The Day We Learned About Brooke’s Allergies

For a couple of years now, we’ve watched Brooke’s allergies increase in quality and quantity.  She and Katelyn both have a really hard time with cats and dogs, but this summer we discovered that Brooke also has a nut allergy.  From just a tiny amount of pecan dust on some brownies, Brooke’s face  became so swollen that she looked like a tomato and her little eyes were almost swollen shut.  She said, “Well, I am allergic to nuts but not to toast or to butter.”  She wanted to make sure we knew that those two things were still ok for her to eat.  That night, a double dose of Benadryl took care of things but that is when I realized it was time for her to see an allergist so that we would know exactly what she should avoid and how serious an accidental exposure would be.  

She wasn’t thrilled about going, but started the appointment out happy and compliant.  I had the appointment timed so that Emily would sleep through most if not all of it, but she decided she didn’t want to miss anything and only took a five minute nap so she didn’t miss any of the action.

Brooke’s doctor did the Skin Prick Test and tested her for 24 different allergens.  She was not a fan, but was as brave as a three year old can be in such a scary situation.   Reactions are assessed by the degree of redness and swelling and the size of the wheal produced.  I knew the results would show a strong allergy to dogs and cats since not only does she get red, swollen and itchy but also starts wheezing and showing signs of labored breathing.  I wasn’t sure what nuts she would have a problem with or how severe it would be. 

This is what one side of her leg looked like after about 5 minutes.  I wasn’t sure that what meant but I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be good news.  

There are a couple of grading scales used with the Skin Prick Test but the size of the wheal is most accurate. The size of the wheal does not indicate the severity of the symptoms but shows the degree of sensitivity to the allergen.  So we learned that while Brooke is highly sensitive to dogs and cats, she is far MORE sensitive to Tree Nuts and Peanuts.  It is severe enough that she should always have an Epi pen with her and her doctor recommended that we never leave her food preparation up to others.  Needless to say I was very surprised and feel terrible that I’ve been trying to get her to eat peanut butter for about 18 months.  She ate it once and loved it but after that she would scream and cry and act like we were poisoning her.  I guess we were.  Thank goodness Brooke was smart enough to know what was happening and that there are such great doctors that can help us grown-ups figure things out too.