So, it has been a while since I have posted here… My last post was in anticipation of Bryan's food challenge, which didn’t
exactly go as hoped. An oral food
challenge is done in small steps. A very
small, precise amount of the food is consumed, and the child is observed for an
hour to monitor for any reactions. Then
a second, slightly larger amount of food is consumed, another hour of
observation, and then a third, larger measured bite with another hour of
observation. If the three bites are
consumed without any adverse affects, you pass the food challenge.
Bryan’s first bite actually went okay. A few small spots appeared around his mouth,
but he said he felt fine. After the hour of observation had passed, the nurse measured the second bite and brought it in. That one didn’t go very well. So not well, in fact, the nurse later commented
that she hadn’t ever seen a reaction that bad to such a small amount of egg
protein. The reaction started almost
immediately. Bryan was chewing, but he
slowed down and got a look on his face.
He said his stomach kind of hurt and that his throat was itchy. I looked at him carefully and could see that
his face and arms were starting to turn red. Then he vomited. Again and again.
Of course, the whole reason the food challenge is completed
in the allergist’s office is so that they can address any reactions quickly, so
luckily the doctor and nurse team were able to take care of Bryan immediately. They administered the Epi-Pen, which Bryan
really didn’t want, but we told him it he needed it to stop the reaction. It helped, but after an hour of close
observation, he was still very red and very itchy, so they actually followed up
with an intravenous course of steroids. We
ended up spending the full day in the allergist’s office- not exactly what we
were hoping for, but obviously thankful for the amazing doctors and nurses who
took care of us all day.
While not our favorite experience, there were some positive
things to come out of the food challenge.
First, Bryan knows what a reaction feels like now. He knows how it feels, he knows how it
progresses- and he knows he doesn’t want it to happen again, so he is going to
be extremely careful to avoid his allergens.
Also, my husband knows what a
reaction looks like now. He also knows
the signs to look for and he knows how serious it can be. I know he knew anaphylaxis was serious, but
not having seen it, he didn’t really have a sense of what to expect.
Needless to say, I wasn’t super-excited about sharing that
experience right away, so I stepped away from this blog for a little bit. But for the most part since then, things have
pretty much been “the usual”, at least as far as allergies go. There was an incident in 2nd grade
where kids were going around talking about the “cheese touch”, but I found out
that had more to do with a movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) than directly making
fun of Bryan. We moved just before the 3rd
grade, so we had to start from scratch again, but Bryan’s teachers and the
school nurses have all been really great.
There was also a boy who, during the first few weeks of 3rd
grade, kept trying to give Bryan Cheetos.
First Bryan just told him no thank you, then told him he couldn’t because
of his food allergies, and then one day Bryan came home and said the boy had
put some Cheetos in his snack bag. I was
upset at first, but after talking it over with Bryan, realized the boy probably
honestly didn’t mean any harm- he just really wanted to share with Bryan and
didn’t quite get it. As it turned out,
the boy accompanied Bryan to the nurse’s office after the snack bag incident and
she made sure he understood why Bryan couldn’t have his Cheetos (Bryan was
fine- the teacher just sent him to the nurse as a precaution).
So here we are, still allergic, but with a pretty good sense
of how to handle things. And for now, we
are absolutely okay with that.
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