Oh Nuts!

Remember back in January when I took J.D. for his 18 month well check? The doctor and I spent a good portion of the visit discussing the fact he may possibly have a peanut allergy. Well, I decided that I was just going to have them do the blood test at his 2 year well visit. And so we did.

His well check was last Friday. He was such a good boy when they drew his blood. He didn't even cry. He just laid there and looked a bit confused about what was going on. The nurse said she'd never had a toddler EVER lay so still during a blood draw. And this was no quick stick. She missed the vein and had to root around a bit till she found his little vein.

I hadn't heard anything about the results so I decided to give them a call this morning. The nurse called back and told me he "didn't test negative". How's that for cryptic?! He tested at "low" levels for the (peanut) allergen specific IgE. His level was .56 and to be completely negative it would have had to been .35 or lower. That's better than having a "moderate" or "severe" level but also means he won't be having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich anytime soon.

I kind of wish we had tested in January. Then we could compare the results and see if the levels were improving or staying level. He did accidentally eat peanut products a couple of times and had no reaction at all. He may be one of the fortunate kids who "outgrow" this intolerance/allergy.

The doctor said to just keep up what we are currently doing, which is avoid giving him peanut products. We don't have to remove all peanut products from the house. However, a "low" blood test doesn't mean that the reaction would be mild, he could still have a "severe" reaction so we do have an Epi pen just in case.

Nuts! Literally.