Allergy Alarmist

I wanted to do a little update on Ivy and so-called suspected allergies I mentioned back in November.

We gave Ivy her first taste of food back in October.

Banana! YUM! She loved it. We gave more of it to her the next day and she broke out in a rash around her mouth and then her whole body was covered in tiny red bumps. I took pictures of her reaction (it's hard to see in the photos below). This rash lasted over two weeks. Eventually the red faded but if you ran your hand over her belly or legs you could feel the little bumps. We stopped giving her any type of solids and threw out the rest of the bananas and any type of banana flavored foods. I didn't immediately take her to the doctor because we had her 6 month well visit coming up the week of Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, because of the holiday our regular pediatrician was not available and I had to see another doctor I didn't know. It was not a good experience. Let's just say he was dismissive, gave me conflicting information, and said some really inappropriate things to me. Initially, he called me an alarmist, said it was just a banana allergy and not a big deal. I'm not denying the fact that I AM an alarmist, especially now when I have a ton of regular anxiety + post-partum anxiety thanks to the combination of fluctuating hormones and a freaking pandemic. But anyways, why would you tell a concerned mom she is an alarmist? That doesn't help. I tried to talk to him about a possible connection to Ivy's inconsistent reflux and maybe an allergy to other foods with similar proteins to banana (avocado, kiwi, mango). Then suddenly he was giving us a prescription for an Epi-pen and referral to an allergist? It was a wild appointment and I promptly made a follow-up appointment to see our regular doctor. 

In the meantime we got the Epi-Pen and scheduled an appointment for the following week to see an allergist in New Jersey. This doctor was SO nice. He talked to me about different types of reactions and confirmed that her reaction was not hives but more of an eczema-type rash (even tho the ped. told me it was hives). They did two poke tests with banana and avocado. Both were negative. He said that some allergies are not severe and only show with a blood test so he ordered labs.

A week later I took Ivy to a local Lab Corps and had a truly traumatic experience. My heart goes out to all the parents that have to deal with regular blood draws for their kids. I know kids are resilient but it's not easy and so hard for a parent to see their child cry like that and be unable to do anything about it. 

This is the little Ivy before her first ever blood draw.

This Lab Corps was not very nice and was super crowded. I had made an early morning appointment to hopefully get in and out quickly. Instead we had to wait in a crowded waiting room which spiked my Covid exposure anxiety. Finally they took us back and the nurses failed to find Ivy's vein. They said it kept rolling. Eventually they got it in and could only get a half a tube and she needed 5 tubes! She was crying so hard her screams were silent. It was so hard to watch. They sent me away to nurse her and come back in 15 minutes. I had to go back to the car and was so stressed out about the whole ordeal that my milk wouldn't let down. Dan ran and got me some water and I was able to feed her. When we came back I made Dan come with me so he could stand in the hall with Ivy so we could socially distance instead of waiting in the packed room. I went back there and walked into the exam room to tell the nurse I was back. I wasn't about to wait in line again just to tell them I was there! Fortunately, with the second attempt a different nurse was able to get the vein right away and take all the blood they needed. Dan could hear Ivy screaming from down the hall. After the draw the nurse told me that Ivy was too attached to me because she didn't like other people touching her. I was like??? First of all, it's a blood draw and that's scary. Second, she is a pandemic baby, she has interacted with less than 12 people her entire life. You're a stranger with a needle! Ugh. Anyways, not a good day. When we got home Kip was very concerned about Ivy's wrapped arms.

A week later we had a virtual appointment with the allergist to go over the lab results. She was negative for banana, avocado, and all the major allergens (dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, soy, etc.) Thank God! It was a major relief and definitely not what I was expecting. They also did a full blood panel which was normal and a Covid antibody test to make sure it wasn't a viral reaction. She was negative for antibodies which I expected. The allergist said the blood work was the best case scenario. He determined Ivy may just have a mild skin sensitivity to banana and to test it out by rubbing banana on her cheek. 

The next time we tried banana she got another bumpy rash, smaller but still present. So, we will give her bananas sparingly but still keep her exposed. But at least now Kip can have bananas again which he was desperate for during this whole ordeal.  

And Ivy is diving into the world of solids now and I have some peace of mind. 

Moral of the story, I'm an alarmist. But also, what could I have done differently? I feel like it was better to go through all that to get a clear answer than live in fear of some life threatening allergic reaction. And if it the results had been different and she was allergic, at least we would have some expectations for what to do and how to keep her safe.