Wednesday, February 3, 2010

So, This Egg Allergy

is apparently more serious than we thought. When we had Marino's scratch test in July (he was 1), the doctor thought he had a moderate allergy to eggs. He wanted to attempt to do a food challenge in 6 months, where they would have him come in and eat a small amount of egg in a controlled environment. We had blood work done on Monday to test his RAST number, to see if a food challenge was a possibility. Well, the PA called us today and said that Marino's RAST number needed to be 5 or less (and it gets down into the decimals, so even a number of 5 is a moderate allergic reaction) to do the food challenge. His RAST number is 44!! She said that is an unusually high number for someone his age so we need to carry an epi-pen with us at all times. There is also a greater possibility now that he won't outgrow this allergy. ::sigh:: I think I am going to start looking into ways to make egg-free treats so he isn't left out of things. We have numerous birthday parties coming up, and I'm not sure how much longer he will notice he is the only one eating clementines while everyone else is eating yummy cake. Poor guy.

My buddy Rachel at http://allergenfreeplease.blogspot.com/ (excellent blog about dealing with childhood food allergies) recommended Ener-G egg replacement, so I am going to hunt that down over the weekend (our grocery store doesn't have it).

2 comments:

  1. Marino is so stinkin' cute!!!! Your header rocks! Don't be discouraged about the egg allergy. I really wonder how accurate the tests really are (I am going to email you a link to an article about that); but I think the Epi Pen is a must have. I know it can be a lifesaver for Brody and we don't leave home without it :)

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  2. We have an epi pen that we have to carry also. Josh is milk, soy and egg free because of his allergies so I've made these blondie bars for him for holidays and birthday parties. The only thing I omit is the salt since the first time I made them they seemed a little salty. Since then if I leave the salt out they are fine. We get the egg replacer and dairy, soy and egg free "chocolate chips" at Whole Foods. I've also made the Wacky Chocolate Cake which is really good. I made it for his birthday in May and and over the weekend I made cupcakes (the directions are posted in the reviews) and wrapped each one individually and froze them since we have five birthday parties over the next 7 weeks.

    http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/cookies/r/blondie.htm

    http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Wacky-Chocolate-Cake-106041

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