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.