Peanut Allergy -6 months later - Part 1: the facts

***I'm going to do my peanut allergy post in 2 separate posts. This one is the facts and in the next few days I'm going to write one about the feelings. This journey has been more stressful than I would have ever imagined and there are so many things that I worry about for the future. There are also things that have eased my worries (like the big sisters who have become Ruthie's biggest advocates!). So stay tuned for part 2.***

Yesterday we had Ruthie's 6 month (post peanut allergy diagnosis) follow up with the allergist. We talked a fair amount about some ways to help better treat her eczema and I'm hoping that maybe one of the things we're going to try will help decrease all the inflammation...I'll have more on that in a couple months if it works!

When we were at the allergist 6 months ago they did a blood test called a peanut component test (you can click the link if you want to read the medical jargon info). This allows you to assess the severity of the allergy. For instance, you can test positive to component 8 and still be able to eat peanuts. You might have some allergic reactions symptoms but you're not going to go into anaphylactic shock. Also, you can test positive to component 8 and not actually have a peanut allergy (it's also a component of some kind of tree allergy). Ruthie of course was negative for a component 8 reaction. If you test positive to components 1, 2, or 3 you are more likely to have a severe reaction, with component 2 being the most indicative of an anaphylactic reaction. Guess which one Ruthie was positive for? Yep, component 2...and 1. The good news is that she was on the lower end of positive. For all the components you want to be <0 .1.="" 0.3="" 1.75="" 1="" 2="" a="" about="" again="" allergy.="" allergy="" always="" and="" are="" around="" borderline="" but="" challenge="" check="" component="" considered="" day="" definitely="" doing="" down="" drop="" exactly="" go="" have="" her="" high.="" higher="" if="" in="" is="" it="" likelihood="" likely="" ll="" more="" not="" numbers="" office.="" one="" or="" outgrow="" p="" peanut="" plan="" positive="" remember="" right="" roof="" s="" see="" she="" significantly="" so="" t="" talk="" that="" the="" then="" there...can="" there="" they="" through="" to="" trending.="" up="" was="" way="" we="" which="" year="">
While we were at the office I got a prescription for a new kind of epi pen. It's called an Auvi-q and I had heard about it but was actually able to try a practice one when I did epipen teaching at preschool. The really awesome thing about it is that it talks to you! Since I'm a nurse and have had an epi pen for myself in the past I'm pretty comfortable with how to use one. However, the vast majority of the people who care for Ruthie don't have medical training nor have they had an epi pen for themselves so remembering exactly what to do, especially in an emergency can be tricky. With the Auvi-q you simply pull it out of the case and tells you everything else you need to do, including a countdown as you have to hold it in for 5 seconds once you inject it into the leg. It definitely makes me feel more comfortable leaving her with other people.

At Ruthie's appointment I also talked to the allergist about when we should introduce JP to peanuts since we know that if he lives in an environment of strict peanut avoidance he's more likely to develop a peanut allergy. The new research tells us that if there aren't any "risk factors", peanuts should be given to a child when they're under a year old. Apparently because he has a sibling with a peanut allergy he's 7% more likely to have one than the average kid. The doctor said yesterday that once he's 6 or 7 months old if he hasn't shown any signs of eczema, doesn't have any GI problems, and if we haven't noticed any other food allergies or intolerances than we can give him small amounts of peanut butter. We'll have to be very careful when we give it to him so that we minimize the exposure risk for Ruthie. If JP has any of the above mentioned issues then we will have him skin tested at the allergist before giving him peanut butter.

I always leave the allergist office feeling like my head is spinning a little. All the information above was covered in under 30 minutes. It was a lot to take in and a lot to try to remember. I definitely had to come home and look some stuff up (like more information about the blood test) but I think my sleep deprived self managed to remember and keep straight most of the information I was given!

**If you missed the Teal Pumpkin Project post click here to read it and find out how you can make Halloween more fun for kids with food allergies!**