Well, folks, we did our re-checks for allergies yesterday.
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| Layla's back about 10 minutes in to the test development. |
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| Finn's back, about 5 minutes into the test development (they do 15 minutes). |
Looks pretty awful, right? It was, a little bit. The test itself is not that bad, but the kids were really worked up and afraid, so that kind of tension in their bodies didn't help at all. Layla was most worried, so she went first. She cried when they were pressing the test into her back, but was fine after that. Finn got really freaked out by watching Layla, so poor kid...he got to imagine that for another hour before it was his turn.
We spent 3 hours at the allergist. THREE.HOURS. With Cora. In that tiny room. I was woefully unprepared...I had only brought 1 book and 6 princess dolls with me. What was I thinking??? She bounced off the walls, as usual, but we survived.
Long story short:
The Good News: Layla and Finn are both free of their dairy allergy! Hooray!! Layla is also free of her egg allergy. We can now start introducing them into their diets again slowly. This is great news for everyone who is around them, and will make my cooking life considerably easier. :)
The Expected News: Finn still has his peanut and sesame allergy, but the allergist thinks it's worth doing an in-clinic only (for safety) food test and see how bad it is, if he really needs an epi pen, what the reactions are, if he's outgrowing it slowly, etc. So we'll see with those. He seemed to think we could "knock those off his list" sometime in the future here, so that is encouraging. Finn is also still allergic to cats and dogs.
The Bad News: both kids have developed a host of seasonal allergies (or maybe have always had them and they didn't show up well on the first test when they were young). Layla has also developed a cat allergy...but as we already avoid them for Finn, it's no big deal. Here is a list of their current allergies:
Finn: (haha..remember the good old days when it was only 5? The good news is that all of these can basically be taken care of by taking a daily dose of Zyrtek or something like that, and he will need to avoid dust, so pillow and mattress covers...but still, those are all easy remedies. We can do that.)
Cats
Dogs
D.farinae
D.pteronyssinus (extreme)
Aspergillus
Hormodendrum cladosp
White Ash
Birch Mix (extreme)
Common Cottonwood
Maple/Box Elder
Red Oak
Dock Sorrel ix
Lamb's Quarters
English Plantain
Ragweed Mix (extreme)
KORT Grass Mix
Peanut
Sesame seeds
Layla: (None of Layla's reactions were half as bad as Finn's. He certainly has the worst of it, at least when it comes to reactions. NO food allergies for her! She is so delighted!)
Cat
White Ash
Birch Mix
Maple/Box Elder
Red Oak
Ragweed Mix
KORT Grass Mix
After the testing we had to stick around even longer, because Cora had woken up that morning with croup (not too bad), so we got her a shot of decadron so she could sleep the following 2 nights and not end up in the ER, as is our usual dance when it comes to croup. Amazing, isn't it? I spent ALL day at the clinic...left at 8:30 a.m., got home at 2:15 p.m. 3 kids, 3 appointments, 3 co-pays...ah, the fun. Well, I'm glad I at least have the time and freedom to do all of this. I don't understand how parents who work full time DO it all! It clearly must be part of that "grace will be given" stuff. :)
I stopped at Burger King on our way home to buy the kids each their FIRST cheap ice cream cone (this is going to REVOLUTIONIZE my bribery and dessert world...they can now have 75 cent cones rather than $8 pints of ice cream?? Yes please!) The sad/cute thing is, the older two were too scared to eat them. Poor kiddos. :) I put them in the freezer, and they each tried a little after dinner...they just needed more time to warm up to the idea of EATING DAIRY. They did, however, gladly wolf down some goldfish crackers...Layla has been dreaming of that day forever. Goldfish crackers are the currency of churches, so this is going to make going to nursery and Sunday School so much more fun and non-isolating! Hooray for dairy (not that humans even need it in their diets...haha...)!
