Jack is peanut allergy-free! What a nice thing to say and hear! We took him to see an allergist after his 5th birthday to see if he was outgrowing, or outgrew his allergy. Since he had a positive skin test at age two, his new allergist drew his titer for peanut allergy, rather than repeating the skin test. Jack was not a fan of the blood draw a few weeks ago, but there were no tears. After the blood draw, however, he told me he couldn't put on his coat because he couldn't bend his arm...typical male, right!
After his blood draw he called his Mimi and Grandmom to tell them about the allergy appointment and it was funny to hear him talk about it in his own words. I think he left a message to Mimi and she called me back laughing at him. "Hi Mimi. I was very brave getting my blood taken out. And if I don't have a H-I-V-E, then I can have P-E-A-N. Call us back. Our number is 440-961-0096. Thanks, Love you Jack." (Before the appointment, he asked me a million questions about the skin testing because that is what I thought they would do, not the titer.) Afterwards, Jack had quite a few questions about the blood drawn. He asked me some questions that I really thought were interesting coming from a 5 year-old. "Where does the blood go?" (Tube) "How do they know it is my blood?" (label the tube) "Where does it go?" (lab) "Does the blood actually get mailed out, like with the mailman, or does it go through the computer?"
His titer came back about three weeks later and the nurse said it was low enough for a food ingestion challenge in the office. At his level, about 85-90% of kids will pass the oral challenge. Since my parents were visiting and there was a cancellation, we scheduled the appointment for today. The girls would never make it, because it lasts 4-5 hours. Jack and I got there at 8:15 and we left at 1:15. Every 15 minutes they came in a gave Jack a little bit of peanut butter. He started out with a little dab on the inside of his cheek on a Q-tip to a dose of 6 crackers with peanut butter. He ate a total of 2 TBS of peanut butter. Every 15 minutes, the nurse would come in, check for a rash, listen to his chest and then give him more. He loved the peanut butter! On his second to last "dose" he choked on some water and some of the chewed crackers came up. Because of this, we had to wait an extra 20 minutes to make sure it wasn't the start of a reaction, then repeat that dose. Therefore, we were in the office a little longer. Jack and I played UNO, mailbox, wrote words on flash cards, colored and read...all in one little exam room. It was totally worth it because he is not allergic and we don't have to worry about epi-pens, benadryl, and WOW butter.
On the way home, I let Jack pick a peanut butter candy bar. He had no idea what he was missing! He called his Aunt Julie to ask if he should pick out a snickers bar, or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Julie suggested the Reese's and he ate both Reese's cups on the way home! He ate a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, peanut butter with celery for a snack and wanted another peanut butter sandwich for dinner, but I suggested we eat something else.
We are excited for him and relieved to be done with the allergy. And really, no one should have to go through life without ever eating a Reese's cup, right?
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