While our appointments are always long at Dr. Matheson's (2 hours today), the information and bedside manner are awesome!
Here is a run down of our visit to the allergist today......
Waiting to see Dr. Matheson and the pin prick test. Of course that meant he had to unload the diaper bag, run around like a mad man and eat food in an office that prohibits eating food. Oh well! If you put us in a exam room for 35 minutes waiting and I am going to feed the monkey! Like I said it's a long wait but it's because the doctor really takes his time with each patient. And as a lady who goes in with a million questions, I appreciate it.
Picture on the left was right after he was poked with the allergens and the picture on the right is at the 15 minute mark. I knew as soon as I looked at his back that the news was not going to be good. Also the nurse that did his test has a horrible poker face. Well that and she kept saying, wow what happened to this poor sweet boy to get all the allergies. That's exactly what I want to hear!!!!
The waiting after the test wasn't as bad as last time. Jax was super tough and not one tear. The worst part was trying to contain him in a room without a door. Little dude just wanted to run the hallways. Shocking I know!
When he wasn't trying to escape he was standing way too close to the TV watching Lion King. And oh yesser, the office is still rocking the VHS's.
Waiting for Dr. Matheson with Jax's results. Which weren't as bad as I was expecting but also not as good as I was hoping for. So we will start with the worse. His peanut allergy has had a very, very, very minimal improvement. He is still anaphylactic upon peanut exposure and requires an epi-pen We also have to continue to avoid any cross contamination of peanuts in food (the most exhausting thing ever! Hate cross contamination!) He is also still moderately allergic to dairy, eggs and soy (very small improvements in those numbers as well). These are not anaphylactic, only cause hives an/or vomiting. The doctor is still hopeful he will outgrow these (most kids out grow them by 8 years old). On a positive note, he has out grown his most minimal allergy, corn. Wahoo! This gives me hope, hopefully not false hope. After Dr. Matheson shared the results I started to pick his brain. I asked him about potentially trying desensitizing method with Jax's peanut allergy in the future (desensitizing requires injecting the allergen into the child and counter acting the allergic reaction with epinephrin. This is done on a increment level, increasing the allergen on every injection. This is also done in office by a doctor). He said there are currently two hospitals in the states conducting this study and they are getting extremely mixed results. Some kids are having great results and the other children are having to drop out of the study because they are having such a severe and horrible reaction to the protocol. Ughhhhh so that might be out, especially since it's still so experimental. Then I finally had a mini break down and asked him what the hell I did wrong to have my child have so many allergies. I asked him it was food being modified or because I introduced things too late to Jax (based on the standard pediatric recommendation). He said he didn't think it was food because they have been modifying food in different ways for years and there is physiological evidence that it causes allergies. He then told me about a study conducted between Jewish people in Jerusalem versus Jewish people in New York (not religion based but culture based). He said the people in Jerusalem had a much lower peanut allergy rate versus the people in New York. He said the main difference they could find was a teething biscuit given to the infants in Jerusalem around 4 months that contained peanut oil and other peanut contributors. He also mentioned the fact that since pediatricians have increased the age of peanut avoidance to two years they have seen an increase in peanut allergies, not a decrease. So I asked him as a father and grandfather not an allergist what he would recommend. He said that he would expose him children (& grandchildren) to the allergens between 3 and 5 months while the thymus was still developing. He said it has been shown that exposure during this time, has a decreased rate of food allergies. He said because it goes against the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, he can't officially recommend exposing an infant so young and has to stick with their recommendations. Then he referenced the dirty pacifier study. There was a study done showing that parents who sanitized a pacifier after it fell on the ground had children with lower immune system versus parents that quickly wiped it off on their pants. He said there is a lot to be said for avoidance hindering the body's ability to work things out. So you better believe the next kid will be exposed to everything at 4 months! (I have Jax's epi-pen so it can't hurt right!) No worries I am not going to give a new babes a whole jar of peanut butter or a bottle of cow's milk. Just a pinky dip rubbed inside the mouth worth! :)
After two hours someone is ready to go home and take a nap! We will back to test his dairy, eggs and soy in 2 years and peanuts in 5 years.
All and all, I am grateful. One allergy down, four to go! Fingers crossed! But it doesn't mean we didn't receive some lemons today. Nothing an extra large diet DP can't fix! Well the note from Jax's allergist so I take food where ever the fetch I want, doesn't hurt either! ;)
Here is our visit from last year.....2013
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