Picture taken Dec 27, 2006
G2 and G3 reunited after 12 days
G3 on left, G2 on right.
When G2 and G3 were 13-ish months they had their first taste of peanut butter, in cookie form. Right away they ended up with hives around their mouths. That was when we knew they had a peanut allergy. I had asked the pediatrician multiple times what our next step would be. I was always dismissed. Maybe he didn't believe me?
When we got the blood work back the results were: G2 came back with an allergy to dog dander, cockroaches, milk, soybeans, egg whites, wheat, sesame seeds and peanuts (major internal freak-out starting!!). G3 came back with a mild wheat allergy. Our pediatrician said we needed to take G2 to an allergy specialist and it was up to us if we wanted to take G3. Since G3 had had a reaction to peanut butter before and with them being identical twins I said it would probably be a good idea to take them both.
Picture taken the evening of their first reaction.
G3 on left, G2 on right
Fast forward 2.5 years. In May G3 had an ear infection. I took her to the doctor. He wanted to prescribe penicillin but then saw in her chart that she is allergic to it. That then made him notice that her chart also says she is allergic to peanuts. Finally! He started asking questions about that; "Has she had blood work confirming?" "Do we have an Epi-Pen for her?" "How did we find out?" "What happened?" etc. He then said we need to get her in for blood work and get her an Epi-Pen. That's when I reminded him she is a twin and her twin also is allergic. So, he prescribed Epi-Pens for both and got an order form for both girls to get blood work done.
I was so relieved to finally have the ball rolling on this, although I was really nervous to now have Epi-Pens. I knew we would need them eventually, but it still is kind of scary.
When we got the blood work back the results were: G2 came back with an allergy to dog dander, cockroaches, milk, soybeans, egg whites, wheat, sesame seeds and peanuts (major internal freak-out starting!!). G3 came back with a mild wheat allergy. Our pediatrician said we needed to take G2 to an allergy specialist and it was up to us if we wanted to take G3. Since G3 had had a reaction to peanut butter before and with them being identical twins I said it would probably be a good idea to take them both.
Picture taken June 9, 2010
Ft Worth Zoo
G2 on left, G3 on right
We had to wait two months to get into the specialist. We finally went yesterday. After talking with the doctor about everything he said he wanted to do a skin test (scratch test on their backs). Matt stayed in one room with G2 and I went to another room with G3. G3 whimpered and had some tears, she did not like it at all. G2 said she liked it, it tickled. (With the blood work, G2 said she likes "getting blood" and wants to do it again!)
Had I thought about it before hand I would have taken pictures of the results on their backs. The reaction to the peanut serum on G2's back was really big, and she also had a reaction to the dog serum. G3 had a reaction to the peanut and dog serum as well. The doctor told us to also avoid sesame seeds with G2, because it isn't something we really eat we don't know how she would react to it and it would be safer to completely avoid it.
We just got a puppy (I will do a post on him soon) and Matt asked about that, since both girls reacted to the dog serum. The doctor said keep the dog out of the bedrooms (which I don't want him on the carpet anyway) and keep an eye on things, just don't get anymore dogs.
G2 often is scratching at the inside of her elbows. After discussing this with the doctor he suspects she has mild atopic dermatitis. He told us how to care for this.
He is going to send his report back to the pediatrician and told us that if we have any questions or concerns then call him. So, for now we do not need to see him again. In a few years we may want to do some more testing to find out what nuts we absolutely need to avoid, and what/if any are safe for the girls, but until then we will avoid all nuts. I felt it was a very good appointment and I was very happy to finally have some answers.
