Allergy relief

I've been meaning to update on some very important news we found out last week.

On Tuesday the 30th, J finally had his appointment with the allergist to get more information about the peanut allergy we were told he may have due to elevated numbers on his blood work a few months back. We also wanted to check on his possible asthma. First the nurse came in and took all of J's vitals, she was rather impressed with how big of a boy he is. Then we got to see the doctor. Based upon J's past history and his rare episodes of not being able to breath, the doctor concluded that it wasn't full blown asthma that he had. But she still wanted us to keep all of his meds on hand since he does have some issues every now and then. So that was great news to hear.

Then came the tougher part, determining his peanut allergy. In order to do this J had to do the allergy scratch test. Needless to say, he freaked out. J has severe anxiety issues and does not like anything to be done to him that he is unsure of. So after about 20 minutes of talking to him and calming him down, we were ready to start. J had to lay down on the table so they could do the test on his back. I sat by his head, running my hands through his hair to keep him calm, taking him through the whole process. He did so well and the nurse was done in less than 2 minutes.

Then came the wait and see part. Poor J had to lay there with his back itching so bad. As we waited I could see quite a few spots turning into rather large bumps.  I later learned that it meant he was allergic to all of those items causing the bumps. So in the end we found out that he is highly allergic to many things, but luckily they are all environmental. That's right, my poor little man is allergic to all of the trees, grasses, and weeds they tested him for. The test also showed that he does have an allergy to peanuts and almonds but the doctor told us (based on J's history of eating those items without reaction) that he is probably allergic to the plant not the actual nut. This is the biggest relief of the day. I was so worried that he had an allergy to peanuts which we were told could be deadly.

Now we are just treating his allergies with prescription Zyrtec and Nasonex. So far we haven't had any major issues, just some random sneezing attacks here and there.