Friday, June 15, 2012

Nash has an allergy test

Thursday June 14 I took Nash to be allergy tested.  I'll admit, I figured this was going to be a waste of my time.  Nash is our healthiest kid by far (sad, I know) so I figured that this was just me being overly worried.  Turns out I did a good thing by taking him in to be tested.  After seeing how allergic Sam was to all the molds and cow's milk, I figured we'd better have Nash tested (just to be sure).  After talking to Travis about it I wondered whether or not it was going to be a good idea after all.  But, realizing my insurance would pay the entire cost of the test, I went against my gut & made the appointment to have him tested.

They stamped his back with all 50 allergens - just like Sam.  The kid was super tough and didn't cry or fight at all.  He did tighten up & said "Ow" but hey, 50 pokes in one day I think he's entitled!


As I was sitting with him & waiting the 20 minutes to see what he would react to I felt like I was wasting my time.  His back didn't appear to look that reactive or bad at all.  The two big red spots are where the histamine was so they were suppose to break out with a hive.

After the 20 minute wait time, the nurse came in & made marks on his back with a marker so she could go back & measure the size of the hives.  Surprisingly, his histamine was 11 cm (Sam's was only 4 cm).  I started to wonder if maybe he was reacting to more than I thought it looked like he was.

As the nurse was making her marks she noticed that he was getting hives between his hives.  Meaning, he was getting hives in places he hadn't been stuck with an allergen.  She was really surprised to see that!  Turns out that doesn't happen too often.  Also turns out he reacted to nearly everything that they poked him with.  He did react to the three molds on his back but because he was getting hives between his hives she didn't dare do the mold ids down his arm like they did to Sam.  She told me he would be covered in hives if she did that to him.  After she measured the size of all his hives she gave him Benadryl right there in the office (they didn't give any to Sam after her test).

After we were done being tested, we went over & talked to the PA at the ENT (where the dr.s for the allergy clinic are based).  The PA is really nice & I really like her.  She was shocked by how many allergens he reacted to as well.  She told me that if I tried to avoid all the foods he reacted to all day, every day, I'd drive myself crazy.  She recommended that we do a rotating diet.  This means that he doesn't eat too much of the same thing all in one day (or even all in one week).  By doing allergy shots (like Sam) they can reduce the effects of the inhalant allergens by 80%.  If they can reduce the inhalant allergen symptoms by 80% then the food allergies won't be too bad to deal with.  Fortunately, his isn't deathly allergic to any of the foods he reacted to (no peanut allergy here).  

So, after all that torture, we now know that Nash is allergic to:
Almond, bakers yeast, cacao bean, corn, oat, orange, potato, rice, soybean, tomato, whole wheat, beef, chicken, pork, 5 trees, 1 grass (of course it's a different one than Sam), 5 weeds, all 12 molds, dog & feathers.
What I thought was interesting was that the food he reacted the most to is potato.  Nash hates potatoes.  I guess this explains why!

In comparison, Samantha is allergic to:
cows milk, 3 trees, 1 grass, 1 weed, all 12 molds and cat.

I was crossing my fingers that this means since we'll be making weekly trips to the allergy clinic to get allergy shots for 2 kids for at least the next 18 months that perhaps we may be done at the ENT's office.  This morning, however, I feel like that hope was dashed.  I took Brooke back to the ENT's office because she's had her fingers in her right ear for about 5 days, she's had a low fever, hasn't slept well & just hasn't been her happy little self.  I was worried that the right tube would be clogged again.  Turns out there was no infection in either ear & the right tube was clear.  However, we did have to unclog the left tube & are now back on ear drops for at least five days.  Have I mentioned I think I should have married an ENT?

Last day of swim lessons

Thursday, June 14 was the last day of swim lessons for the kids.  They were still super excited to go but I also think they were bummed out that it was their last day of lessons.  We are talking about signing them up for at least one (maybe two) more sessions of lessons this summer but it wouldn't be until the end of July (after summer school).





Caleb was kind of a stinker today.  He kept hoping on one of his teachers' backs & getting a ride to where ever they were suppose to be bunny hopping to!




Each of the kids got a certificate with their name & level on them.  My kids' certificates all say Brown on them - big surprise!  Caleb was recommended to go to Preschool B when he turns 4.  The rest of the kids were recommended to re take level 1.  I think it's mostly because the amount of skills they want them to pass off.  Nash had 6 out of 10 skills passed off - not bad for 9 30 minute lessons considering that he's never had lessons before.  I think it was Nash & Carter that had the most skills passed off.



I am sad that they are done with their lessons because they have absolutely loved taking them.  It's been really good for Samantha because she's finally overcoming her fear of water & is actually sticking her head under water!  Nash has learned quite a bit and improved a ton in what he already knew.  Caleb has found a love of the water that is completely unhindered by fear (huge improvement from last summer).  Even if I don't end up signing them up for lessons again this summer, I will for sure sign them up again at least once next summer.  Thank you LAC we'll be back!