It happened at La Duni and involved one of the best desserts Dallas has to offer – the Cuatros Leches Cake.
For the first year of her young life, I’d been strictly following the recommendations of what foods my little girl could eat. Now, after her first birthday, my mother pointed out that she could have egg whites. So I held up my spoon and gave her a tiny bite of meringue that barely covered the tip of the spoon. She loved it, I ate the rest of my cake, and all was seemingly well. Until a few minutes later when we went out to the car. Loading her into her car seat I noticed that she was breathing heavily. By the time we got home, less than fifteen minutes later, her face was swollen and she could hardly breathe – and I was frantically trying to call to the doctor.
Cut to two weeks later as I sat in the office of one of the best pediatric allergists in Dallas and was told that not only would I be forced to carry an epi-pen at all times for the unforeseeable future for my daughter’s anaphylactic egg allergy, but that we also needed to avoid milk and peanuts. Oh, and all those cases of croup that she’d had the prior winter? That was simply a mask for her asthma, which would also require a nebulizer at home and it’s own separate treatment.
I’d seen my daughter almost stop breathing, and I’d just held her down while she had an assortment of at least 30 different allergens pricked onto her back, and I’d spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to console her as she itched and writhed and was unable to actually scratch her back. I was done. And that’s when the tears started to come.
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Not every child will need to see an allergist in their lifetime, but approximately 8% of children do have food allergies. Chances are either you or someone you know will have a child who needs to see an allergist.
If you decide your child needs to see an allergist, here’s what you need to know:
1. It’s scary, and that’s perfectly normal. There’s nothing fun about taking your child to get an allergy test. Whether or not it’s fun, however, if your child has shown any signs of allergies it is very important. Allergies don’t only affect kids in their breathing. Some children develop chronic eczema, others may break out in hives, and still others may only show behavioral problems. Remember that food is fuel for our bodies, and feeding your child something they are allergic to causes their body to constantly attack itself.
2. Try to find a recommendation. All doctors are different, and the truth is that when it comes to interpreting results from allergy tests you will get widely varied answers. I’ve been told that allergens with small reactions need to be ignored, and I’ve been told that allergens with small reactions need to be steadfastly avoided. Just as you find a pediatrician for your child whose treatment methods fall in line with your beliefs and comfort levels, so should you try to find an allergist that does the same.
3. Get involved, if need be. When my middle daughter started showing some odd digestion signs as well as continuing to have persistent eczema on her scalp well into her third year, we knew it was time to get her tested. The personality of our fiery middle child, however, is completely different than that of my eldest. Our solution was to go as a family and have my husband get a small panel tested on his forearm while she had her back tested. It didn’t make it any easier on us, but seeing that her daddy was going through the same thing as her definitely helped her get through the situation.
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So let’s say you’ve decided to get your child allergy tested, what exactly is involved?
You’ll probably start off with a consultation, followed by a blood test and/or skin prick test. The blood test will show things that they are highly allergic to as well as give you a numerical definition of that allergy. If your child is allergic to eggs or peanuts, for example, you can have your child’s blood tested every year to see whether their allergy is getting better or worse. The skin prick test is the most difficult part, and involves using a small needle to prick the outer layer of the skin with various samples of allergens. Within a few minutes your child with either react (which involves lots of itching!) or not.
My main recommendation regarding skin prick testing is to ask your potential allergist up front whether they prick individually or use a tray. Individual pricks are just what they sound like, and depending on your child’s age and symptoms may involve could consist of fifty or more pricks to their back. Trays are trays full of the pricks, and are basically efficient ways of getting the skin tested while only having to press on their back four or five different times. The trays are definitely preferable.
Scared, yet? Too bad. After all, this is the rub with parenting, isn’t it? We don’t always get to give the fun nighttime bath and cuddle and read stories. Sometimes we have to do the hard jobs – getting them shots, watching them get cavities filled, or even helping to hold them down while they get stitches for what seemed like the smallest stumble.
And if your child is showing any signs that could be allergies, the best thing to do is have them tested so you can either discover the problem or keep searching for the solution to what ails them.
