Great News!!! Passed Peanut Food Challenge!

[schoobmommy]

I can't seem to log in, but I was schoobmommy on the old board....

Here's the backstory:
Ben broke out in hives at age 1 after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Went to the allergist for a skin prick test, and he scored at the highest possible level.  We were told he would most likely NEVER outgrow his allergy.  The Dr. said that some kids do outgrow it, but Ben was so severe that it was highly unlikely.  Ben has been extremely sensitive to peanuts.  He broke out in hives the day after the diagnosis, just by touching a closed bag of peanut m&m's at the store.  So we have had a really "tight" comfort zone.  Eventually he went on to also develop a mild coconut allergy also.

Here's what happened in the last year or so.  Ben is now 3.5 years old.:
Ben has had eczema his entire life.  It was so bad that we went to an allergist to beg for help.  Nothing was working and he was miserable.  So here my poor baby is, taking 3 different meds (one of which lowers his immune system...during cold and flu season!), lotioning up 3x a day, hiding from peanuts (and later coconut), and my Chiropractor offers to adjust him because he thinks it will help.........Well, let me tell you, I'm all for Chiropractic to reduce pain when something is out of place.  Works great for me.  ....but I'm pretty sceptical about the health benefits.  Not to mention the fact that I would be watching this man twist my childs head/neck like an actor breaks a persons neck in a movie.  (or at least that's how it looks! lol)  However, at this point I was depserate.  My kiddo was pretty miserable.  We went for about 6 visits (which btw my son thought were very funny-he would laugh through the whole thing!) until the Dr. said his spine was straightened out again, and we didn't need to come back.  (oh, and the Chiro wouldn't "officially commit" to the fact that it would/wouldn't help with the actual allergy, just that it might help.  I think he was afraid we would think he was healed and feed him peanuts and ...well you know how that would go.  But he really did think it would help.)  Now, at the time, Bens eczema really was getting better, and the meds were stopped.  The question still remained though, was it because of the chiropractic work, or because it was spring and the eczema was calming down like it normally did at that time of year?  We had no idea.  All we could do was wait and see if it flared up again when summer came (summer and winter were always the worst). 

Now, during all of this, a friend of mine (whose child also has eczema, but not as bad as Bens) was also diagnosed with a peanut allergy using the skin prick/scratch test at the same Dr., same results, top of the chart.  But she goes back a few months later, and insists on a blood test.  His blood test shows negative even though his previous scratch test was positive.  So she convinces me to go back in and have the blood test.  (This is now months after the chiropractic work is over.)  When we went back in, I insisted on BOTH tests being done.  I kind of questioned my friends/childs results since they were done months apart.  I wondered if, because he had stopped being exposed to peanuts, his blood ieg (whatever's) just weren't there, BUT would reappear if he was exposed again.  So I wanted both tests run on my son on the same day.  I wanted to see if they were actually different.

We went into the Allergists office, and they ran a scratch/prick skin test for peanuts and coconut.  And hubby and I are watching and watching and watching.....and ...nothing.   There is nothing.  Only the control popped up!  I am not believing what I am seeing!!!  Nothing!!!  It was amazing!  But we are trying not to get too excited.  We knew he could still fail the blood test.  But a week-ish later, the blood test comes back, and it's negative also!!!!  At this point, the Dr. says we should sign up for a food challenge at the hospital.  Our son is only 3 at this point, and they want the kids to be 4 for the food challenge, but it takes so long to get an appointment, that he wants us to sign up now.  I am THRILLED at this point, but still trying to keep it in check because there's still like a 20% chance he can fail the food challenge and it's a year away. 

Well, 4 months later, the hospital still hasn't even reached our name on the call back list, so I call them.  Not only are they still really far down the list from our name, but even the people who are being called that day are being scheduled for an appointment somewhere around the end of 2013!  Gah!  So I call the Allergist back, and ask if there are any other hospitals we can call.  (maybe they will have shorter wait lists)  The Allergist calls back and says that they are willing to do the test in their other office (right by the hospital) since his scores were so low.  So I set the appointment for one month out. 

2 weeks out I start worrying that I'm making the wrong choice......3 days out the Allergist's office calls to confirm, and I admit my fears.  They reassure me (along with everyone else I know), and I really start listening to myself to figure out if this is just nervousness, or that Mommy Sense that tells me when danger is coming.  I decide that I'm just nervous, and we are going to go through with it.  (But let me tell you, all the way to the office I thought I was gonna throw up!  ugh!)

So we go into the office and start the test. 5 (I think) doses of peanut powder mixed with apple sauce increasing in size, every 15 minutes.  (Well, we actually started with it mixed into pudding, but he spit that out.  We had to tell him it was special medicine so he would eat it.)  He was such a trooper!  He thought it was soooo gross that he was doing those full body shudders people do when they don't like something, but he ate it!  After all of the doses were given, he had still not had a reaction.  So we began the 2 hour waiting period.  By the end of all 4 hours, he had not had even the slightest reaction.  Nothing.  (other than boredom lol) 

So did he grow out of it even though he wasn't supposed to?  Did the Chiropractor "fix" him?  I have no idea.  But even the sceptic in me is having a hard time discounting the Chiropractor in my sons rather sudden turn around.  Will he suddenly start reacting again...?? I don't know the answer to that either, but for the last 2 weeks my son .....the one who couldn't even touch a closed bag of M&M's.....has eaten a full serving size of peanuts nearly every single day!  He's not too fond of them, but he's getting more used to them every day.  Two days ago, he actually ate an entire PBJ sandwich.  I thought I was going to cry....the good kind of cry.  :-)

It still feels extremely weird to be buying peanut foods, and we are still very cautious.  But man this feels good!

[rebekahc]

That's such wonderful news!   

[eragon]

congrats! your son is one of the 20% that outgrow peanut allergy.

big hugs to and your family.

love to hear good news like this!

[CMdeux]

Congratulations!! terrific news for your family!   

[hedgehog]

Personally, I think he was in the lucky 20% to outgrow, but either way, it's great news!

[PurpleCat]

Congratulations! 

[Macabre]

Wow!  That's wonderful!!