I've been made to believe in full that my kid was allergic to something, and have spent the last 2 months going batty and worrying and wondering what in the hell he is reacting to?  He lets me vent, and says only that I should have came to him in the first place, this he says with a grin.  

And after I vent, then I say, "So... look at page 5, are you saying that he just happened to react to a virus randomly after eating cantaloupe at two different times?"

He grins again, "Nope.  Not at all."  He goes on... he has a handful of cantaloupe-allergic patients.  At least one of them falls in that 1% that doesn't react to the skin test, so it's still possible, and we can make sure.  He says I can challenge at home and call with results, or I can come back next week and challenge in the office.  Although I was brave before, with the knowledge that I've seen him react to the cantaloupe plus the fact that he can't communicate to me what he's feeling, I opt for the office challenge.  And this way, there'll be some doctor's notes either way!  

Today, May 1 - We go in, armed with a container of cantaloupe, for RJ's challenge.  I am nervous.  I know we'll get something, I've seen it with my own eyes.  But I don't know how bad it can get, or whether the doctor can even tell me how vigilant we'll need to be in the future.  I just want to know.  And what if we get nothing?  Then what?  I hate unknowns.  

He eats 3 small pieces.  15 minutes go by.  Nothing.  He eats 5 small pieces.  Thank the Lord he is cooperating.  We've brought Thomas trains, Mickey books, coloring books, his picture flash cards that he loves and the iPad.  He blowing through my stash of ideas right fast.  But he's eating the darned cantaloupe.  

15 more minutes.  Nothing.  

7 more small pieces.  15 minutes.  Nothing.

The nurse asks about a small red spot on his face and calls the doc.  He says it's nothing.  I'm less nervous, but more confused than ever.  Great.  So he's not allergic.  BUT THEN WHAT THE HELL MADE HIM ALL RED??

   The nurse pops in and says just 15 more minutes and you can go.  By now we're done with the toys and books and trains and singing and have now discovered that standing on the chair and flipping the light on and off is just fantastic.  I'm just plain confused and waiting.  I've accepted that I look like a jackass, and that maybe it's not the cantaloupe.  But it still doesn't make any sense!  

The nurse comes back in after 15 minutes and after a fight with RJ to leave the light on... his arms are red.  Totally red.  His ears are red, his pinky finger is red where he grabbed the fruit off the fork, his cheeks are red.  We take off his shirt, and he is RED.  Splotches all up and down his tiny little back.  

Hallelujah...and WTF, all at the same time.  I am tired of having my opinion being flip-flopped!  I allow myself to feel slightly validated, again.  Finally, a nurse AND a doctor to SEE what happens to my kid when he eats cantaloupe.  It's not just me sounding like a looney-tunes.  

But I am mad, once again.  I do not want Food Allergies!  

My new fave doc returns, takes stock, and tells me that he's having a histamine reaction... of the non-allergic type.  

Explain, please.  

Some people do this, he says.  They react to components of different fruits (the body is confused), with a histamine reaction that makes them all red, but it's not the anaphylactic, life-threatening, Epi-Pen kind.  Many adults react like this to wine.  (I know lots of these!)  Young kids are not bothered by it, but sometimes teenagers and adults are self-conscious and so they avoid certain fruits.  Or go around telling people they are "allergic."  

He may have it forever, he may grow out of it.  He may react like this to other fruits someday, he may not.  

Ok.  I am OK with this.  It's an answer.  It's SOMETHING.  (And... I'm NOT crazy...!)  And it's not terrible.  I instantly feel sorry for all the moms that DO have to deal with real and scary and terrible food allergies, because even having the smallest taste of that, the thought, the idea of it happening to MY kid, was God-Awful.  And shame on those who think it's a trendy club, a reason to point out THEIR kid, something that makes their kid special, because they have no idea what it's really like. 

Before we leave the office, the only thing I want to know is... is this something that is known to turn into the true, scary type of allergy?  Honestly, this is all I ever wanted to know.  How worried do we need to be, on a daily basis, now, ever?  

