Peanut Challenge

Well, I'm not sure how many of you know, but Courtney has a peanut allergy. We have know about this since she was a baby because as an infant her skin was always blotchy, red, and itchy. So our pediatrician did a blood test to find out of she had allergies. Well it came back positive for peanuts, eggs, and milk as an infant. So for several years, we had to keep Courtney away from those foods. She drank Soy Milk for years. Then, as she was about four year old, we took her to an allergist and did a complete allergy test. This came back with many seasonal allergies, but the milk and eggs were gone. Yeah for that! No more Soy Milk. (even though that is probably healthier than milk.) We still had to stay away from the peanuts. Well, this last summer, I asked her allergist about the peanuts again - so we did another blood test. It came back positive still, but Dr. Huddleson wanted to do a peanut challenge because the numbers were somewhat low. So we got the challenge scheduled. I didn't really know what it would consist of and neither did Courtney. Courtney was a bit nervous about it. So one day when we were in for Court's allergy shot, we asked them what they do. The first thing they do is a peanut skin test. This is where they prick the skin with some PB and test that reaction first before they actually ingest the PB. Well, the day of the appointment arrived. The nurse (was awesome) prepared Court and did the skin test. About 20 minutes later she came back and there was a good size mosquito bite looking mark on Court's arm. That was as far as we made it- Court didn't get to eat any PB because of this reaction. So she is still very allergic to PB. We now have an EpiPen I carry with me at all times and one at school as well. Courtney has also decided she needs to eat at the Peanut free table at school. Court has always been really good about it (actually better than me). So, please if you know anyone with a food allergy - be careful with what you expose them to. This is so random in our family. There is noone else we know of on either side of the family that has this allergy. The doctor recommended we redo the blood test when Courtney is 10 in hopes that we will see her numbers going down.