Unexpected Allergies: Part 2

We went to see the allergist (whew!  boy, do I have a story on the payment for that one!  but that's another day . . .) in August, two months after the initial wheezing/coughing/hives outbreak in June.  She was wonderful.  She spent about 2 hours in the room with us, talking about all of Samuel's issues and figuring out for what we would be testing that day.  Samuel sat like a champ through 18 scratch tests on his little arms and waited for them to show us our results.  We were pretty surprised - he tested positive for 13 of them. 

Grass.
Dust mites (several kinds).
Cat hair.
Dogs.
Horses.
Pollen.
Soy.
Eggs.
PEANUTS.

The soy and eggs were actually miniscule in comparison to the others, so at this point, we have been told that they shouldn't affect him too much.  But peanuts??  Oh, that one was reeeeeally bad!  Samuel hated PB&J and all other peanut things for a long time, but peanut butter is so convenient, I forced it upon him only months before until he liked it at least somewhat.  Not to mention, there are lots of foods that are manufactured with peanuts in the same plant, so we need to avoid those, too.

And dust . . . who doesn't have dust in their house?  We were advised to clean our house as spotless as possible, as often as possible.  And we're supposed to get rid of our carpet (fortunately only one room of our house is carpeted and the rest is hard wood).  I was interested to learn that it's dust mites.  I didn't even know there was a difference.

 And she told us to keep our windows shut during high pollen times, and that Samuel shouldn't spend a lot of time playing in the grass, especially in the heat, as his eczema is exacerbated by being too warm.

Then there was the prescribed medication, which after a couple of months we realized was triggering outbursts of anger in our sweet boy.  We took him off of that pretty quickly after figuring that out!

We've learned since that Samuel is extremely allergic to bean dust . . . which is a problem since Daddy is a farmer!  We found that out after Samuel took a ride in the combine this fall and I ended up driving about 75 mph the entire 7-mile trip home with him choking in the backseat.  Talk about a helpless moment.  As a result, all through harvest David had to come home and take everything off at the back door, then jump into the shower before touching or even being within a few inches of Samuel.

Samuel's legs during the bean dust outbreak.  Here, he was on the nebulizer while I sponge bathed him in a chair.

So far, we have been with or close to Samuel's nebulizer and a bottle of Benadryl each time he has had an allergic reaction, and for that we are extremely thankful.  We carry epipens, but have not yet had to use one.  (Although, Samuel did administer one to himself at Thanksgiving just "for fun", haha)

As far as these allergies, aside from the bean dust which causes immediate anaphylaxis (throat closing), the hardest part for us is that none of the others cause such a reaction.  Think of it this way.  You have an 8 oz. cup in front of you and pitchers of allergens in your hand.  Pour in 3 oz. of peanut, 2 oz. of dog dander,  and then 4 oz. dust mites, and the cup is suddenly running over with allergens.  This is what causes the reaction.  Sometimes we don't know if or how much Samuel has been exposed to one allergen, and don't realize it until there is just too much for his little system.  There are also likely other things Samuel is reacting to that we have not yet tested, so we try to keep track of exposures as much as possible.

Samuel has constant eczema issues and needs thick lotion once or more per day, and sometimes uses a topical steroid as well.  I show his legs here, but during outbreaks, his hands and eyes are usually swollen as well.  As seen in the photos, Samuel's eczema is a day-to-day issue that is worse some days than others.  We just spent a few minutes outside and he already has the hives all over his right hand and arm. 

Samuel's legs today - a good day!



Backs of Samuel's legs today

 Samuel is also very sensitive to temperature - he overheats from very little exertion, which as mentioned before makes skin/breathing problems worse, and he gets very cold much more quickly than most of us as well.

As far as our eating . . . I am all for sugary, yummy treats.  But a friend in the medical world as well as others have told us that sugar weakens the immune system if it is already weak.  And Samuel definitely has a weakened immune system.  So while we enjoy some sugar still, we have really tried to cut that amount way down.  I don't know for sure if it's helping or not, but we at least feel like we're doing something good!

As I mentioned in the last post, we are just so thankful for God's provision since June, that we have always been close to our nebulizer and Benadryl when Samuel has had a reaction.  We will need to continue to see the allergist once a year and continue to do testing, but the hope is that he will outgrow at least some of the allergies by kindergarten. 

We pray that none of this is a lasting condition, but until he outgrows it or until eternity . . . we'll keep trusting the Lord to show us how to help our son.