new member

Welcome Amy2.
No one can ever predict what the next allergic reaction will look like. I would not even hazard a guess.

Hi Amy2 - As I mentioned in my post in PA Inherited, we have kids the same age! I also have a 13 year old son (from my first marriage) and he is allergy free. When I read your reply about your April baby sleeping, but needing the pacifier off and on all night - I could have wrote that! I am soooo tired all the time! Anyway, my PA daughter inherited allergies from both sides. Although I don't have any allergies, my sister and mother have a lot of animal and environmental allergies. My husband has seasonal allergies and a mild allergy to hazelnuts.
I hope, for your son's sake, that his allergy doesn't get any worse, but you should act as if his allergy is serious, just to be on the safe side. Allergies are very unpredictable, and they can suddenly become very serious. It's good that you are aware of cross-contamination issues and restaurants - you are on the right track. My PA daughter's first reaction was hives around the mouth and a bit of coughing, but she had a cold at the time, so we didn't really put 2 and 2 together. Her second exposure was hives, vomiting, choking, drooling, agitation - and a rushed trip to the ER.
About your son's allergy, assume the worst and hope for the best - and definitely get him retested if you suspect his allergy is mild. They say that a SMALL percentage of children outgrow PA, but there has to be total avoidance of peanut products - each exposure seems to make the allergy worse. Best of luck with this.

Welcome, you're lucky to have found this site quickly, I just found it a month ago also. We have been dealing with our sons PA for over 7 years without any kind of support system, and it is such a relief to find one. Good luck to you as you take on the role of educator and advocate, be loud and strong.
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Cynde Punch

Sounds like we are in the same boat - my 2 year old son was diagnosed 2 months ago and I just happened upon this site -- I have done a lot of reading - and have learned more here than from my doctor. I am glad there is a place to hash out the concerns and I am sure you are too. Good Luck.

Hi! You are definately not the only one who is scared and confused. Isn't this website wonderful? We are waiting for an appointment with an allergist as well, I have so many questions for him/her. After both of our newly diagnosed kids get their appointments, we can compare the info we receive and see how much is the same. Maybe we can fill in some gaps for each other. Since we are both in Canada, maybe some of the info will be different than some of the US Moms and Dads.
Nice to see someone else from Canada (still far away though).
Take care...
Kristen

Thanks for your reply!
It really is comforting to know I'm not the only one. How did you find out your son or daughter was allergic? How old is you child? Ever since my son's reaction (5 days ago), I've had a headache. I think it just the stress of trying to learn everything I can to keep him safe. Once we have all the systems in place (like rules for his caregiver and grandparents, a procedure for the nursery school to follow, all the proper groceries in the house, etc.), I think I'll start to feel better. But, I must admit, I hate the fact tht my son is so vulnerable to something so common and I know I'm complaining but I'm going to miss going out for ice cream and muffins (our family has a huge sweet tooth and we used to love going out for treats!).
So, when do you see the allergist? We go this Thursday afternoon. The receptionist said the doctor will do the prick test on his back and they'll be able to tell us the results in 10 minutes. I guess my major question is what is he not allowed to eat. Definately peanuts are out but what about gua1r gum, mangos? I hope he has a list or something.
Thanks again for your reply and I hope you get lots of answers from the allergist.
CindyG

CindyG,
Hi Cindy and welcome.
I edited my post because I had a blonde moment. I thought when I looked at your profile that Thornhill was Thorndale(which is close to London where I live)Duh.
Anyway, Just another Canadian looking out for ya.
P.S...Hi Kristen, forgot to say hi to you as well, being that your new here [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
[This message has been edited by smack (edited September 25, 2002).]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the welcome. My appointment with my Doctor is this Monday, and then who knows when I'll get to see an allergist. Hopefully not too long, but I'm going to request an appt. with a pediatric allergist, so that may take longer. Let me know what your Doctor says OK? It might give me some more info for when I go... Also, I've heard that 18 months is too young to test for anything, should I insist on it being done despite her age?
Kristen

Hi again,
Just back from the pediatric alergist. I was a little disappointed. First, I naively thought she would be able to tell me everything my son is allergic to, but, I learned that the skin prick test isn't too reliable unless it is accompanied with some history (like a previous reaction). So, she did the test for peanuts and the welt on my son't back was almost as big as a quarter. So, she confirmed he is very allergic to peanuts. The second reason the appointment was anti-climatic was that I hoped she'd have all the answers but it seemed my husband knew perhaps more than the doctor about how to live with the peanut allergy due to all the internet research he's been doing. In hindsight, it makes sense that she is not necessarily an expert on what to do about the allergy - she knows about how to diagnose it. For example, I was hoping she'd have a comprehensive list of all the things to avoid on food labels. She did give us a list but it was missing some things I've seen on other lists. I asked about guar gum and mango pits but she didn't know. Anyway, the good news is that there are web sites which seem to have alot more information. (Have you heard anything about these two items, as an aside?)
By the way, I'd love a email - I think my email address is with my profile and we live in Thornhill (just north or Toronto) - not too close to London or Banff, unfortunately!
I guess the morale of the whole allergist story is that we have to investigate and do our own research and help each other. I was glad we had learned as much as we did prior to the appointment. And, I recommend having a written list of questions.
Thanks for your notes!
CindyG