A Food Allergy That Reemerged
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- Living in the Moment
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- Power in Numbers
- Our Food Allergy Experience - So Far
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- Piecing Together My Son's Milk Allergy
- Don't Let Food Allergies Get You Down
- A Diagnosis of Food Allergy and EE
- First Reaction in 14 Years
By Christine D.
I learned of my daughter's peanut allergy when she was 13 months old. She was a very petite baby, so when it was time for her to eat solid foods, my pediatrician suggested protein-rich foods, such as peanut butter and eggs.
I made her a small peanut butter sandwich for lunch one day and she tried a bite. She immediately spit it out and developed hives around her mouth. The hives quickly spread to her eyes and they swelled up. Her entire face was so swollen that she was unrecognizable, so I gave her a teaspoon of an antihistamine and quickly called 911.
In the emergency room at Children's Hospital in Boston, she was treated and observed for a few hours. She was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. At that point, we made an appointment with a well-known allergist who we continued to see every year.
At the age of 3, my daughter's blood tests revealed that she had outgrown her allergy. The doctor performed a skin test, also negative and an oral food challenge, where she was given small amounts of peanut butter in the hospital while being monitored. She passed and was cleared of her allergy.
A year later -- call it mother's intuition -- I questioned the diagnosis. I asked the doctor to recheck her. He assured me that it was highly unlikely that her allergy had come back. He advised me to take her home and give her some peanut butter to put my mind at ease, which I did, making sure that I had an epinephrine auto-injector handy. Sure enough, my worst fears were confirmed. Her reaction to the peanut butter was even more severe than the one when she was 13 months old, and I had to administer the epinephrine and rush her to the emergency room again, where they confirmed that her allergy had come back and that she was also now allergic to tree nuts.
The only explanation that my doctor was able to give me was that she should have incorporated peanuts into her diet when she was initially cleared of her peanut allergy, which she did not. She is now 8 years old and continues to live with her allergies. I tell my story to alert parents and to raise awareness that although your child may outgrow their allergy, there are no guarantees that it will not come back.
My daughter manages her allergy very well and her friends are all very careful around her. I send snacks to all her play dates and homemade cupcakes to birthday parties, for which she has never complained. I applaud the parents who check in with me about what to serve at parties and play dates, and appreciate their help in keeping my child safe. I hope and pray for a cure so that I can cross this off my list of worries as a parent. In the meantime, I will continue to share my story and raise awareness to spare other parents what our family has gone through.
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