Egg Allergy Update – July 2014

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It’s been quite some time since I posted an update on Nick’s egg allergy.  Mostly because until you go back to the allergist you don’t really know where you stand.  It’s actually been a year since we last saw the allergist.  The original appointment we had been given (for June) had been changed three or four times before we ended up with our final time.  It’s like that saying that teachers are always telling kids, “You take what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”

Last year I had been really nervous about our visit because I wanted so badly to see that things were getting better.  You may recall that his numbers dropped significantly and that we had been instructed to start slowly introducing egg into his system.  We were supposed to start with something that had been baked for a very long time.  If that went well we were to try foods that cooked less time.  We started with my homemade banana bread since that cooks for over an hour.  We then worked our way up to muffins and eventually cookies.  When all baked goods had passed the test we moved on to the next level which was pancakes and waffles.  He doesn’t care for those so much, but he has had a few bites without any reaction.  Recently I was brave enough to let him have some very small tastes of Mayo.  Truthfully he has had everything he can except for an actual egg.  A scrambled egg would be the next thing, but a scrambled egg is what he had his horrible reaction to, so I’m a bit scared to go there!

This year I wasn’t nervous about our appointment.  I already knew that Nick’s egg allergy had greatly improved.  I’m at the mindset that at worst he just won’t be able to ever eat an egg, and that’s easy for him to avoid.  I know that this allergy is not going to control his life.  Still I did want to hear the news that it’s gone.  That I no longer need to carry around a bottle of Benadryl and two EpiPens everywhere I go.  Let me tell you that lugging those in a backpack around Walt Disney World is a royal pain!

Nick was so good for the appointment.  The morning had been rough and our appointment was set for 11, so I was expecting the worst, but I shouldn’t have.  Nick is almost always so good in public.  If I told half the people we met about he can behave at home I don’t think they’d believe me.  I’m about the only one that sees the true 3 year old!  They took us back and took his measurements.  He was 28.9lbs and 37in, so about the same as his well visit.  He’s still my adorable tiny thing.  He also had his blood pressure taken for the first time which he was so good about.

Once we got to see the doctor we discussed how we had introduced egg over the last year.  She, and the head doctor as well, were both very happy to hear how well Nick has been tolerating cooked egg.  They told me he’s well ahead of the curve because they’re seeing most kids aren’t outgrowing egg allergies until about age 9 now.  It had been age 6.  In my research I had read age 3, so I guess what I read was very out of date.  I think I’m glad I didn’t know about it being age 9 though!

Both doctors felt that we should run a scratch test to see if he still had a reaction.  Last year they had skipped the scratch test because there are so many false positives.  When we had done the original scratch test Nick was only a little over one, and he was still walking by holding on to us with two hands, so while we waited for it to take effect I had walked him up and down the halls.  This time they brought in a portable DVD player and put Cars on for him.  Of course he always loves that movie, so that kept him well occupied.  After 5 minutes the egg scratch was showing some redness, but no bump.  After the full 20 minutes the egg had caused a bump though which meant the test was positive.  Still the doctors were very happy that it was a small bump.  With the very first test the scratch had been a positive result, with a huge bump, in about 15 minutes.  They didn’t even wait for the full 20 minutes to be up.

The question is, what does that mean now?  Well, we need to have a blood test done to see the actual allergy numbers.  If the numbers are low enough they’re going to set-up an appointment for a food test.  Basically we’ll go back into the clinic for a three hour appointment.  They told me that they have special rooms for these appointments with big TVs for Nick to watch stuff on and we’re to bring toys and things to keep him occupied.  During that time they’ll slowly feed Nick either a scrambled egg or a piece of french toast soaked in an egg.  If he gets it all down without any reaction then they’ll send us home and call to check on us 24 hours later.  If no reaction occurs than Nick’s egg allergy will be completely gone although they said he may always have to be careful around raw eggs.  It seems he could react to that if it comes into contact with his skin.

So that’s my update for now.  Hopefully I’ll be telling you all about the food test in a few months.  We haven’t had the blood work done yet because the clinic was closed after Nick’s appointment and truthfully the scratch test had been enough for him to handle.  I have to go to the doctor on the 1st so I’m going to take Nick with me and we’ll stop by the clinic before my appointment.  As much as I want to get it over with I’m really not in a rush.  At this point things are looking up and that’s what matters.