allergy update

Today brought us back to the allergist to continue Samantha's allergy testing.  Since Samantha is allergic to eggs, she is at risk for having a reaction to the flu vaccine.  We started off with a prick test on her arm with 5 pricks.  We did three of the flu vaccine I believe small, medium, and large concentrations.  We also did a prick for peanuts since in 20% of egg allergy cases there is also a peanut allergy.  Then, of course, the control dot.  Thankfully all three of the vaccine and the peanut test were negative!

After the prick test we had to move onto a test shot.  The nurse had to give Samantha two shots in her upper arm.  One was a shot of saline as a control and the second shot had a low dose of the flu vaccine.  After 15 minutes she was checked and thankfully, again, all results were negative.

At this time we were able to administer the full flu vaccine.  She got the shot in her leg and then we waited 20 minutes to be sure there wasn't a reaction.  Even after all the trial runs!!  She was fine after the 20 minutes and we were free to go home.  Phew!

It was a long appointment and I feel bad for all Samantha had to go through.  Thankfully for now, it's done!  At least until next year when we go back to find out if she outgrew her allergy.

it's an allergy

Yesterday Miss Samantha had her appointment with the allergist since she had a reaction to scrambled eggs a few weeks back.  We decided to test for a few things but I can't remember them off the top of my head.  I know we did milk, soy, egg yolk, and egg whites.  The milk and soy tests came back negative.  However, both the egg yolk and egg white came back positive.  Her reaction to the egg whites was more severe and the rash actually started traveling up her little arm.  Poor girl.

Our game plan for now is to go back annually to restest to see if the allergy has been outgrown.  In the majority of cases, an egg allergy is outgrown by age 5.  In some rare cases, however, the allergy is lifelong.  Hopefully Samantha won't be one of those cases!  If she happens to still be allergic at age 4, they will do a blood test to determine how severe the allergy is.  Not sure why they don't do the test now, but oh well.  We are going back on Thursday to test to see if it is safe for her to get the flu shot since the flu shot is cultured on egg yolk.  I'm unsure either way if I'll let her do the shot, I need to do some research into it first.  We are also going to be testing her for a peanut allergy.

For now, Samantha cannot have eggs in any form.  Since I'm breastfeeding, I'll also need to make some dietary changes.  I can have eggs in baked goods, however, I can't have plain eggs on their own.  Eggs are a breakfast staple in our house so it's going to stink to not be able to enjoy them, but I'm willing to do it for Samantha.

For now, we will carry an epipen with us wherever we go in case she has a severe reaction and we will pray that in a few years, this allergy will be a thing of the past!

can't we catch a break?

I guess when you have kids it's just one thing after another.  Better get used to it!  Today we decided to give Samantha eggs for the first time.  The conversation before hand went a little like this:

Chris: Do you want scrambled or fried eggs for breakfast?
Me: How about scrambled?  Then you can make an extra and we can give some to Samantha.

*then I pondered it for a few minutes*

Me: On second thought, maybe we shouldn't give them to Samantha, they say they shouldn't have egg whites until they are a year old.
Chris: Oh Steph, it will be fine.
Me: Okay

So off we went and fed Samantha some scrambled eggs.  She had 5 or 6 bites and then went to play in her jumparoo.  After she jumped for a bit I nursed her and then we got ready to put her down for her nap.  Chris took her to change her diaper and immediately called me over.  She had red splotchy marks all around her lips.  I immediately called our pediatrician which no surprise, is closed for the holiday.  (We could leave an after hours message but they charge $25/call, ugh)  Thankfully, during Samantha's bout with pneumonia last week we found out that Chris' employer has a FREE 24 hour nurses hotline, so we decided to call that instead.  It was super easy and a RN called us back in a timely  manner.

Thankfully, as you can see in the picture, the reaction didn't seem to be too severe.  She had no trouble breathing, wheezing, swelling, or other symptoms.  I did find out after the fact, however, that Chris put milk in the eggs which I'm guessing may be the culprit.  My mom was severely lactose intolerant and I am as well to a lesser degree.  However for us, it's really more of an upset stomach/intestinal discomfort kind of thing.  So who knows.

I'll call the pediatrician tomorrow for a "follow up" and hopefully things will continue to be okay!