Doc says that the data say No.  Not typically.  Not to say that it can't, or won't.  But not typically.  

And I thank him.  For answers.  For being forthcoming with information.  For not just shooing me aside, for going further and pushing the envelope until we had an ANSWER.  For doing his job as a DOCTOR.  I mean, shit, this is what he gets paid for, right?  

A Texas Road Trip and Food Allergy Fun, Part 2

Fair Warning:  This is continued from a previous topic, see Bumper Sticker Moms and Food Allergy Fun, Part 1 for the beginning.

So we did go and get that blood test on Peanuts, right before we left on our 10-day road trip to Texas for Aunt 'Ria's wedding.  Figured it'd be nice to know, right?  Also on it was the Celiac's panel, and just for shits and twiddles, a test for type of histamine over-reaction type thing.

I went crazy for a few days researching, preparing, separating and marking RJ's food.  Here's pictures of my insanity:

The full spread of packed snacks for everyone else.  Fruit mixed in with the carby-kid treats that we usually don't buy, like Cheetos, BBQ Chips and Peanut-Butter TastyKakes.

RJ's  peanut and tree-nut and gluten-free food is in a separate large lunch tote, in baggies marked with big Sharpie X's.  I feel like an idiot doing this, but if I'm gonna do it, better do it right.  I shop that crazy aisle in the store and try to match up the "look" of the snacks with stuff his sibs are getting so he doesn't feel left out.

We started out on a Sunday morning, 2 bottles of Benadryl and 2 Epi-Pens along for the ride.  


RJ wouldn't eat.  He barely drank anything.  He throws every snack offer on the floor.  Was he just pissed because he wasn't used to the foods that were gluten and nut free?

He fussed a bit, and we thought - wow, this is going to totally suck major ass if he cries like this for the whole trip.

But he didn't.

The DVD player that came with the car, that we didn't want but knew would be FANTASMIC on long road trips, was a lifesaver for the little guys.  Big kids can totally do without movies on the road, even for hours (although you wouldn't think so based on all the moms who pop a movie in for EVERY car ride...).  They can read, do crossword puzzle books, sing songs, listen to music, etc, etc, etc.  But kids under 5 have a much tougher time, a lot in part to due with the fact that they are stuck in one position in their seat.  So, yeah, animated Disney movies especially, are super great for keeping the car quiet and parents functional on long car trips.


We spent our first two nights in Sapphire, NC at a Wyndham Vacation Resort (finally using those racked up points!) that offered Gem Mining on site (see... science... who needs school?)

It had it's own ski hill and lift.  We didn't ski.  We didn't bring clothes for that.  We were trying to get AWAY from the snow.  We hit the indoor pool instead and Rog and I took turns relaxing in the hot tub.

 Later that day, I accidentally ate one of those TastyKake peanut butter cakes that I just KNEW were going to be a problem (meaning I knew I couldn't NOT eat one), so when RJ got up to nurse in the middle of the night, I was ready for it.  Low and behold, he turned red, got benadryl and still yakked all over the place. Throwing up directly after coming in contact with the offensive item.  He throws up only his last intake when this happens, so other chunks, no previous stomach contents, and has no diarrhea.  Just like before. Totally fits with the PB thing, right?  Making sense for a PB allergy, except that he tested negative.

Day 3 we headed further south into Georgia.  Not until we crossed the state line did we actually see grass.  It took 11 whole hours south to get away from the snow.  This was an exciting day as we were meeting Aunt Heidi and cousin Brayden at Legoland:

  

 and then going back to Aunt Heather and Uncle Jim's house to stay over with another cousin, Jackson.  Legoland was small, but fun for Lego-lovers.  We built and raced cars, played in giant Legos, and big kids attended a workshop on how to make the SuperBrick.  My stepsister Heather made an awesome dinner for everyone and Chase and Indigo went to have a sleepover at Brayden's house.

We woke up and prepared for a day at the Aquarium with Aunts Heidi and Connie, Tia (also known as Aunt Chelsea) and Brayden.  Atlanta has a HUGE aquarium with lots of cool and even rare sea animals.

