Exciting Allergy Update for Stokes

At Stokes's last check-in with the allergist back in October, he still tested positive for his egg and peanut allergy, but we were given a glimmer of hope. His allergist mentioned that he could once again get a blood test to see how his egg levels were doing. The next time Stokes and I were near the lab, which was probably some time in January (which was literally months after his actual appointment!) I stopped by there with him to go ahead and do the blood test. I'd worked it up with Stokes prior to going and told him what was going to happen. He was "aware" that he was going to have blood drawn, and where it would be on his arm, and what it might feel like. I told him that I needed him to be brave and to try to be big and strong about it! I also told him that it really wouldn't hurt much at all! Just maybe a little pinch right at the beginning (and barely pinched his inner arm to give him an idea). He understood and promised that he would be a big, brave boy. We did the same thing, with the blood draw, about a year ago and it was TRAUMATIC. We saw a full-on meltdown in the lab and I had to hold him tightly and he was screaming and crying and sweating and I was sweating and almost in tears. It was awful. I wanted this time to be the exact opposite of that. My wish was granted. I could NOT believe how awesome he did. No tears, no whimpering, nothing. He just sat there and talked to us the whole time. I think having him prepared ahead of time cut down on the terror and surprise of what was about to happen. The lab technician that did the draw was absolutely fantastic. She talked him through each and every step and put some good numbing stuff on his arm before she did her business. He looked away and stayed cool, calm and collected. When it was over, and totally not a big deal AT ALL, I was so incredibly proud of him! I was in a state of shock, to be honest, over how well it went. I took him straight to Target to pick something out before taking him back to work. He also insisted on calling Fifi to tell her all about it and about how brave he was! She was so proud, too.

After the blood test results came back, I got a call from the allergists office that Stokes' egg numbers were down and the doctor was ready to try a baked egg challenge in the office. Last time we'd done the blood draw, his numbers did not suffice for the challenge. Since we'd not gotten to this part before, I was pretty pumped, but wanted to hold back my excitement, in case we were let down again. I guess the phrase would be is cautiously optimistic. What the baked egg challenge means is that I had to make a specific muffin recipe that they provided to me, and bring Stokes and the muffins in to the office for an appointment so that he could eat muffins, little by little, to see how his body reacted to food with baked eggs. The recipe they provided had the exact ratio of eggs vs other ingredients that is necessary to make sure the test is accurate. I made the muffins, following the recipe to a T, and told Stokes about the appointment. He was PUMPED.

Stokes skipped breakfast that morning, as our appointment was scheduled first thing, and I told him I wanted him to have an empty tummy so that he wouldn't be too full to eat the muffins. I wasn't sure how much they would have him eat.

He was so excited in the waiting room!

So pumped to try muffins with EGGS!!!

Playing on the tablet in the room

The way the appointment worked is that the nurse brought just a little bit of a muffin in at a time and allowed Stokes to eat it. She left and would wait 15 minutes before coming back in to try a little more.

Trying the first bite

Yummy!

Working his way up to a bigger piece

After the 15 minutes, if he didn't have a reaction, he could have another, slightly larger piece. In between eating muffins, we got kind of bored. Thank goodness there was a tablet in the room so that we could watch video all about allergies, exercising, eating right, etc.

Washing muffins down with juice

Each time the nurse came back in, he was doing great and wasn't experiencing any reactions from the muffins! The last time he got to eat 1/2 of a muffin and the nurse said that was the last bit he had to eat. I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but HE PASSED the baked egg challenge!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO!

Being silly #1

Being silly #2

What a relief! Stokes was so happy! When I took him to school, he was going around telling everyone that he can eat eggs now! I kid you not, if I had any sort of baked good at the house, he would ask me if it had eggs in it and if I said yes, he told me he wanted some. It was like he was just ready to try anything and everything with eggs after having been kept away for so long. A brand-new, baked-egg-friendly world was just opened up to him! Freedom!!!

This has made a lot of things much easier on us. That being said, this news does not mean that he can eat anything now. He still has a peanut allergy and even when it comes to eggs, there are still rules. For example, he can eat homemade baked goods with eggs, but eggs cannot be the main ingredient - i.e. no quiche, but he can have a brownie. For store-bought items, eggs must be listed as the number three ingredient or lower on the list in order for him to have it. Side note: did you know that ingredients are listed by % of what the items consists of? I never did, but do now! There are still plenty of things he can't eat: anything with mayo, egg noodles, ice cream containing eggs, caesar salad dressing, and so on. That said, it is awesome that he can have regular cookies, cakes, brownies and all sorts of yummy treats! I will no longer have to BYOC (bring your own cupcake) to birthday parties! He can eat the same stuff as all the other kids at the party. Yes!!! 

This is a game changer. Baked egg challenge: we love you.