Living with food allergies has become quite normal for our family. Our son, Morgan, is now almost 13 years old and has lived with food allergies his entire life. People continue to ask us how we found out he was allergic, will he ever outgrow any allergies, and how do we live a normal life?

We had all of these questions too when Morgan was diagnosed at 18 months old with severe peanut allergies, along with many other food and pet allergies. We were overwhelmed and then some! Eating out at restaurants became a planned event; vacations were put on hold; babysitters had to be versed in the use of the epinephrine kit; and even shopping in the local grocery store required hours of reading labels on boxes.  Our “old” carefree life was gone; and a hyper vigilant life took its place.

We were constantly surprised at the number of times food was being offered to our son. We weren’t aware of the number of times we would have to think ahead, and plan and pack a different snack. Anytime food was offered, I would tell a long story of peanut allergies, his reaction, his potential reactions…to the point of boring the other person to death. 

I was scared, and I wanted other people to know the seriousness of Morgan’s allergy. Using shocking words got their attention, but sometimes it only served to scare other people too, and made his allergy seem to be even more unmanageable. 

We have found that the combination of an accurate diagnosis, a wonderful allergist, careful label reading and Morgan’s growing self-awareness has kept him aware and even with the worst of occurrences - anaphylactic shock – he was able to identify what was occurring. He has had many allergic reactions; thankfully most have been relatively minor. We remain constantly vigilant, and aware that it takes just one mistake eating the wrong food. 

Our story begins with…

RESPIRATORY SYNCTIAL VIRUS

At 3 weeks old, Morgan contracted RSV, or Respiratory Synctial Virus. He began coughing as if he had emphysema, and by the time we got him to the doctor his pulse oximetry reading was at 82%, where it should have been at 96% in our high altitude state of Colorado. 

Our doctor was very concerned, sent us to the hospital for him to be admitted. He stayed two days. Thankfully, he wasn’t dehydrated and didn’t have pneumonia. We began Albuterol treatments every 2-4 hours around the clock for three weeks. Additionally, he was put on oxygen for three weeks to help his body breath!

It was a frightening time, yet he continued to gain weight and nurse well. Seemingly, he suffered no long term consequences; albeit some would say his asthma sourced from this virus.


ECZEMA

From his first few months, Morgan had severe, weeping eczema across his body. It was everywhere – behind his knees, on his hands and feet, and even behind his earlobes. His skin was constantly infected, and I coated him with Eucerin® lotion and steroid creams to not much avail.

I didn’t realize that eating peanuts while breastfeeding could be affecting him. I nursed him for 8 months, eating peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish…everything that he later turned out to be allergic to!

Our pediatrician didn’t mention anything that I needed to change, and just encouraged me to continue nursing, especially after the bout of RSV. 

FIRST CONTACT WITH PEANUTS

We found out that Morgan had some kind of allergy to peanut butter when he touched it for the first time at 9 months old and got hives up his arms and across his face. I called our primary care physician immediately who told me to administer Benadryl® and keep the peanut butter away from our son. 

Thankfully, he didn’t eat any of the peanut butter, or we would have been rushing him to the emergency room. He had what is referred to as a contact reaction. Just touching peanut butter was enough to elicit an allergic reaction. It scared us to death!

FIRST CONTACT WITH EGGS

When Morgan got his 15-month old shots including the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) the doctor asked if he had ever eaten eggs since the shot was egg-based in 1997. With the peanut reaction in the back of our minds, we had never given him eggs for fear of a similar allergic reaction. 

After the MMR shot, the doctor suggested we remain in the office for 20 minutes to watch for a reaction. No reaction to the shot was noticeable in that amount of time, however later that day and for 3 more days he had severe hives! We took him back to the doctor who then referred us to an allergy specialist. His comment was, “Morgan is having more allergic reactions than I know how to treat!”

ALLERGY TESTING

At 18 months old, he underwent the skin prick testing and we confirmed he has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. Skin prick testing involves pricking the skin just slightly and then adding a drop of the serum inside the scratch. A patient must remain still for 15-20 minutes to allow any reaction to occur.

At this age, the most difficult part was to keep Morgan still on his stomach. I held him, while he kept saying, “itchy, itchy, itchy!”