We watched the dolphin show which was a major hit with all of us.  After hours of fun there, the Atlanta locals split off and us Northerners went to visit the Coca-Cola Factory, something I remember doing from my childhood.  It was, of course, totally redone from 18 years ago, but very cool and interesting.  The tasting room was everyone's favorite part, except Riley, who had no self-regulation, as seen below with a yucky-feeling belly.

Day 5 we woke up and learned that 3 of the people we had been in contact with the day prior were sick - some sort of stomach flu it seemed.  We didn't know if they got it from us (although none of us were sick yet) or if we were in imminent danger of the yak-attack.  We said good-bye and thank you and headed on our way - off to New Orleans, a place even I had never been to.

Somewhere in Alabama, Riley decides her belly doesn't feel well.  We put a towel on her lap and keep going.  7 hours from Atlanta to New Orleans.  Flat roads and sunshine.

Riley makes it to right about the state line from Alabama to Louisiana and throws up chunks (including the gummy sharks from the Aquarium gift shop - seriously, those things NEVER digest) all over the towel, her shoes, the car floor and a few board books.  Pull over, clean up, get moving.  She yells again shortly after and we squeeze into the Louisiana welcome center.  She and I run, and she barfs in front of the welcome center door.  It's bright green.  I consider taking a picture for my sis-in-law who loves bright green, but I decide against it as we're out of time.  She barfs a few more times on the way to the bathroom.  We clean up, she says she feels better, and we even manage to snap a picture of all of us with a statue of the state of LA.  Riley's smiling pretty good for just involuntarily giving up her $3.79 gummy sharks.

An hour from N'Orleans, Indigo is lying down... and turning shades of green.

Well guess what, folks?  We'll be ordering in tonight.  No sight-seeing in N'Orleans for this carload.  The girls spend their evening yakking, sometimes at the same time.  Thank goodness we are staying at another Wyndham resort in a two-bedroom, two bath unit. We order the works from the place recommended for authenticity by the front desk crew, since we won't spend any money seeing the town.  Alligator sausage, Fried Catfish Po-Boy, rice and beans, jambalaya, etc.

Seriously, the place was gorgeous.  

The girls obviously don't eat, somehow I manage to enjoy my meal in between jumping up to hold little girls' hair over the can.  New Orleans looks pretty cool from out the window... and it's 78 degrees. 

Riley's belly is empty by bedtime.

I put together the Kid Bags to keep the kiddos busy at Aunt Ria's wedding, which is in two days.  It was easier to pack the ingredients separately rather than the completed bags, that's why I did it a few days in.

I'm whooped.  Hard to go to sleep wondering if the barfers are really done. Indy pukes for the last time at 2:20AM.  She knows it, she says, "I think I'm actually done.  There's nothing left."

5:20 AM Chase comes stumbling in my room holding his stomach and moaning.

Fan-friggin-tastic.

I give him dramamine... not sure if it will work, but worth a shot.  He suffers the car ride to Texas (6 hours) feeling crappy, but never barfs.

Somewhere mid-drive, I got a call from the allergist.  RJ's blood work is NEGATIVE for peanuts (WTF??) and the labs are NEGATIVE for gluten, bacteria, etc, etc - basically anything that could be making him have chronic diarrhea.  So we've got nothing, except that sometimes he reacts. To food. And turns all red. And benadryl makes it better.  So SOMETHING is going on.  She mentions how confusing this all is.  (Honestly, I don't appreciate the thinking-out-loud from my doctor.  If you're confused, can you please keep that to yourself?  I'd like to have a little confidence in your opinion.)  All she can come up with is that he might still be allergic to peanuts, even though the testing shows otherwise.  She changes my follow-up appt to a peanut challenge.  The receptionist then hops on the phone to tell me that my appt will now take HOURS.  Great.  Because my last appt there with him went SO WELL.    

