Positive negative

Zeb had an appointment with the allergist today and several of the results were negative. Hooooray!!  Today it was skin tests and he was such a trooper.  The only part of the procedure that bothered him was right when his skin started to hive - he wanted to itch and couldn't.  But, he didn't complain too much and I found that fanning his back with a book not only eased the itch it entertained him as well.  Here are the results.  Big numbers mean big hives which means big allergies.  The first number is the height of the hive the second is the width.

Controls: Histamine 6/20, Saline 0/0

Corn 0/0

Rice 0/0

Wheat 5/15

Egg white 20/40

Cow milk 5/25

Sesame 0/0

Peanut 18/35

Soybean 15/25

Kidney bean 0/0

Lentil 0/0

Garbanzo 0/0

The top three are the same: egg, soy, and peanut and he's still allergic to wheat and milk.  We didn't test any nuts and with a strong reaction to peanut I'm not going to attempt any other nuts any time soon.  

But, I'm *super* excited to see that several legumes tested negative!!  That's a first! I was obviously enthusiastic, so their advice was, "It's ok to start feeding them to him. Try them one at a time and observe him for several hours afterwards."  weeeee!  The first thing I'm trying is hummus then my favorite chickpea/potato curry.  I'm so happy to have a couple other sources of protein other than meat.  [huge sigh] 

I threw rice and corn in there as my own "controls."  I needed to see some staples show up on the negative list for once.  Next week we need to do a blood test as well.  They will correlate the results of the skin test to the blood test then continue the blood tests every 6 months.  They hope to see the numbers decrease and that he'll outgrow them.

Finally!!  Some negative news! 

Update:

After I wrote this, I dug up our last set of skin test results.  These are from 21 June 2006 (when Zeb was 5 months old. He's now 28 months).  

Controls: Histamine 5/15, Saline 0/0

Wheat 0/0

Egg white 15/22

Cow milk 0/0

Peanut 10/20

Soybean 4/15

All of the numbers are larger. It was these results that made me think it was ok to feed him milk and wheat - which I did for a few months around his first birthday.  Either he developed the allergies to wheat and milk *after* 5 months old or the tests were not accurate.   I wonder if those few months caused the allergies!?

That makes me much more cautious to introduce the new foods.  But, I can't be afraid forever. With my own allergies,  I tested myself every few months for several years and watched my reactions lessen.  Let's hope it's the same for him.  It's onwards and upwards with garbanzos. Wish us luck!