Good News from the Allergist

We took Angie to see an allergist today. We were braced for a two hour visit but fortunately it lasted just a little more than an hour.

Angie did reasonably well at the visit. The "generic" med student entertained her with a pen that lit up (Angie was entralled and charming) while we discussed our concerns with the doctor. We had thought Angie might have had a few food allergies and we were tired of battling some very nasty bouts of diaper rash. Our regular pediatrician is a super doctor and when we mentioned our thoughts she referred us to the specialist.

It was not the torture that I recall from my own test over thirty years ago (nice to know that medical science has progressed). The doctor tested roughly ten allergy triggers, including pollen, ragweed, milk, and peanuts. The nurse numbered spots on Angie's back and dropped a little "essence of allergen" on or near each of the spots then pricked them. We had to hold her still while this was happening and Angie naturally started to fuss. The nurse was worried that she was afraid and we tried to explain that Angie is just extremely fond of her liberty. As she left, the nurse told us not to let her touch her back.

Uh. Yeah. Didn't the nurse notice she is two and a half?

After more fussing, Angie settled when Chas pulled out some toys from the diaper bag. She immediately talked with her cell phone, "Hello Gramma? okay. google goo Doctor. google goo, Itchy scratchy. Okay. Bye." She may have been asking for a rescue effort, but she seemed calm at that point so I just don't know.

The end result. Angie does not have food allergies, including milk and peanuts). Yay. However, she is allergic to pollen and ragweed (thanks entirely to Chas's DNA) and her body is reading certain foods (carrots and apple peels) as pollen and having allergic reactions to them (sneaky). It's called "Oral Allergy Syndrome"--I put that in so Grandma Pat can start looking it up on the internet now.

We won't need to avoid foods, but we should probably watch the amounts she eats of certain types of foods. Carrots would be okay if cooked, but Angie refuses to eat cooked carrots--she likes her vegetables fresh. We'll see the doctor again in June because he wants to see her during the pollen season.

Angie remained in good spirits through most of the visit. Chas and I are in good spirits because it could have been much worse. He is still holding out hope that she won't develop full blown asthma. Well, I am too. I'm more relieved that we won't have to eliminate foods from her diet this early.