We arrive in the Lonestar State at last.  I text Pat, mother-of-the-bride, and say we're in town but we're not coming near anyone lest we spread the nasties around.  

But we suck at timing, and we run into everyone (I mean, EVERYONE) at the hotel anyway as we check-in, and rudely run away from hugs and smooches.

Saturday morning, day of the wedding, guess who doesn't feel well... ME.  I take dramamine, and feel like a major loop-head all day as we check out the Gulf of Mexico and see some things around town..... like oil factories.  It helps tho with the barfy feeling, and thankfully wears off just as we're getting dressed up for the main event.

We go, the wedding is lovely.  It's pleasant and simple, and beautiful, which is a perfect reflection of Maria.  Jacob is a sweetheart too, they sing to each other during the ceremony and it's really cute.  Somehow Roger keeps RJ mostly quiet.  Head out to the reception.  As I hand out the kid-bags (just bags full of crafts to keep kids busy at weddings) that Maria asked me to put together, the girls I talk to are saying, "Yes, M'am" and "No, M'am".... wow... yeah... I remember this from traveling in the deep south when I was a child.  I mean, my kids are pretty well-behaved, but I gotta get me some of that!!

An hour into the reception, RJ, who's choosing not to eat again (and BTW he's now so skinny that I've made a doctor appt the day after we get back JUST so I can get him weighed on the same scale as before we left) throws green beans on the floor and sticks ONE small piece of pasta in his mouth.

After eating the pasta, Aunt 'Ria comes over to say hi.  "Why is he red?," she says.  Urrgh.  I peer into the dark room to see, and yep, he's red.  30 seconds later he's screaming.  Rog picks him up to try to console him, and he barfs liquid all down the front of both of them.  It's dark enough that no ones else sees, and we run to the bathroom to clean up.  We leave the big kids with family and ski-daddle the heck on out of there.  We did get to eat cupcakes, cuz we did that first (awesome!) and dinner (beef, mashed potatoes, green beans... double awesome).  AND - they had some craft beer there.  Pretty much triple awesome on the food and drink.  

We leave Sunday morning, heading out for our longest drive - 15.5 hours to Seviersville, TN, to another Wyndham.  We really did pretty awesome with our points useage this year! Here's what quiet looks like:

 We picked THIS Wyndham due to the awesome fact that it's connected to the Wilderness resort, which has it's own indoor WaterPark.  Wyndham guests get a wristband and free admission. 

Waterpark was a BLAST.  We rocked it all day.   

Indy on the ropes course outside of the waterpark. 

We order the special from the deli on our walk back to our room, a 42 oz hot fudge brownie sundae.  Skip the nuts, please.  We don't really remember why RJ was so mad about ice cream, but he was.  

The advantages of waterparks are immense.  

Next day, sad to leave the waterpark but knowing we will definitely be back someday, we head out for a 10 hour trip home.  RJ is eating a tad bit better, but just a tad. We haven't had hives since the wedding 2 days prior. 

RJ's weight check appt is early the day after we get home, and his peanut challenge is scheduled 7 days out.  I still think a challenge is silly based on his results, not to mention a waste of my time.  I'm considering just feeding him a peanut while sitting in the hospital parking lot with my Epi-Pen.  Doctors everywhere probably hate my rebel attitude.

To be continued...

Look for Food Allergy Fun, Part 3

Bumper Sticker Moms and Food Allergy Fun, Part 1

First for some definitions - (these are based on actual people that I know, not just making this crap up)

Bumper Sticker Moms are what I call the Moms who seem to flaunt their children's food allergies.  They mention it to everyone, every chance they get.  They mention how HARD their life is.  They make sure to tell every waitress (their own and everyone who happens to visit their table) that no one should even have (insert problem food here) NEAR their food, because their kid is allergic.  In essence, they make a BIG DEAL out of it.  Hence the name - Bumper Sticker Moms.  Because I'm sure if there was one, they would absolutely have a bumper sticker that reads, "My Kid Has Food Allergies."  Like it's a trendy club these days or something.  I'm also nearly convinced that many of these flaunting Bumper Stickers Moms have children who actually have false positive readings (in fact, I definitely do know this of some of them), and many of them have never experienced any sort of real reaction.  Because real food allergies are scary, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to BRAG about it.