We found out a 0 on the test meant no allergy, while a 4 is a severe allergy. The allergist tested mainly for food and pet allergies because she said the airborne allergies such as pollen, weeds and trees probably wouldn’t show up until he was older and had been exposed to the offending item more. 

Morgan scored a 2 on eggs on the allergy scale, a 3 on dogs and a 4+ on peanuts. He had another smaller reaction to soy. The allergist gave us information on how to read a label to check for eggs and peanuts. 

She suggested that we keep our son away from tree nuts because of the potential cross reactivity with peanuts. And we shouldn’t feed him shellfish because of the allergic potential of that food also. She gave us a prescription for an Epi Pen® Jr. and suggested we get Morgan a Medic Alert® bracelet. 

She demonstrated how to use the Epi Pen® Jr. should we need to use it. She noticed he had severe eczema on his hands and mild eczema behind his knees, and even under his ears! She thought this was caused by him eating foods that he was slightly allergic to, such as soy.

My experience with doctors and food allergies is that they can diagnose the allergy; however they have no experience to share concerning living with the allergies on a daily basis. Therefore, I at first didn’t see the significance of a potential anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. 

I began to read labels, but since my son was only 18 months old, he really didn’t eat a varied diet. We rarely ate out, he wasn’t yet involved in sports, he didn’t go to day care, so the reality of the peanut allergy didn’t take hold for us. Our doctor didn’t tell us what it would be like to try to find a preschool, a Sunday school program, or how to deal with snacks at soccer games. We were luxuriating in our ignorance, and in our closed little world. 

About this time, I met a woman who had a son 8 years older than mine with mild peanut allergies. She said he couldn’t eat it, but there were no more restrictions in place concerning peanuts at her son’s school. She said he still ate M&M’s, and that he threw up a peanut butter sandwich that he was accidentally fed. 

I knew that Morgan had gotten hives from touching peanuts upon his first exposure, but I began to hope that maybe his peanut allergy would become equally as mild. Wouldn’t it be nice, I thought, to not have to single my son out for a safe snack; to not have to request that all nuts be removed from his school classroom…I began to hope that he could have a ‘normal’ childhood. 

Even in this denial stage, I began to develop a support system on the Internet, talked with and wrote to other parents dealing with potential anaphylaxis. Talking with my neighbors about Morgan’s problem didn’t give me alternative methods for dealing with his allergies. I needed to speak with parents dealing with my same issues to come up with new solutions. 

Also, I needed to share our joys and sorrows along the path of life. My friends who didn’t have a food allergic child couldn’t understand my consternation over preschool and kindergarten. When I shared this with other parents of food allergic children, they understood exactly my fears.

I began to search the Internet for research on why my son had food allergies. I wanted to know the cause, and what I had done wrong. Surely I must have eaten too much peanut butter while pregnant or nursing, and therefore had created him having allergies. I had fairly severe pollen allergies as a child, a couple of hives reactions from unknown causes, and severe eczema. I assume that my genetic allergy mapping was passed on to him. 

In analyzing the ‘why’ of his food allergy, I found that I needed to practice more precautions. The cookie at the grocery store wasn’t safe if I didn’t know the exact ingredients. I wasn’t willing to risk an accidental exposure, especially since I hadn’t been zealous in carrying Morgan’s prescribed Epi Pen® Jr. I started coming out of denial when I ensured that everywhere he went, his Epi Pen® traveled with him. 

I continued with questions as the fog lifted: How was I going to feed this child? I also jumped into the future and wondered how he would ever go to school? I wasn’t even wondering about preschool, I was wondering about college!

PET ALLERGIES

We would give Morgan a dose of Benadryl® before he went to anyone’s house that had a dog once we found out he had an allergy to dogs. Thankfully, we did not own any pets, other than fish! We didn’t face the hardship of having to decide what to do when you’re child is allergic to the family pet. 

Even with the Benadryl®, Morgan would still get swollen eyes within an hour of exposure and began having asthma like symptoms every time he would get a cold. It became obvious that he could no longer go to anyone’s house that had a dog. Even though he scored a zero (0) on the allergy tests to cats, he began to develop an allergy to cats. It escalated to the point where his eyes swelled shut one night at a friend’s house after 10 minutes of exposure to cats!

