Gannon continues to deal with eczema and a constant runny nose so after his hands got infected again from his skin being broken Dr. Asadi made a referral for him to see an allergy specialist in Fresno. We had some blood work done last year, but Dr. Asadi didn't think any of the allergies were at a level that we needed to cut them. Except peanuts, which he has never had anyway! We were off the the doctor in the morning and they performed a skin test to see what allergies would show up. Poor little guys back looked horrible, but he did great. Never tried to scratch at it and didn't cry one bit.
Results - wheat, soy, egg whites, peanuts, oranges, bananas, cats, dogs, and dust mites. Wow - cut all that out of your diet! We are moving forward with a 30 day elimination diet to clear his system of all these items and will do "food challenges" to re-introduce them one by one to see which ones affect him. Chances of him out growing most of these are good by the age of 10, but NOT the peanuts. Only 20% of patients allergic to peanuts outgrow this one. So we are now stocked with an Epi-Pen in case of emergency and he is eating a strict diet. Thank goodness the world is now labeled with a lot of gluten free products making my life easier. I thank God that we never had to find out about a severe allergy with a horrible reaction and can deal with finding foods the little guy can eat. I am also very thankful that dairy was not on the list - leaving lots of food options open. I discovered a pancake mix that is wheat free making my life easier on the weekends and less heart breaking for him. It is hard to tell him no when his brother is eating different stuff that he can't. Garrett is well aware of the food that make Gannon "sick" and knows not to share. I love to try new things so now I have lots of cooking to do for him to satisfy this urge!
Since cats were on the list and we had two cats in the family that we tried to find homes for last year we had no choice, but to take them to the shelter. I know this totally sucked for our family since Dave and I got Bud and Heidi right after we got married, but Gannon's health had suffered long enough with them in the house. I have to report that after a week and a half of the new food diet and no cats he is doing much better. Prior, his skin was always broken out and we needed to buy stock in Kleenex to keep up with his runny nose. He now NEVER has a runny nose and his skin has improved.
We love the allergist in Fresno and will hope for the best pin pointing Gannon's triggers! Until then, cardboard bread and rice pasta for him!
No comments:
Post a Comment