My Allergy Kid

Well, Mason had his bi-annual appointment in August where they did the skin test as well as his blood work. We got GREAT news!!! Mason has outgrown his tree nut allergy!!! As for the other allergens, the rusults were as follows:

Milk: down from 1.71 to .78

Egg: down from 4.70 to 2.43

Peanut: steady at 4.91

His environmental allergens all stayed the same as they were previously, but as noted before, those are easier to manage and I’m much less concerned with those. For people who want to know what those numbers mean…well, I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that anything over “0″ is a positive and anything less than 1.0 can be challenged. We’re going to set up an appointment to challenge the milk again. But my nerves are going full force after last year’s anaphylactic response. But his numbers are much better so that is a plus. We’ll see!

He’s hanging in there and growing strong. I’m amazed and my little boy!

So I apologize for not updating in over two months. Here is a quick update on Mason. He will be three in September, but his “3 year” allergy check up is August 8th. We’re excited to have him retested and see where we stand on all of his allergies. We of course are hoping and praying for a miracle that tells us he no longer has the allergies, but based on past test results, we know that’s not likely.

We’ve managed to avoid any food allergy attacks. We’re learning more and more every day about food allergies and we’ve been blessed with family and friends who are very diligent in making sure Mason is safe.

I’ll update more, soon!

I can’t find the link to the actual site where I found this article, but I had saved the article itself. I think it’s important enough for everyone to read, so I’ll post the entire article:

By Will Dunham
Fri May 2, 9:04 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A form of immunotherapy that could get rid of a person’s allergy to peanuts is likely within five years, even as the condition appears to grow more and more common, a U.S. expert said on Thursday.

Peanut allergy often appears in the first three years of life, with the allergic reaction to eating peanuts ranging from a minor irritation all the way to a life-threatening, whole-body allergic response called anaphylaxis.

Many children grow out of other food allergies such as milk or eggs, but only about 20 percent lose their peanut allergy.

Dr. Wesley Burks, a food allergy expert at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, wrote in the Lancet medical journal that a solution appears to be on the horizon.

“I think there’s some type of immunotherapy that will be available in five years. And the reason I say that is that there are multiple types of studies that are ongoing now,” Burks said in a telephone interview.

Ideally, such a therapy would change a person’s immune response to peanuts from an allergic one to a nonallergic one, Burks said.

He said one possible approach is using engineered peanut proteins as immunotherapy. Other approaches are showing promise, he said, including the use of Chinese herbal medicine in animal research.

Genetic engineering may also produce an allergen-free peanut, Burks said.

But he said that because several peanut proteins are involved in the allergic response, the process of altering enough of the peanut allergens to make a modified peanut that is less likely to cause an allergic reaction would probably render the new peanut no longer a peanut.

“You could end up with a soybean,” Burks said.

He said peanut allergy affects about 1 percent of children under age of 5, and that in the past 15 years more children have been diagnosed with the condition.

He cited research showing the condition becoming more common — doubling among young children from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 0.8 percent in 2002 in one U.S. study

It is unclear why it is becoming more common, he said. One theory he cited was the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that too little exposure to infectious agents in early childhood can raise one’s susceptibility to allergic reactions.

Burks said other researchers have suggested that if a pregnant woman eat peanuts, her baby has a higher risk of becoming allergic.

Symptoms of peanut allergy includes skin reactions such as hives, itching around the mouth and throat, diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, wheezing and, in severe cases, anaphylaxis — a medical emergency.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Xavier Briand)

Articles like this one make my heart ache and scare me to death at the same time. This is one of the reasons I want to spread the word on food allergies. Parents, children, friends, anyone who doesn’t know about food allergies should. Taunting acts such as the ones in that article can be fatal and must be prevented. It saddens me to think that kids have to go through things like this. In my opinion, this type of taunting is far worse than name calling, pushing, etc. This type of ridicule and badgering can cause an element of fear in the child that is unnecessary. No child should be threatened or teased about something so serious as a health condition- especially one that could kill them.

I hope that for Mason’s sake, I can spread the word so his friends and family understand how serious the issue is and how it is no joking matter. I would be doing my son a disservice to sit idly by and not take action. I encourage all parents of children with food allergies to step up and help spread the word… let’s do it for our children, so that their world can be a little less scary.

Last night’s FAAST meeting was very informative. We had a panel discussion with mothers of allergy kids from all different ages- infant thru college age. It was very nice to hear all different perspectives on how people handle their child’s food allergies as well as learn some helpful tips. I came home with pages of notes.

Something I was not aware of is that coconut has now been added into the category of “tree nuts” (it used to be a separate allergen, but now it’s been grouped together). This is especially useful when buying soaps and shampoos, etc. Many products like this have coconut extracts in them that can be irritants to our allergy kiddos! Just something to keep in mind.

We are slowly but surely understanding more and more about these food allergies. We have decided to homeschool Mason for the first few years just to be on the safe side since he has had anaphylactic  reactions and since he has reactions to contact, not just ingestion to so many things.

Food allergies are so scary and it’s hard to live with them daily. I often feel like I walk a fine line between  hovering and protecting. I want him to have all the opportunities available to him, but  I also have that maternal instinct to protect and keep him safe. We’re doing the best we know how with the information that we have.