We completely stopped his exposure to animals, and began administering the asthma preventative drug, Intal, through a nebulizer. Morgan quickly stopped having bronchial spasms with every cold. 

His pet allergies could possibly be mitigated with allergy shots some day should he ever decide to own a pet. At this point in his life, it’s safer to keep him away from animals entirely!


SECOND ALLERGY TESTING


At 3 ½ years old, Morgan went through his second series of allergy testing. We wanted to recheck the peanut, egg and pet allergy. Also, we wanted to add tree nuts and shellfish to the allergy test. Morgan had a bad hives reaction to dandelions upon touching them one summer and we wanted to test for that. However, our allergist did not have a test for dandelions specifically and instead suggested we have him not touch them in the future!

This skin prick test showed that he was no longer allergic to eggs. However, he was still as allergic to peanuts (a score of 4+), and we found out he is equally allergic to shellfish. He is somewhat allergic to almonds and walnuts, and severely (a 4+ score) allergic to cashews. 

Our allergist suggested we keep him away from all tree nuts and not try to figure out which ones are safe and which ones aren’t. The chance of cross-reactivity between the nuts is very strong, and the machines used to process one nut are often used to process another nut. It would be safest to stay away from all nuts entirely. 

He still showed a severe reaction to dogs, now a score of 4 on the allergy scale, and a 3 to cats. 

We wondered about testing for food dyes, as Morgan seemed to be reacting to ‘kid foods’ like popsicles and candy. He had constantly red cheeks, and his eczema was out of control! We thought that it might be sunscreen used in the summertime. Then we discovered that he ate more popsicles and candy in the summer also!

Our allergist stated that there wasn’t a test for food dyes. She called it an intolerance, and told us to remove food dyes from his diet and see how his skin fared. Magically, the terrible fissures and eczema spots began to clear up! They didn’t entirely disappear. The eczema would only show up on his pinky finger when he ate a ‘forbidden food’! We removed food dyes from his diet to the best of our abilities, only allowing him the occasional treat with food dye.


RANDOM HIVE OUTBREAKS

Morgan has had one bout of hives that we could never determine the cause. He had severe hives all over his body for an entire day after eating at McDonalds. He never had breathing problems, just the hives. Morgan had eaten the same thing (Happy Meal with chicken nuggets and French fries) for a year every time we visited McDonalds.

I called McDonalds and obtained a faxed copy of their list of ingredients in all of the items he ate, including ketchup. They also sent an explanation of how they prepared their foods, i.e., in vegetable oil. They hadn’t changed anything in their preparation process or the ingredients in their foods. We never did find out what caused his hives, but began to suspect sesame seeds.

McDonalds now has all of their ingredient information on their Web site at www.mcdonalds.com.

Our allergist said that a child with severe food allergies is very likely to have incidences such as this. It was very scary, and thankfully did not put him into the ER or hospital. A large dose of Benadryl® solved the problem, but it did have to be administered every 4 hours for the entire day.

THIRD ALLERGY TESTING

Morgan went through a third skin prick allergy testing in December 2000. We wanted to find out if he had any other fur allergies (thinking about kindergarten classroom pets); and whether he was developing any environmental allergies. We also tested his previous known severe allergens: peanuts, cashews, shellfish, cats, dogs. All of these came back at a 4+ (severe allergy), and we added two more items to this list: sesame and horses. We found out he is moderately allergic to gerbils and to sunflower seeds. He was developing environmental allergies, especially to some trees, which were at a 4+. Other grasses and weeds were also climbing. 

Our allergist predicted that Morgan would need to begin allergy shots within a few years, once his eczema clears up. She also put him on an inhaled steroid (Pulmicort) to try to combat his repeated rounds of bronchitis through the fall. He hadn’t been exposed to pets, which was the cause of the bronchitis before. We believed the weed allergies were affecting him. Also, with four days a week spent at preschool that school year, he was being exposed to more germs. Immune system build up sure is hazardous!