So then there are the Real-Deal Moms, moms (and dads too) who actually HAVE kids with real food allergies, have dealt with reactions, some mild, some downright scary, and these moms are just so down-to-Earth with the whole thing that it's simply refreshing.  If they drop their kid off at my house, or a birthday party, they pull me aside, they mention the allergy briefly, they let me know what's the worst that can happen and what to do about it, and in some, more severe cases, they give me a list of things their child needs to avoid.  Past the age of kindergarten, these real-deal parents will have their child make a list of things to avoid.  This means they are giving their child the responsibility.  These same types of parents are the ones who tell their kids not to lick other kids at school who are eating the problem foods, instead of requesting that the whole school be decontaminated and sanitized.  They make sure their kids stay safe by being informed, and informing people on a need-to-know basis, instead of feeding off all of the attention that THEY get as a parent of a food allergy kid.  And I'm also aware they do not represent the very few, and I mean very few parents of kids with actual, proven, direly severe food allergies who have to be WAY more vigilant and cautious with their severely allergic children.  Boy do I appreciate these Real-Deal Moms.

If you think about it, these two types of parents are probably raising two VERY different types of children... but that's a whole other topic.

So.  Onto our very own Food Allergy Fun.  Fun as in sarcastic-fun.  Because food allergies are absolutely NOT fun.  Not at all.  It's not a club that I want to be in, for sure.  The reason RJ first saw an allergist was due to a day of sudden and terrible diarrhea that happened the day after he had way more peanut butter than he'd ever had in his life.  Meaning that I had found 6 jars of the stuff in the pantry and decided that we were eating PB with every meal until we were down to a normal 1 or 2 jars.  Not his first time with PB, but the diarrhea was sudden and out of place, and so I wanted a rule-out on the allergy thing.  Meaning I didn't really THINK he had an allergy, but I love rule-outs.  And we already knew this doc as she was Riley's asthma doc.

Skip ahead, as a previous post covers the fact that PB was Negative, but Crab was Positive (we tested shellfish too based on Dad's sinus reaction to some seafood - he's way too stubborn to go and get testing done OR to stop eating it).  A blood test (so much fun with an 18-month-old) said crab was negative.

Fine, right?  See?  Rule-out done.  No more allergist.

That was mid-January.

Skip ahead to February 7th.  We'd been trucking along for days on those 6 jars of PB.  Pears and PB, apples and PB, PB chicken for dinner, PB on ice cream, etc.  The boy eats lunch.  Apples, PB and cantaloupe.  He's done.  I wipe him off.  His face is red, only where I wiped him.  I snap a picture, cuz it's strange.

As I take him out of his seat, I notice his wrists and arms are red, too.

See the welts on the wrist of his right arm?

Then I see his neck.  All these places are now BRIGHT red.  I take more pictures and send to my sis-in-law, cuz we had just been talking about the crazy diarrhea, and how I was starting to think he actually had some sort of chronic diarrhea, and at 18 months he should really have more solid poo... brainstorming, really.

Since I'm taking pictures, I take his clothes off to check for more.

His shoulders and back are starting to turn red.  It's a snow day.  We're stuck in.  We're on our 4th day of being without power.  I've nothing else to do (not really, ha!) so I call the allergist.  To complain.  That now we've done a stick test (which didn't bother him) and a blood test (which definitely DID bother him) and although everything said negative, we only tested for SOME things, and look here - now something's affecting him.

Due to the massive amount of snow that was descending on us, I assumed the office would be closed and I would leave my complaint on a voicemail.  I really was not that concerned.  RJ didn't seem to care.

I got a nurse.  I explained what was going on, thinking she'd write a note to have the receptionist call me to make another appt.  So much for that original rule-out theory, right?

Instead, she said it was hives and did it have raised bumps with it?

