Allergies Confirmed

I have never had an allergy test done, and after witnessing what Christian went through, I don't ever want to.
He was a real trooper, only cried a little, and then got down off the exam table and played. I was told he was allergic to nuts, so for the past eight months, I have not fed him any.  My pediatrician told me to wait about six months before we had him tested for environmental allergies, to give his body time to aclimate to his new surroundings.

So it's the eight month mark, instead of six (we've had so much going on) and off we went to the allergist on Tuesday.  Deep down I was hoping they were wrong and he wasn't allergic to nuts because that's such a tricky allergy to have.  The two nurses stood on either side of him, while I faced him, holding his arms under mine and hugging him to keep him from moving.  In both hands, they held these plastic things with multiple tiny needle/pins. On the count of three, they both stuck these things into his back.  He cried out, arched into me with amazing strength.  They quickly did the same for round two and then we waited.  The doctor came back into the room fifteen minutes later to see which spots swelled up.

After the exam, it was determined that yes indeed, Christian is allergic to tree nuts.  He's not allergic to peanuts however, because they fall into a different family of nuts, but every other nut, nut extract, nut butter, nut oil he is allergic too.  Even though I knew that was going to be the outcome, I was still sad it turned out that way.  He's also allergic to dust and dust mites.  Yeah he doesn't stand a chance with that in my house :)
A type of mold and spring grasses round out the allergy list.  I was doing ok, until the doctor started talking about Epipens.

All I've seen of Epipens, is the dramatic situations on TV where the person instanteously vomits, can't breath and are scrambling for their Epipen.  It all turns out that they ate something they didn't realize had their allergen in it.  So at the sound of the word Epipen, and these images conjuring up in my mind, I got very anxious very quickly.  I asked her all sorts of questions; what are the symptoms, when do I use the Epipen, how many nuts will it take to set off a reaction, etc.  Because I have never seen an allergic reaction with Christian, we do not know the severity of what his reaction may be, thus I now carry an Epipen.  I will now be intensely reading food labels and educating people he spends time with about this allergy.  I was freaked out when I read the long list of what he cannot eat and saw a few items listed that contained nut extracts.  I didn't know those items contained the nut extracts which made me nervous about what else has the extracts that I don't know about and that he may eat.  The last eight months I've done fine with not letting him have any nuts, including peanuts, so I'm not sure why I am anxious all of the sudden.  I just need to keep doing what I've been doing, pay closer attention and let the people around him know.  I guess having that Epipen has made it more real and more serious, knowing that I may have to actually use it one day.  I pray not. Actually I'm extremely hesitant to let him have any peanuts/peanut butter, even though the doctor said he wasn't allergic, because what if something happens.  Take a deep breath Amy.

The doctor gave me a prescription for two Epipens so I could leave one at school.  The teachers are all trained in First Aid and CPR, including administering Epipens, so that's a relief.  I lef the trainer pen with them, just in case, so they could practice if they wanted to.  I made a list of all the nuts and their derivatives of what he cannot eat, along with emergency contact names and numbers and put one in my purse and the other attached to his diaper bag.  The scary part is that Christian is too young to understand and be able to tell people he cannot eat nuts, and what might happen when I am not with him. So after I take a deep breath and get centered about the nut allergy, I'll attack the house to reduce the dust and dust mites.

A little side note:  did you know that if you have a stuffed animal that is not washable, you can put it in the freezer overnight and that will kill any dust mites on it?  I did not know that, the doctor told me.  So my freezer is going to be packed full of stuffed animals this weekend :)

Have to make the final preparations for his birthday party next weekend! His third birthday, my first with him, I am SO excited!!!
~Amy