RAST Blood Allergy Testing

When Morgan was 5 ½ years old, we decided to have a RAST (Allergen-specific IgE antibody test) completed. This test is less invasive, since it only requires blood to be drawn. It is much more expensive; however, so we made sure our insurance would cover it. 

The results of the RAST test were fairly similar to the previous skin prick testing. The RAST scoring goes from a Class 0 which is a negative result to a Class VI, which is as high as it goes. Class I and beyond show increasing levels of Specific IgE Antibody. 

Morgan showed a Class II on cats and sunflower seeds, Class IV on dogs, horses, sesame, cashews and peanuts. They were able to break out the shellfish panel into results for the various types of shellfish. Morgan scored a Class III on Clam, and all the others (crab, shrimp, scallop, oyster and lobster) were Class I or 0. We are still staying away from all shellfish, just to be on the safe side.

This testing was completed the year Morgan was in kindergarten. His school year was a great success in that he had no reactions at all! He had no pets, nuts or seeds in his classroom. A nut free table was provided in the lunchroom for him, which worked great.

His medicine was switched during the spring of kindergarten to include Singulair instead of keeping him on the Pulmicort inhaler. That worked very well. He builds up intolerance to certain meds after being on them for some time. Inhaled steroids year round don’t seem to be necessary, and that allows them to be used to chase away a cold, and prevent it from becoming bronchitis.

Immunocap Blood Test 

In October of 2002, Morgan had yet another blood test. The Immunocap is a type of RAST test that utilizes Pharmacia equipment. This is a specific type of RAST test. Dr. Hugh Sampson, one of the foremost food allergy researchers, has developed positive predictive values and negative predictive values for this test. 

In other words, he found that a score of 14 is a positive predictive value for peanuts, and thus likely to indicate a reaction. The negative predictive value is a score of less than 0.35 for peanuts. At this level, a child has an 85% probability of not having a reaction. 

There are positive and negative predictive values for egg, milk, peanut, fish, soy and wheat at this time. With more research, more foods will certainly be added over time. 

The test did show that everything we suspected that Morgan is allergic to (peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and shellfish) still show positive. We were able to determine that he’s more allergic to pecans, cashews and walnuts, than he is to almonds. He is only ‘mildly’ allergic to peanuts by this test, scoring a 2.2. 

However, the Immunocap still shows him very allergic to egg whites, which showed as a negative before on the skin prick test! And shrimp is the only shellfish he shows positive to. The results of the test didn’t allow us to change Morgan’s diet at all; however it did illuminate more of his allergies to us. 

Chicken Pox Vaccine

Because of Morgan’s previous problems with the MMR vaccine, we decided to administer the chicken pox vaccine in the allergist’s office. We had debated whether to have him receive this vaccine at all. With his eczema, our allergist suggested that the vaccine would be preferable to him having what would likely be a more serious case of chicken pox. The combination of eczema and chicken pox sounded terrible, so we opted for the vaccine.

Morgan had no immediate reaction to the shot. However, within 6 hours of receiving the shot, he began vomiting every 15 minutes. He became severely dehydrated, and we took him to the emergency room. They had to re-hydrate him through an I.V., and he remained in the ER overnight. For the next two days, he was horribly ill.

Our allergist is convinced this was a reaction to the shot. He never exhibited hives, yet we learned that allergic reactions can take on many different symptoms. We have not determined what ingredients in the shot created the reaction.

Reactions at Age 7

During the summer of 2003, Morgan had two fairly serious reactions. The first reaction was after eating an ice cream bar that we had purchased before, and that he had eaten before. This time, I had forgotten to re-read the label, and Morgan ate the ice cream bar. 
Soon after, he turned an ashen gray and had a bad stomachache. I grabbed the box and realized that it now said, “May contain peanuts” on the label. The manufacturing process had changed! I dosed Morgan immediately with Benadryl®, and thankfully he didn’t have a further reaction. I learned a valuable lesson to read the label EVERY TIME!

The second reaction was on a bike ride when a puppy came up and licked Morgan’s arm. In the 10 minutes it took for us to get home, hives covered his arm. The itching was severe, and a double dose of Benedryl® was necessary. Also, we washed the area and applied Sarna, an anti-itch cream. Thankfully, no epinephrine was required with either of these reaction, since no breathing problems occurred.

