I took Owen for a blood test last week. I think I failed to mention how horribly it went. The phlebotomist was not very good and kept moving the needle around in his little arm. He screamed and screamed.
The nurse called with the results yesterday. I wish doctors would call you with results. I know they are busy but I always have questions that the nurse can't answer.
Milk was the biggie at 8.32. I know many of you have children with RAST scores in the 100 level but 8.32 is the largest number we have ever seen. Egg was 1.30. Confusing considering the severity of his past reactions. Peanut was negative. Sunflower seed was .37. Again low considering the all over body hives he gets from contact with it. Sesame was .84. So despite the negative skin test, his sesame RAST went up from last year so sadly makes our list of things to avoid. In fact the nurse said to avoid peanuts, tree nuts (already doing, no biggie), fish and seafood (of course) and ALL seeds. Until he turns 3 which is in like three months. It's the all seeds that has me confused. I am not sure what all seeds entails.
Anybody else avoiding seeds? How do you manage it?
4 comments:
Crappity crap. There's also the school of thought that says if he's successfully had certain seeds he should keep eating them so he doesn't develop an allergy. Is the nurse worried about cross contamination?
Yes, I am really irked by how doctors won't call. Or even call back. Makes me feel like they think they're holier than thou. Though I know it's just because they're busy...still, five minutes for the parents of a severely food allergic child would really help.
seeds are tough and I have the same question as 'all adither'. My daughter, Cora, was happily eating hummus and bread with seads until her doc said to avoid all seeds when we discovered her peanut allergy. She wasn't having reactions to the seeds before that. Also, I feel your pain with the blood test. It was a nightmare for us too. I cried, she cried, and then we had to go back the next day because they hadn't gotten enough blood the first time! Good luck and thanks for your blog!
We have serious seed issues. I take each seed individually...but with great fear and caution.
So far, DS has known anaphylaxis to sesame, and suspected anayphylaxis to sunflower and mustard based on RAST testing and reactions to trace amounts.
BUT...DS drinks hemp milk and eats hemp seed products just fine. He also seems to tolerate flax seed, which I've started using as an egg replacer in baked goods. He successfully ate one roasted pumpkin seeds yesterday, but hated it and that might be a sign that a second exposure could cause a reaction?
We haven't tried poppy seeds yet....
Alot of seeds are processed with nuts, and even though foods like crackers w/ seed toppings can say "nut free" apprently, according to Debbie at the Naperville IL Whole Foods allergy consultant, manufacturers can say "nut free" or leave out any nut ingredients or possible cross contamination so long as their facility avoids nuts -SO, if they have seeds in their product they import from another manufacturer who processes them with nuts, they can still claim "nut free" b/c the potential seed contamination didn't occur with them. They are only responsible for declaring contamination at their level...I just call nearly every single manufacturer and talk w/ a manager. If the customer service associate can't say "soy lecithin," I'm done talking to them.
After 2 failed attempts to draw my baby's blood for her RAST tests, I found my angel: a sweet old Indian lady, Shahanaz, that hits it every time, no tears. I call in advance to see if she's working and drive near an hour in one direction to get all my daughter's labs done by her alone. It's worth it.
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