The small reaction on the left side was the positive control, meaning everyone reacts to it. And the large reaction, labeled "P" on the right, is-- you guessed it-- peanuts. All the other small dots on the left were the test sites for other tree nuts, which all came back negative. But since peanut, tree nut, and shellfish allergies all tend to go hand-in-hand, we've been instructed to avoid them all anyway. Sigh. Liam has a 20% chance of outgrowing the allergy, and we'll go back annually to have him retested (next appointment-- May 24, 2012!). If we have any hopes of him outgrowing it, the key will be complete elimination of the allergen from his diet.
Because Liam has this allergy, Joergen is also very susceptible. We will need to follow these same guidelines for him until he is 3 years old, when he is the lucky winner of his own trip to the allergist. Yippee!
We now have to become a very label-conscious household. Not only do we have to completely eliminate peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish from his diet, but we also have to eliminate any foods that were made in a facility that also processes peanuts or tree nuts. We were surprised to learn that foods with that label, even if nuts are not an ingredient, still contain nuts 10% of the time!
Daddy and I will need to advocate for Liam pretty much everywhere he goes from now on, armed with an EpiPen. Peanut-free table for 4, please!
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