David, Lisa, Kayla, Isaac & Annika

We had an appointment with Kayla's doctor last week to go over her allergic reaction and test results. First off, we are to avoid cashews until she is a teenager! The doctor wants her to have nothing to do with them for a long, long time. And we are avoiding peanuts and peanut butter until she is at least 3 (despite the fact that she had been eating these things from ages 13-16 months with no reaction). He isn't sure that she really is allergic to them, but the blood test did show an allergy and he would rather be safe than sorry. However, he said that I don't need to be vigilant about reading labels and making sure she avoids anything that has peanuts in it, nor do I need to ask restaurants if they cook in peanut oil, etc (which I would if she had a severe reaction to peanuts). That is a bit frustrating to me, that we might be avoiding something with no reason. However, it isn't the end of the world to avoid it for another year or two. Especially since I don't have to worry about the little things where trace amount of peanuts might be found. As for other nuts, he said we can reintroduce them back into her diet, but in small quantities. And as always, have Benadryl nearby just in case. So... we might start letting her have the almond slivers out of our Honey Bunches of Oats again, and other things like that.

As for her allergies to egg-whites, milk, soybeans and cod... well, he doesn't buy that she is allergic to any of those things. He said that the blood tests give really inconclusive and mixed results, and since she's been having all of those foods (well, maybe not so much the soybeans and cod) with no reaction, we are fine to continue.

That leaves us with the wheat allergy, and that will require further testing. The last appointment we had with him at 15 months (before the allergic reaction) we discussed how frequent and how loose her stools are. While this isn't a huge concern for us, it is strange that her stools are so liquid. Sometimes this results in diaper rash, which is just sad. Again, something we can deal with, but something we mentioned to him none-the-less. His advice at the time was to cut out all juice from her diet. He said toddler diarrhea is almost always caused by either too much fructose (found in juice) or too much liquid in general. He said to cut out juice for a month and see if that made a change... if it didn't, cut her total liquid intake to 16 oz a day and also in general try to limit drinking as much as possible to just at meal times (which is for us is like almost impossible... when she gets something on her mind she is not easily deterred!). Well, we did cut out juice and it has made a significant improvement. But she is still having probably 3-4 poopy diapers a day and that is more often than a toddler should be having (so he says). And they are very loose at times. He wasn't super concerned with this as long as we are ok changing that many poopy diapers! But, at that appointment he said if things didn't change by our next appointment (which was supposed to be at 2 years) he'd want to do a blood test to see if she had a wheat allergy, because having loose stools is one of the symptoms. Now, since she tested positive for a wheat allergy after her cashew incident and since her stools haven't improved drastically, he wants us to do a blood test to rule out celiac disease. He doesn't think she is likely to have it... her growth and weight have remained consistent and apparently at this age, kids with celiac disease start to taper off in their growth due to their digestive issues, and this is not the case for Kayla. But, he wants to rule it out so we at least know. We are praying that this test comes back negative. If it is positive, she will be referred to a specialist who will have to do some internal test which didn't sound so fun.... in addition to the fact that it would mean some major lifestyle changes for our family. We have several good friends who have celiac and have gluten-free diets, so I know it can be done. But I am praying that she doesn't have this problem at all.

He did write me up a prescription for an Epi-pen, but basically told me that he did that for my peace of mind in case I felt a need to fill it. It is not his recommendation for me to fill it because he doesn't believe Kayla needs one. Her reaction was swelling and vomiting, but never had any problem breathing. Therefore, her reaction was not anaphylactic, which is the reason you would need an epi-pen. Although he agreed with the ER doctor that her next reaction could be worse than the first one, he said that since her breathing wasn't affected the first time, it shouldn’t be affected in future cases. Also, he said that if she has an Epi-pen, it needs to be 5 seconds away from her at all times. So not like in the glove compartment in the car, but on her body and "attached to her hip" at all times. So... we aren't planning on filling it, but at least we have it!

Overall it was a comforting appointment. Avoiding cashews really isn't a problem (although as a nut loving family it will mean a few adjustments!) and I don't mind avoiding peanuts for awhile longer. It would be nice to feed her PB&J or something at some point, but I obviously don't want to risk her having another reaction. At age 3 she'll be able to verbalize things a lot better and would be able to tell me that she isn't feeling well and we'll be more prepared to handle that situation.

I think the thing I struggle with the most is I just want Kayla to be ok. As a parent, you want the best for your child. You don’t want them to have to endure any pain or any hardship. Of course pain and hardships are inevitable, but you want to protect your child from them as much as possible. Kayla hasn’t really been affected by any of this yet. Other than the suffering she did that one night, she doesn’t know any better! On the grand scheme of life, having to endure the pain of not eating peanuts for a few years and cashews for a long time is pretty low! I mean, I have perspective (although the pain of not being able to eat wheat would be much more significant)! Dealing with something this little sure puts in perspective what it would be like to have a child in the NICU or have major health problems. I can’t imagine the pain those parents deal with.

I guess we’re asking for prayers over here with her blood tests. We are praying that she doesn’t have celiac disease. And if she does, for prayers to deal with all of the ramifications that will involve.