In my last post, I mentioned FAAST, a local support group in Cincinnati for food allergy kids and families. I would like to  list out some other places to go for support that I have found helpful when looking for information, recipes, support, etc.

Kids With Food Allergies
The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) 
Food-Allergy.org 

I hope these links provide helpful information to those needing or wanting to learn more about food allergies.

For anyone dealing with food allergies, support is very important. It helps lighten the burden and makes living with the allergies every day a little bit easier knowing someone else knows and understands what you are going through. It also helps to know that there are places you can turn to for help and guidance if you have questions and can’t immediately speak with a doctor. Many of these groups offer multiple meetings a year for parents to get together and socialize with one another and listen to a guest speaker about different things pertaining to allergies.

If you’re in the Cincinnati area, I’d encourage you to check out FAAST as they offer great support, education and training about food allergies and children.

Having other people to turn to who understand what you are going through makes living with FAs so much easier. There’s no need to deal with it alone!

This is a great recipe for Dairy/Egg free chicken nuggets! Most restaurants do no serve allergy free nuggets!

Ingredients:

• 5 Tbl. dairy-free margarine
• 3 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (check the ingredients!)
• 1½ to 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 50 dairy-free, nut-free, Ritz-type crackers, finely crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large, glass bowl melt the margarine and Worcestershire sauce together and then stir. Add the chicken and toss to coat well. Crush the crackers in a zip-loc style bag and add the chicken pieces. Shake to coat all pieces well. Place chicken pieces in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

Enjoy!

Cross contamination is one of the biggest difficulties in the life of a food allergy sufferer. Cross contamination affects not only food , but also surfaces.

In our home, the biggest problem is the fact that Mason is the only one with food allergies. So the rest of us do eat foods that he is allergic to, we just have to be very careful. If Brody eats a yogurt, I have to make sure his hands and face are completely clean of the dairy proteins. If he has on his hands and touches a toy that Mason then touches, Mason could have a very severe reaction just from touching the contaminated toy. I have to be very careful with sippy cups. If Brody accidentally takes a drink from Mason’s cup after having eaten a food item Mason is allergic to, then again, Mason could have a very severe, life threatening reaction if he drinks out of the cup before I get the chance to thoroughly clean it or get him a new one.

At home, it’s not as difficult to avoid cross contamination. Mason has his own area of the refrigerator that is specifically for his foods. He has his own cabinet of “Mason friendly” foods that are just for him. The problem is public places. Play grounds are a specific area of concern. A common picnic food or school lunch food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Kids eat and then go play. It’s an easy place for there to be peanut butter proteins on the equipment. All Mason would have to do is touch it and be at risk for a reaction. The same goes for grocery carts. Think of all the items that get put in and out of a grocery cart and how many of them may contain allergens.

Cross contamination in food is another big issue. This is why a lot of allergic people stay away from restaurants. The simple misuse of a cooking tool or the accidental touching by the handler of an allergic food before touching the allergic persons food could all result in an allergic reaction. Peanut oils are popular cooking oils, which can be problematic for those with peanut allergies.

It’s a fine line between protectiveness and a bubble-like world to live in. We desire for Mason to have as normal as a childhood as possible, however we desire to keep him safe, healthy and away from allergens. With careful attention and diligence, this is possible- difficult, but possible.

I had posted previously that Mason had an appointment with an Allergist/Immunologist/Pulmonologist today down at Children’s and so this is an update on his condition.

His blood tests showed there is no immune system disease, which is great, but his immune system is underdeveloped (most likely by him being born a little too early). The allergies are VERY severe. His numbers on the blood tests showed that his dairy, egg, tree nut and peanut are about as bad as a persons allergies can get. The doctor today said that they pretty much can’t get any worse in a child this age. She said he’d be lucky to outgrow the dairy and egg by age 10-15 and he’ll most likely never outgrow the peanut/tree nut. She confirmed what we were hoping was overprotective-ness from his pediatrician that he just can not touch anything if we don’t know what/who has touched it before him (grocery carts, playgrounds, crayons….etc). This means no preschool or school, and in her educated opinion she said if Mason was her child, she wouldn’t send him until he is at least 10 and has gone through some training courses they offer at the Cincinnati Children’s Food Allergy Clinic that teach kids all about their allergies and how to self medicate in the event of anaphylaxis.

His environmental allergies were also pretty bad with dogs, cats, grass, and mold being the worst. The major concern with those is his asthma.

So really the news isn’t anything more than what we had previously assumed…it’s all just confirmed now. The allergist put him on some asthma/allergy medication to take daily for preventative measures and we’ll see how that gets us through the upcoming spring allergy season. I’m a lot less concerned with the environmental allergens than I am the food allergies. We have our inhalers, nebulizer, Benadryl, Claritin and epi-pens ready for any situation we may encounter. We’re hoping for a healthy spring!

They offered recommendations that we get special air filters for our home as well as put certain hypoallergenic mattress covers on his bed. We also invested in the asthma and allergy Dyson Vacuum in hopes of getting the floors even cleaner for him to minimize allergens there.

As for the cause of the allergies, it is the underdeveloped immune system from early birth that has been ruled as the “cause”.