5 out of 4

I took Max to see "the nut Doctor" again today. (See this post and this one if you missed out on the beginning of the story. It had been a year since he was first tested for nut allergies, and I was curious to know if there had been any change. I also wanted to have him tested for other nuts that weren't included last year. Another suspicion I had was that he has developed environmental allergies. He did a lot of sneezing and nose-running this summer, around the same time I was DYING from my hayfever.

Considering today's results, I'm very glad I decided to follow up. The test showed that Max has a severe, life-threatening allergy to cashews (this was on the list last year, but not as severe) and pistachios. The Dr. said pistachio allergies are rare and was surprised by the result. Both cashews and pistachios rated 4 out of 4, and the Dr. bumped them up to 5 out of 4. He didn't have the right serum to test for macadamias or pine nuts, so he'll be ordering some. That means another poke! I'd much rather do it that way than just give him some to eat at home and see what happens. Kinda scary, after seeing the reaction in the office today. This time he complained more about the itching than the initial poke. It seems almonds and pecans are relatively safe, which is good to know we don't need to be vigilant about those. We also know peanuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts and walnuts are safe. (Of course we'll watch for cross-contamination.) Yesterday at Costco Max saw a bag of caramel popcorn and asked if we could buy it. I wouldn't buy it regardless, but I pointed out to him that it contained cashews, almonds and pecans. Before we learned about the pistachios today, those were his highest risk.


I took this picture just a few minutes ago, about 2.5 hours after the test. (It was hard to get a good picture without it going blurry. Click on the picture to see it larger.) The reaction has calmed drastically, as the cashew and pistachio spots took over the whole test area. They both developed a large hive. They are the brightest red spots on the left, and the second down on the right is the grass spot. The bottom on the right is the control spot to confirm the test worked. Oh, and the bandaid? That's from Marty's most recent biting attack. It was quite a welt. I've started to bite him back (in moderation), as this habit has got to stop!

And, as I suspected, he reacted moderately to the grass allergen. Nothing too serious, but he definitely responded. The best way to manage that is to keep him off freshly cut grass, and maybe use anti-histamines if he's out in grass a lot. Max told me that he doesn't get "kachooies" when he plays in grass, just a tickly nose. The Dr. said that since I have sever hayfever, that creates a family history, making it not surprising about Max.

I've been enjoying eating pistachios since I found a brand at Safeway that are already shelled. Knowing the severity of Max's reaction to them, I'm going to stop eating them for the rest of this pregnancy, in case they may affect baby.

So far Marty hasn't shown any reactions, but also hasn't had much exposure. He has had a few pistachios with no problems. I'll probably get him tested next year before preschool, just to be sure.

So now we wait for the call to get tested for the others.