Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Information - Blog

I never quite know what to expect when we go for allergy testing. With each skin prick butterflies raced in my tummy. With each skin prick Declan winced and Bianca cried. We filled the few result-waiting minutes with questions about school, upcoming medical breakthroughs and dealing with the children’s anxieties. We had hoped that these questions would be answered. Unfortunately we did not get any useful information to answer any of the questions we had. This seems to happen every time we go to this particular doctor. We would like to try another specialist and hope that we can be enlightened, and get help to go along with the results, not just the results.

Speaking of the results, they are as follows.

Declan
Dairy: 4. Last year: 12 (if it went that far) official recording 4+.
Egg: 3. Last Year: 1
Peanut: 2. Last Year: 3
Goat milk: 1. Last year: 4
Strawberry: 0

He did not retest the environmental allergies saying that exposure to those are imminent anyway. Last year he had dust (4), dog (1) and grass (2).

We were upset that his egg allergy has increased. Even though the dairy response is a 4, it is a lot more encouraging than the result from last year. He is still regarded as having anaphylaxis, and we must maintain the same level of vigilance that we have become accustomed to, and treat egg with the same respect aswell. Actually we always did. We didn’t want him exposed, to give his body a chance to desensitise itself to the egg protein. The doctor still thinks he has a good chance of out-growing the milk allergy, even though it is so severe. We always cross our fingers and hope for the best!

Bianca
Dairy: 1. Last year: 2
Fish: 1. Last year: 1
Strawberry: 0 Last year: 1

We were thrilled with these results. They are heading in the right direction. Thankfully, as she is a lot harder to convince to stay away from certain foods and drinks.

Our minds wander to those foods that the kids have not been exposed to yet. What will their response be to those?

Today I am filled with nervous excitement, for tomorrow the kids have their yearly allergy tests. I still dream of a reduction in their allergic responses, every time they have a test. This year Declan is saying that he doesn’t want to go, because he remembers his arm getting itchy. We have explained the importance of the tests, but to a four year old….who cares, his arm gets itchy! He does remember that it doesn’t hurt, so that is a good start. We can get around the itchy thing, but if it hurt like a needle, forget it! Bianca doesn’t remember her last test.

To all those who are also going for allergy tests tomorrow, our thought and best wishes are with you.

Fingers crossed for good news in my next entry.

Well it has been one month since my last entry, and a lot has happened during that time. The topic which has dominated the conversations in our household has been SCHOOL.

We have been to visit a several schools, both in and out of our local vicinity. We have visited both private and public schools to get a clearer indication of what is out there, and the varying attitudes of both establishments. All schools have had experience with anaphylaxis… peanut anaphylaxis. It was nice to be able to discuss the issue, without having to convince the schools that this is a real issue, and we are not simply over-protective, over-reactive parents. They were aware of the condition. All principals however, had not encountered a student with dairy anaphylaxis. A couple of principals were overwhelmed with the endless opportunities for exposure to dairy. We didn’t need to hear this!! We knew already! It was reassuring though that they understood the gravity of the situation, and were able to identify risks, then put forward management strategies where possible.

Each school is very different from the next, in almost every way imaginable. We have one school a 15 second drive away, with a large population, good lunchtime routines where they play before they eat at big lunch (reducing contact reaction rates), tuckshop 5 days a week, taps in the classrooms and 1 small toilet block for all students. Another school is 5 minutes away with half the population, typical lunchtime routine of eat first play later (increasing the chance of a contact reaction every lunchtime), tuckshop 3 days a week (leaving 2 days a week where their would be minimal spills of milk drinks and ice blocks), taps in the classrooms and great toilets where each one is fully contained with its own toilet, taps and mirror.

Some schools had ‘banned’ peanuts for their peanut anaphylactic students, but stated they would not be able to do the same with dairy. Other schools had not ‘banned’ peanuts, and wouldn’t ‘ban’ dairy either. We never asked if the schools would do this, and we simply couldn’t trust the majority of the school community to abide by a dairy ‘ban’ anyway.

One private school had funding to employ a teacher aide to shadow their existing anaphylactic (peanut) children during lunch breaks. This sounded a good idea at first, but when we heard that these two kids must do exactly the same activities, play in the same area, at the same time and basically be joined at the hip, we thought this was not a very liberal way for them to enjoy their free time. It is tempting though, to know they are constantly monitored. At the private schools, the teachers carry mobile phones or walkie-talkies when on playground duty, which we feel adds an extra level of management during high risk times.

We feel that at some schools the anaphylactic kids were singled-out - with their safety and easier management for the staff being the major factors. It is also making them targets for bullying and teasing, as it openly demonstrates their different needs.

There are advantages and disadvantages at all of the schools we have seen so far. With dairy being so abundant wherever we choose, I feel that the high risk time is in the breaks. From what we have gathered, all schools are happy to implement hand washing routines as the kids enter the classrooms after lunch, to keep the classroom an allergy-free zone. After all it is the only place where such efforts can be made. Some facilities are better than others to accommodate this need.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I am a planner and organiser at heart. I sift through my lists of pros and cons and I hope an answer will become clear to me soon.