Allergies...

Name: Zack

Allergies: Dairy, egg, and peanuts

Update: Skin test NEGATIVE for all three. As long as the blood test comes back negative we can slowly reintroduce dairy, eggs, and peanuts into his diet!!!

Name: Sam
Allergies: Mixed grass, carrot, pineapple, and severely allergic to tree nuts
Update: Possibly also has food allergy syndrome and/or eosinophilic esophagitis. More on that below...
Name: Matt
Allergies: Severe shellfish allergy, also environmental allergies - pollen, etc.
Update: Nothing new here...

Name: Marci
Allergies: NONE
Update: I just married into this mess. :)

We went to see the allergist on Thursday of last week. The prognosis was both good and bad.

Zack's future looks promising as long as the blood test comes back negative. I'll find out tomorrow . I am SO EXCITED at the possibility to reintroduce those foods. Oh- just give me eggs back! There really is no good substitute!!!

Sam's diagnosis is more mixed and unclear right now.

What we know: He is definitely severely allergic to tree nuts. I was surprised to find out that he is also allergic to carrots, pineapple, and mixed grass. It is possible that his blood test will show more allergies. The allergist wants to skin test him for other allergies now that so many of these came back positive.

What might be likely other allergies due to his reactions? Celery, tomatoes, potatoes, shellfish, and/or salmon. And maybe more than that.

See his skin test below. The top left is the control (the plus and minus sign). #1 was a 10% diluted solution of hazelnuts. HUGE welt. #3 was carrots. This picture doesn't really do that one justice, but it was also a welt. #4 was pineapple. Very allergic, although not as badly as tree nuts. And #5 was mixed grass. Smaller welt, but a reaction all the same.

Poor Sam. This was a miserable itchy experience for him...

He has always complained about food being "stuck" in his throat. He started scratching at his throat when eating at about 9 months old when we introduced various solid food. We went the dysphagia route for a while and that didn't really explain things (although I don't rule that out yet).

The allergist thinks Sam has one or both of the following:
Food Allergy Syndrome (also known as Oral Allergy Syndrome) - a non-anaphylactic allergy where raw fruits and vegetables cause an allergic reaction in the lips, mouth, or throat. BUT, they can handle them cooked.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis - an inflammatory condition where the wall of the esophagus is lined with eosinophils (a type of white blood cell that registers inflammation due to allergies). They don't exist in the esophagus on a healthy person. It basically feels like your throat is inflamed, irritated, or that food "gets stuck" anytime you eat something that causes a reaction.

The bad news: The only way to diagnose or track EE is by doing an endoscopy. So... I have been researching pediatric GI doctors and need to make an appt so that Sam can have an endoscopy.

Personally, I think Sam has EE. Maybe also FAS. Either way, my little 4 year old needs some more research before we know what's going on with him. Maybe when we figure this out, he'll actually eat more!!!