Allergy Testing

May 24th was a B-I-G day for Mr. Kade. We took him to the doctor to have him tested for allergies & asthma, and the doctor (whom I've been a patient of since 8th grade) told me he didnt' believe we would need a paternity test as he could simply look at my chart & tell Kade is my child. Needless to say, Kadester has very severe allergies & asthma.


Sitting in the big boy chair waiting to get started! He was happy at this point!

To give a little background as to why we had him tested, let me say as a person who has allergies themselves, you notice when someone, especially your child, has even the mildest reaction. I've noticed for several months that anytime Kade plays in the grass within 1-3 days after it has been mowed, he breaks out in welps all over his legs. We have also noticed in taking him to several livestock shows/rodeos that his nose just pours & his eyes just run from the dust. I had mentioned to his pediatrician several times that I thought he may have allergies, but they always told me he was too young to test. However, the day this momma put her foot down demanding an allergy referral came on Saturday May 5th. My dad, gave Kade a small peanut butter girl scout cookie for a snack and immediately his eyes started to water, he broke out into a rash, he started sneezing like crazy, & his face began to swell. Eight hours later, his face was still swollen from the cookie incident. Luckily, we didn't have to make an emergency room trip, but I did call my allergy doctor on Monday morning & find out if they could test him for allergies at such a young age. I had also noticed that anytime he had an allergic reaction or "played hard," he began to wheeze. My doctor was more than glad to see him.

The Testing:

Waiting for the testing to start!

Daddy went with us because the nice receptionist who made our appointment kindly told me "it's best to bring two people to hold the child while we do the testing." lol. Anyway, we first saw the doctor and then went on back for our testing. Kade was only given the infant test which consists of twenty "pricks" to the back allowing the particular object you are being tested for to enter your skin. Each prick is numbered and then measured to see how great of an allergy you have to that particular item. Needless to say, Kade did not care for the testing at all. He screamed the entire time, but the worse part was having to keep him still for the 15 minutes after the test.


"just pricked"

mid way through the test

The Results:
Kade is HIGHLY allergic to all kinds of peanuts & tree nuts. This includes pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, etc, etc, etc. His reaction to these was measured at a 10+, which means that should he ever get a hold of any of these, we more than likely will be making a trip to the emergency room for treatment. The test also showed that he was mildly allergic to pet dander & dust mites, but Dr. Amar said these would likely get worse as he got older. They couldn't test him for grasses & trees at his age, but he will return when he is two years olf for the pediatric test which includes these items as well as more foods. Kade also has wheezing in his lungs, which signifies that he has asthma as well.

testing complete

The Treatment:
We are treating his allergies with Zyrtec liquid every day and Triaminiclone ointment for skin allergies as well as a carefully monitored diet to make sure he doesn't get anything that has nuts in it. As for the asthma, he is getting a breathing treatment everyday with Pulmicort as well as an albuterol treatment as needed in between. This is the part of the treatment that he hates the worse! We go back to the allergy/asthma specialist the end of June to re-evaluate him, receive our emergency kit with EPI pen, and to decide on our long term treatment plan.

Dog Days of Summer

I think we've finallly hit the beginning of the "dog days of summer." Kade even agrees with me as he has spend many evenings outside with Daddy enjoying the water sprinklers/water hose. Daddy even got Kade dressed to play outside...not!