After Dean’s original trip to the emergency room in January, we had to wait two weeks to go to the allergist for testing.  He was on prednisone for the next five days to eliminate the symptoms of the allergic reaction.  They want to make sure all of the medicine is out of his system before adding a possible allergen back “in.”  As a precautionary measure, his daycare doesn’t allow children who’ve had a severe allergic reaction to return without clearance from a doctor.  Since the reaction can be life-threatening, they need to know how to respond in the event of another emergency.  So the next morning, we saw his pediatrician.  There was a LOT of paperwork: allergen information, emergency response plan, 2 medicine authorizations, and 2 medicine administrations.  In the future, we were told to administer 5 mL of antihistamine (Benadryl) in the event of a minor allergic reaction, e.g. hives, flushing, etc.  We were given a prescription for an epi-pen.  She showed me how to use it (they give you a practice one) and was told that from now, we are to carry both with us at all times.  (We actually carry 2 epi-pens because you want a backup if one doesn’t work and you are supposed to administer a second dose if the response flairs up again or if the symptoms don’t subside after 5 minutes.)  She told us to use the epi-pen if Dean was having a severe reaction, e.g. significant hives, repeatedly projectile vomiting, trouble breathing, etc.  When in doubt, she told us to use it without hesitation, right through his clothes, and to call 911 immediately after.  An allergic reaction can significantly progress in just a matter of minutes and many children die because someone was nervous that the reaction wasn’t severe enough to use.  (I just read a heart wrenching story about a mother in a facebook support group I belong to whose 14-year old son died because she wasn’t sure and tried to get to the ER herself).

I was emotional for the next several weeks, crying at random times when I least expected it, going through everything that happened that Friday.  When the reaction happened, he only had rice cereal and formula that morning, both items he had eaten many times before.  And I also thought, how can you be allergic to rice?  You’re a quarter Asian for cryin’ out loud!  Your grandma is not going to be happy about this.  Within 30 minutes, his entire body had broken out into hives and was bright red, he was projectile vomiting, and his daycare said he was starting to wheeze (I later requested the documentation from the First Response crew and the hospital and found both did not document any breathing trouble).  I cried because I was so grateful that his daycare responded the way they did and for all the support they gave both Dean and us that day and for the weeks following.  I wondered what we would have done if he was home with us and if we would have known to call 911.  I cried because I thought of all the things that could have gone worse that day.  I cried because we didn’t know what had caused the reaction. I cried because I didn’t know how life would change now.  I cried because of all the “bad mom” thoughts I had about him at one point or another and how guilty I felt, especially if he had died.  We were told not to give him rice and to hold off on introducing any new foods until we went to the allergist.

The test was 2 hours, and Matt took him on a Monday afternoon.  The nurse did a skin prick test (SPT), testing him for rice, oats, and several of the other “big 8” allergens, the major ones that affect the majority of the population.  This included wheat, eggs, and peanuts.  They did not test him for dairy or soy because these ingredients were in his formula which seemed to have been fine for months.  They also didn’t test for fish or shellfish since most 7-month olds are not eating either yet.  Because of his eczema, they also tested him for dust mites.  They place a small amount of allergen on a needle, similar to acupuncture, and place it slightly under his skin to see if an allergic response is seen.  The skin breaks out into hives at the insertion point if someone is allergic.  Dean failed 4/6 and was found to be allergic to wheat, eggs, peanuts, and dust mites.  Surprisingly, the rice was OK.  Because of the peanut allergy, they told us to avoid all tree nuts.  She also said to hold off on introduction of fish or shellfish until his next test.  We were told to come back for retesting when he turned one.

On one hand, it was a relief to have some answers.  Based on the results, the allergist suspected that wheat was likely the culprit of his severe allergy reaction 2 weeks prior through cross-contamination.  She told us to avoid all gluten – wheat, barley, and rye.

On the other hand, and more significantly, we had a lot of questions.  We also felt devastated by the news, knowing how much we love food and how much it factors into our lives.  How were we going to avoid all these things?  How were we going to protect him?  Do my parents have any idea what any of this even means if he ever stays overnight there?  We were feeling overwhelmed to say the least.  We also knew we had to make some tough decisions and determine what our level of risk was.  Matt and I have always been a little more on the laid back, push-the-limit side of the parenting spectrum so this news really tested our beliefs.  Were we going to completely eliminate all these items from the house?  Were we going to feed him food that that had been manufactured in a facility with these items?  On the same equipment?  We had a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks.