Chicken and Soy...Oh Boy!!

Yesterday was the BIG day for the allergy test!  Jacob was busy with work so Lisa met us up there.  First I spoke with Dr. Whited about our concerns and he asked me a few questions such as:  Do you have carpet...central AC....PETS???  Then he said that they were going to test Oliver for 30 different things and they would also do a blood test which would be a prick in the finger.  So as I was trying to prepare myself for all of this the nurse was assuring that me the allergy test does not hurt and she is very fast.  She said that they main reason children freak out is because they have to be held down on the bellies!!  So of course the minute I put Ollie on his stomach and he realized he could not roll over he freaked out and continued to cry through the whole test.

First they put 30 dots on his back with a marker and one drop of each different thing they were testing by each dot.  Then they use a needle to lightly scratch all 30 spots to see what he reacts to.   They also poke him in his right arm with a positive test to show what a positive reaction should look like.   Some of the things he was tested for were cats, dogs, milk, eggs, wheat, rice, almond and various meats, fruits and veges.  I think we had to wait about 20 minutes to give everything time to react.  The nurses kept coming in to check his back looking for any reactions.

The reactions are on a scale for 0 to 4.  Oliver showed a 1+ reaction to peanuts and shellfish (which he won't be getting anytime soon regardless) and then he had a 2+ reaction to CHICKEN AND SOY!!!! WHAT????  Who in the world is allergic to CHICKEN....only Oliver James....and SOY which I am told and will learn is in a lot of things including his FORMULA!!!!! So among all of the new lotions and potions (one including TAR) that we have to lather Ollie with on a daily basis we also have to change his shampoo and body wash AGAIN!

Next it was time for the "finger prick" which was a NIGHTMARE!  The lovely lady (and I use the term lovely  very very loosely) in charge of pricking my child said that because of where they had to send the blood that she would have to draw blood from his arm.  Ok whatever...no big deal...lets just do it and get it over with!! Because of course by now my sweet child had fallen asleep and now I had to wake him up for yet another poke.  As soon as I put him down and began to hold him down he lost it.  The lady tried to draw blood from his right arm and FAILED and then said lets try the left arm and she FAILED AGAIN!!  So by this time my child had now been stuck in both arms by this crazy lady and then she decides to just PRICK HIS FINGER!!!! I think at that moment I could have strangled her!  So as my child is crying and crying she pricks his finger and finally squeezes out a tube of blood and WE ARE DONE!!  If the test does not work I DON'T CARE!  If they have to do it again they will have ONE chance to get his blood.

So now that all of that is done we hope that the changes we will be making we help his skin clear up.  We have a follow up appointment with Dr. Whited in a month.

Here are some of Ollie's 6 month pictures...ENJOY!!