Both girls have food allergies.
A couple weeks ago we took Emma (our 10 year old) to get tested for allergies. The reason for the testing was to determine her seasonal allergies (she's been suffering a lot over the past couple of years). We also decided to do the standard food testing too ... just in case.
Long story short:
Emma has a LOT of seasonal allergies including: alfalfa (3/5), corn pollen (3/5), wheat farm pollen (3/5), trees (3/5), grasses (3/5), and ragweed (1/5).
And....she also tested positive for foods. The numbers I'm going to type out are based on the skin testing and a scale of 0-5, with 5 being "very strong" positive.
Sesame seed: 1/5
Soybean: 1/5
Almond: 2/5
Peanut: 2/5
Walnut: 2/5
Because I always follow up with a blood test too, these are the results. Less than .34 = class 0. They only tested foods with the blood panel.
Almond: .70 - class 1, low
Hazelnut: 23.30 - class 4, very high
Peanut: 11.90 - class 3, high
Pistachio: .77 - class 2, moderate
Walnut: 9.98 - class 3, high
To say I was floored by the food allergy results would be an understatement. Our PA at the allergist's office was shocked by the blood test results. Several of the numbers are MUCH higher than Olivia's results.
I've had several people ask HOW it is that Emma hasn't had a reaction to any foods. Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe she's had a slight reaction and we missed it. Or maybe, because she doesn't eat peanut butter (has always hated it .. she's never had a PB&J) or any kind of nuts we just didn't know.
Regardless, she now has EpiPens and we're continuing everything we already did for Olivia - avoiding ALL tree nuts and peanuts and sesame seeds.
We just keep on keepin' on.
