Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Monkey develops a nut allergy

So Monkey had broken out in hives a few times here and there. One when we first moved into the rv, and another time when we were at my dad's house swimming. I didn't think much of it and just figured it was random rashes. Well one day while watching a movie The Hubby was eating a bunch of peanuts in the shell. Monkey asked for some and by his 3rd peanut he told me he was itchy and his chest was full of hives. I then realized that the day we were at my dad's he had had a snack with peanut butter as well. He had had peanut butter other times between moving into the RV and now and not reacted but I knew that peanuts were also present at at least 2 of the time. I also know from a friend whose son has a peanut allergy and just general knowledge that you do NOT mess with peanut allergies. So I called about 15 allergists the next day till I found one that could get us in the soonest. He got skin tested for peanuts, and then tree nuts. He reacted to peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds so she ordered a blood test for them as well. We were due to have a food challenge for peanuts about 8 weeks after the testing, but we had to cancel since we were not able to get him back to VA due to me breaking my foot. (More on that later). Since the tests we have been keeping him away from all peanuts, tree nuts, and anything that may be made in a facility that processes those items. We have to check EVERYTHING! He got a rash just from some vitamins that were processed in a facility that has tree nuts. VITAMINS! Thankfully Monkey has been WONDERFUL about it all. He is great about making sure he avoids bad food, has his epi-pen on him, he tells EVERYONE about his allergy, and is great when we tell him he can not have something. He even told me one day a good thing about having a nut allergy means he tries more new foods which he likes! I love his outlook! Picture one is his rash after the shelled peanuts, picture 2 is his peanut prick test, picture 3 is his tree nut test.
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