Why, yes it does.  There's welts on his wrists and neck and face.  And matter-of-fact, I'm watching it spread down his body as we speak.  It's down to his diaper now.

That's an anaphylactic reaction! Is he having trouble breathing?!?

Ummm no.  I don't think so.  He's running around the living room pushing a toy bus.

If it's spreading like that, you need to hang up with me and call 911.

--------  (Processing this...)

Nurse - The hives with welts spreading fast can be nothing, but it can quickly turn into a breathing problem.  You need to call 911 and have him transported by ambulance.

I have other kids to get situated.  Can I just drive him to the hospital?

No.  You can't.  If he's in the backseat and starts having a breathing issue, you won't be able to catch it or react appropriately to help him.  The paramedics will be able to do that.

Okay, let me go then.  I'll do that.

________________

So I called Roger.  Sent the kids to my neighbor.  Rog and I drove him to the hospital.  I sat in back with him to monitor him.  But we just felt really silly calling an ambulance and making such a big fuss.  Since there was the end of a snow and ice storm going on concurrently, we should have just called the ambulance.  Roads were closed, tree limbs were down, it was a mess.  But we got to the hospital.  They didn't have power either.  We sat in the waiting room in the dark.  They confirmed that he had a reaction, termed it severe. Got him back to normal before he officially tore the room apart and sent us out with orders to follow up with our allergist.  We stopped for Benadryl on the way home.  Being a household that rides out colds, opts out of the Flu shot, and generally tries to be med-free, we didn't own any.  Plus, Benadryl makes me think of those crappy parents that give it to their children just so they'll sleep and not bother them.  But I suck it up and buy some.

In reflecting on our day later that night, I am pissed.  Angry, upset, overwhelmed.  In addition to being confused.  Everyone is saying it must be the PB, but he just tested negative two weeks prior.  Even the doctor thinks its weird.  It was one thing to have him react to crab on the stick test and for two weeks kind of, sort of think, okay, sure, we'll stay away from crab.  It was an entirely different feeling to see my kid react like that, to be told to call 911, to not know how bad it was going to get, that he wasn't old enough to communicate any major symptoms to me even if they were there.  In the mix of all my feelings, I got even madder at the Bumper Sticker Moms that thought this was cool and trendy and part of a neat ole club.

The allergist was a waste of time, except that we got a scrip for an Epi-Pen, since we don't know what he reacts to and how bad it can get.  Since he just had a major reaction, he couldn't be tested again for anything else for 3 weeks.  I was pissed again.  I wanted answers.  She blew off the apples and cantaloupe, saying they were pretty rare.  She gave me a scrip for a blood test for peanuts, if I wanted to know sooner.  Another blood draw?  Yeah, sign me right up.  He loved the first one soooo much.

For the next week and a half, he reacted on occasion to whatever IT was.  I took pictures of him, then the labels.

 I did internet research.  I got mad about having to wait.  I got better at feeding him nut-free.  I became an even better label-reader (we already check labels for carbs, sugar mainly).  We (myself and friends and family that I talked to) decided he was just hypersensitive from having that big reaction.  But I kept records anyway.  3 weeks was a long time away, and we were heading on our Texas Road Trip imminently.

I took him to his primary care doc about the diarrhea that was still there, and the fact that now that I was paying attention to his bowels more closely, he didn't digest a lot of foods that he ate.  She gave me some poop-collection bottles to test for gluten-intolerance, bacteria, E. Coli, and other yummy stuff.  Rule-outs.  This makes me a little happy.  But only cuz I love rule-outs.  She says that in addition to keeping him nut-free, feed him gluten-free until we get results.  Even more fun.  Thank goodness for those small aisles at the grocery store, that I formerly thought were only for weirdos and hippies... mostly joking... but seriously, it is WAY easier (albeit expensive) to be nut-free and gluten-free than it ever was before, and I am grateful for that, for sure!


Enough for now... Part 2 coming soon!!

Don't miss my blog under this one, yes, I actually did two in a row after 2 months off!!