Milk, Wheat, and Eggs Oh My!

About a month ago, I took Genevieve to see a new allergist.  Her previous allergist recommended follow up testing 6-12 months after her initial test, but since I had a bad experience with both the allergist and one of the office ladies, I decided to go somewhere else for the testing.  Genevieve certainly didn't like getting her back pricked multiple times, but she was a trooper and did much better than the boy next door whose mother could be heard bribing him with anything to get him to cooperate all while the child screamed bloody murder.

During the test, I noticed that hives were not forming, or at least no significant sized hives other than histamine.  I was feeling hopeful.  Sure enough, the doctor came in and said everything was negative.  She told me to start slowly reintroducing the foods Genevieve had been allergic to.  She said to start with a tiny amount and slowly increase it if no reaction was noted.  She also suggested waiting 3-4 days between new foods.  I knew this process well.  I was a little skeptical of the results considering she has never tested positive to eggs, but she reacts to them.  The allergist said she would like to do in office food challenges for milk, eggs, and peanuts since those are big triggers for kids, and if Genevieve were to have a big reaction, they could easily take care of her.

At home, I began with reintroducing wheat since that was always her weakest allergy.  She wasn't crazy about bread right away, but very quickly G and I were eating wheat products.  Success number one!  Next up, tomatoes.  Genevieve put a tiny piece of cherry tomato in her mouth, chewed it up, and promptly spit it out saying "spicy".  At the time, I thought she may have been reacting to it since kids with allergies sometimes describe the feeling in their mouth as spicy.  Honestly, I didn't even know G knew this word!  After trying ketchup and spaghetti sauce (both of which G hated), we called tomatoes success number two.  I was on my way to having pizza!

Next up was cocoa. I bought some chocolate coconut milk, and I baked some egg free, dairy free chocolate chip cookies.  Genevieve did not care for either.  I couldn't even get her to eat the cookie until she saw Daddy eating it, and she so loves copying her daddy these days.  I noticed no reaction.  Success three!

I made G some oatmeal for breakfast one morning, and she hardly ate any.  I tried again the following morning, and she ate enough that a reaction would have been evident...I think.  I then baked some egg free, dairy free oatmeal raisin cookies, and she gobbled those up (but picked out all of the raisins).  Yes!  I love oatmeal raisin cookies!  Success four!  Soy isn't something I consume on a regular basis, but I decided to have J get me a soy chai cream frappuccino from Starbucks so I could give it a try.  It was a sacrifice I had to make for the greater good.  It was delicious, and G had a couple of sips with no reaction.  I wasn't anxious to keep testing soy though.

Last week, G had her milk challenge.  They start out with the tiniest amount (like 1 ml), and then they checked on her after 20 minutes.  Since she had no reaction, they brought her a tiny bit more.  This process went on for three and a half hours!  I was pleased that she seemed to like cow's milk.  She discovered that she could make bubbles by blowing in a straw, so I'm sure this helped make the tedious process more enjoyable for her (but a little annoying for me because, come on, drink the milk already so we can go home!).  The doctor declared the milk challenge a success and told me to slowly start reintroducing dairy.  She cautioned me not to give her five scoops of ice cream that night because that is something I would totally do with a not quite two year old.  I had no idea we'd be there that long, and I was starving!  Against my better judgement, I stopped at Carl's Jr. and picked up a double western bacon cheeseburger.  Yes, I said double.  Don't judge me.  G even had a bite, and now I know that soy is okay because Carl's Jr. burgers are loaded with soy protein.

My treat last weekend.  Can you hear the angels singing?

Today was Genevieve's egg challenge, and I figured she'd react.  They had me bring two scrambled eggs for her.  The first was a miniscule piece that had G saying, "more eggs".  She really likes them, which made this challenge super easy other than the fact that it was going to take forever at this rate!  The nurse came in at one point and told me that Genevieve was going to just have one more serving, so I shared with her that her previous reactions took place when she consumed nearly two scrambled eggs.  She decided to up her final dose, but when she brought me back the eggs, I could see that G hadn't even been given an entire egg during the testing.  After about 20 minutes the allergist came in saying that eggs were a go, but since she's reacted to two eggs previously, I should not give her more than one for a couple of months.  I asked about baked eggs, and she said they would be totally fine.  She said I do not need to worry about anaphylaxis.  Another ten minutes goes by, and the nurse comes in to do her final check, and G now has a hive at the corner of her mouth and a tiny one on her chin.  The nurse went and told the doctor who suggested keeping eggs in her diet, but no more than one at a time for the next six months.  She also recommended continuing with baked egg.  I was not surprised by any of this.  I supposed I could have just done this at home and saved myself $40.  Oh well.

Next week, peanuts!  I am pretty sure she will pass this one, and if so, I am buying myself a big bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs!  No, I won't eat the bag in one sitting.  It might take two.