Trees, trees, & more trees

Brody seems to be fascinated with climbing trees all of a sudden this summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no broken bones!

Camping

We just got back today from camping at Indian Trails, which is a whole whopping 5 miles from our house! It's a nice little get-away for our family and the fact that the campground has an indoor pool really works well for us since the boys are so sensitive to the bright sunlight.

Some of our campsite cuisine included Hobo Popcorn, Campfire Doughnuts, and S'mores. All free of Brody's allergens of course!

Back To The Allergies

So I thought this blog was supposed to be about our life with allergies?? Enough with the doom and gloom already! =)

Yesterday I had an appointment with an allergist for myself! Why? Well, because for the last 2-3 years I seem to have developed small patches of occasional eczema, asthma that started only with colds but now this spring has become more and more annoying, and also some symptoms to suggest I have developed environmental and/or seasonal allergies. The allergist was very thorough. He did a breathing test, skin prick test, and also an intradermal allergy test which confirmed my suspicions. Turns out I'm allergic to dustmites and tree pollen for sure, and possibly more that hasn't shown up yet. So now of course Shane knows he can totally blame me for all the kids allergies. That's okay, I know they get all their good traits from my side of the family too! =P

The Saga Continues...

Main Street (Hwy 22) in Pardeeville partially collapsed Saturday. Luckily the dam is still holding, otherwise we would have lost Park Lake just like what happened with Lake Delton.




This picture is what Main Street looks like now after the lake has dropped more than a foot.

Storm Central...Part 2

Tornado warnings, thunderstorms, heavy rains, high winds, flash flooding...will it ever end? The ground is so saturated right now that there is no where for the water to go anymore. I'm afraid to even listen to the news to find out what is in store for us next.

This was the view of our front yard yesterday afternoon. I'm standing above a culvert that will normally create a small stream that runs along the side of our property when we get a lot of rain. Yesterday we had a foot of water surrounding our entire house.




This picture is looking out over our driveway towards our neighbors where the water is making its way down to the lake.



Need I even say that our basement is flooded? We will be spending the day ripping out all of our carpeting and salvaging everything else we can.

The Results Are In...

I don’t know why I let myself get my hopes up every year when Brody has his annual allergy testing completed. In my heart I know he won’t be one of the lucky kids who outgrows any of his food allergies (although I’m still holding out for egg someday!) and the fact of the matter is that these will most definitely be life-long allergies for him.

The results from this year are as follows:
Milk – Class VI (this is as high as the test goes)
Egg – Class III
Peanut – Class V
Tree Nuts – Range from Class III-IV
Shellfish – Not tested this year, but last year ranged from Class II-III

Keep in mind though that the numbers really don’t mean much of anything in the sense that even an individual who is a Class I to a food can still be severely allergic and even anaphylactic to that allergen. Although the higher numbers definitely do indicate a very severe allergy. Once again I am reminded of Brody’s anaphylactic reaction to an accidental milk exposure a few years ago. Basically the numbers are just telling us that yes, Brody is still a very allergic kiddo.

There is one silver lining to this cloud though. Brody tends to test very low-positive to Almond. (I’ve actually read that Almond seems to cause the least problems of all common tree nuts.) The allergist suggested that perhaps we could consider an In Office Food Challenge (IOFC) if we felt comfortable with that idea. An IOFC consists of feeding the patient very small amounts of the allergen in increasing increments over a several hour time span in the hospital so the doctor can monitor any possible allergic reactions and take action immediately if need be. I can’t say I feel “comfortable”, but it certainly would be nice to have another source of protein and good fats for my little guy. The problem with this is that most all tree nuts are cross-contaminated with peanuts and other tree nuts in the facilities where they are packaged. So unless I can find a company that only handles almonds or perhaps grow my own almond tree, then I’m not quite sure how this IOFC would be possible. Does anyone have an almond tree or know of someone who does?? I’ll be talking with the allergist in a week or two so we can discuss the possibility of further testing in greater detail.

Storm Central

Strong winds and heavy rains swept through Pardeeville/Wyocena yesterday afternoon. Quite a few uprooted trees and flooded yards everywhere. The wind took down a huge spruce tree in my parent's yard, landing it onto their house which in turn knocked down a TV antenna tower.

Pictures from Africa

Shane is finally back from Africa! He had a wonderful time, but is glad to be back with his family. Here are a few of his pictures. Enjoy!!

Food Allergy News for Kids

Brody made the front page of a newsletter that is sent out to kids with food allergies from the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network!