Allergy Tests

About a month ago, Jaden had an appointment with an allergy specialist, in our attempt to find out more about his allergies and the constant runny nose he seems to have. I already figured that he was allergic to peanuts, as he has had a previous reaction, so the doctor prescribed an EpiPen, but also ordered blood tests to confirm, as well as to test for all other nuts. The doctor also ordered blood work to test for tropical fruits because I recently noticed that the outside of Jaden's mouth turned red and splotchy while eating a banana. While at the appointment, the doctor determined that Jaden has exzema, and also prescribed a nasal spray and Claritin to help with all the other "stuff" he's got going on.

Well, we finally made it to the lab to get Jaden's bloodwork done. When we got there, Jaden asked, "Why you taking me to the doctor, mommy?" I tried to explain (in two-year-old terms) that the doctors needed to take some of his blood out to see if peanuts make him sick. His response was, "But I not have peanuts in my blood!"

We (Sam and I) were very, very, very nervous about the the needle and how painful it would be for him (the main reason we put it off for so long). I imagined him screaming, not sitting still, trying to grab the needle (and that's just Sam...I could only imagine what Jaden was going to do)! They had Sam hold Jaden on his lap and sit in the chair. Jaden was as calm as could be, while Sam could not even think straight, he was so nervous! The blood-takers (what are they called?) were trying to distract Jaden from looking at the needle by having him look at Elijah and were asking him a series of questions to keep him occupied. One of the ladies asked Jaden how old he was and as Jaden was trying to get his little fingers situated to say "two," Sam nervously answers for him, "A year and a half!" Jaden looked very puzzled at Sam's response, as he held up his two fingers. I corrected Sam's response, "TWO and a half" and Sam answered, "yes," not even realizing what he had said; he was soooo nervous!

And poor Jaden, they poked his right arm and couldn't get a vein. After wiggling the needle around for a little while, they decided to try the other arm. Luckily they got it, and at that point there was no more distracting Jaden as he watched in amazement at the blood that was coming out of his arm and filling up the little tubes. And to our amazement and relief, he did not cry one bit (now Sam, on the other hand...).

Final test results = postive allergy to peanuts and bananas (and that boy LOVES bananas)!