Mixed Bag of Nuts
So... the results are in. Kayla is allergic to like everything! :)
cashews - high
pistachio's - high
egg whites - high
milk (cow) - high
soybeans - high
peanuts - high
wheat - high
pecans - low
walnuts - low
fish (cod) - low
Thank goodness she isn't highly allergic to cod because man, wouldn't that be a major change in lifestyle?! :)
The confusing thing is that the doctor doesn't seem very concerned by this at all! After like 3 or 4 calls to the Dr's office yesterday, I am freaking out a bit less. We have an appointment with him (although not until February!), but basically we don't need to make any major changes at this point in her diet. Aside from the fact that we need to avoid nuts, peanut butter and obvious things that might have traces of peanut in it (things like plain M&M's), as long as she's eaten things in the past with no allergic reaction, then we are ok to feed them to her now (at least until we talk with her Dr and get more clarity). Although, there was a request to keep Benadryl near by at all times :) At least now we are armed with the knowledge that she MIGHT have an allergic reaction eating some of these foods. After talking with the nurse, who talked to the doctor again after my first several calls, she reiterated the fact that our Dr is NOT at all concerned with the test results, and said to take them with a grain of salt (basically). He said that he doesn't typically like to order these blood tests (which is true, he did up front say that we could do these tests if we wanted to, but he wasn't making it mandatory or anything). Apparently his thought is that they aren't always accurate, especially in cases with small children. So.... I'm a bit in-between being totally crazy paranoid that Kayla is going to die if she looks at nuts or milk or whatever.... and then not being concerned at all! My gut tells me not to be too concerned. She's been eating wheat for like 10 months, cow's milk for several months now, and we've never had a problem to any of those things, nor with things with egg white in it (aside from the fact that she doesn't like eggs at all!). And nuts! She's eaten nuts for the last several months, in moderation of course, but has been fine, fine, fine! Ugh.
So, I'm trying to take things in stride. If the Dr isn't concerned, then I shouldn't be either. I just don't really fully understand how the Dr can't be concerned with the results being the way that they are, you know?! In some ways, I'm glad that he isn't telling me to drastically change anything right now, since I have to say that I struggle with believing the test results.
I'm still just in the beginning stages of processing all of this info. This week has been so exhausting dealing with a sick and very needy child (even after she's been done puking she's been needing to be held constantly!), and add to that the stress of leaving this weekend and this whole allergy issue... well, it has left me emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted! I'm SO ready for a break, and thankfully we leave tomorrow and will get one (that is, assuming our flights go well, which with us is not likely!!!!).
Thanks everyone for all your concern and prayers. I'll be sure to update if anything else happens, or if I think of something else... and then of course when we have the meeting with the Dr in Feb.