Visiting a Nutritionist at age 10

With the hopes of finding a way to decrease Morgan’s allergies, we took him to a nutritionist. This nutritionist is also a hematologist, and therefore asked that Morgan have blood drawn for multiple blood markers beyond just eosinophils and IgE. We found that Morgan’s IgE is above 600, which really isn’t that bad considering the number of allergies he has. Yet a normal IgE is below 300 for a child his age. His eosinophils are above 1000, which is very high. His eczema is probably causing these two counts to be high. He also has a sluggish thyroid and elevated liver enzymes. The nutritionist believes these two items could suggest a gluten sensitivity, and suggested a gluten-free diet! 

You can imagine Morgan’s dismay at being told he needs to remove gluten from his diet also. He has so many limitations on his foods, that it is really difficult to ponder this. Yet, we forged forth in an attempt to find some way to assist Morgan’s immune system to get stronger.

We got various suggestions for cooking gluten free, and received a ‘recipe’ for an intestinal mucosal lining rebuilder to help repair his stomach and intestines. 

Some of the vitamins suggested, such as black currant seed oil have not set well with Morgan’s system. We have added some vitamins, such as Vitamin C and a multi-vitamin to his diet. We’re very careful about any type of vitamin since his system is so sensitive, and we certainly don’t want an allergic reaction. Mainly, we’re trying the gluten free diet and adding a lot more protein to his meals since protein mops up toxins. 

First Anaphylaxis at age 10 ½

My husband regularly takes our two kids camping every summer in the Rocky Mountains about a 4 hour drive from our home. They camp at 10,000 feet far away from everyone and far away from cell service! This summer Morgan experienced his first anaphylactic episode to Rocky Mountain trout in this wonderful location. Thankfully, everyone in the family knew what to do, and Morgan lived to tell about his experience.

He wrote an article about school lunchrooms for Allergic Living magazine, for their Fall 2007 issue. CLICK HERE to read the story.

Follow Up Allergy Testing

One month after the anaphylaxis, our allergist suggested that we go ahead and have another skin prick testing done. We wanted to test for fish especially, in addition to his other food allergens to see if anything had been outgrown. He had previously tested negative to a fish mix which included cod, halibut, flounder, tuna and mackerel. Our assumption was that he would remain non-allergic since he hadn’t eaten any of these foods because of their proximity to shellfish in display cases. Instead, the anaphylaxis made us doubt this assumption.

The allergy testing was a miserable event. Even with the serums for peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and shellfish diluted 1:200, Morgan experienced horrendous reactions. He also exhibited severe reactions to trout, tuna and salmon. No longer can we say he isn’t allergic to fish! He continues to also be severely allergic to dogs and cats. There was nothing that he has outgrown, and all of his food allergies appeared to remain constant – and severe!

The allergist had the most severe allergens skin prick tested on his forearms so that a tourniquet could be applied should the reaction get out of hand. When he began to have satellite hives up his arms, she decided to give him a shot of epinephrine in addition to 50 mg of Benadryl. We remained in her office for 30 minutes after the testing was completed to ensure the reaction was subsiding. Thankfully, it did. 

We now know to have only allergy blood testing completed in the future. He has far too many allergies and too severe of reactions to put his body through skin prick testing.

Newspaper Coverage

In November of 2006, our local newspaper, the Gazette interviewed Morgan for a story on food allergies. To read this article click here. 

Ceasing Gluten Free Diet

After repeated rounds of colds, stomach bugs and other viruses, we began to suspect that Morgan’s immune system wasn’t working properly in the winter of 2006-07. I reviewed the skin prick test that was completed the previous summer and realized that rice was tested, and came back as a 2+. A gluten free diet consists mainly of rice and rice products, and Morgan had been eating rice every day for 6 months.

Another Reaction at age 11

One Monday morning Morgan awoke feeling fine. Ate breakfast, took a shower, got out of the shower and began to feel his eyes swell and become extremely itchy. At first, we thought he must have gotten shampoo in his eyes, so we washed them with saline eye drops. He had used the same shampoo for a year, so we didn’t think he could have become allergic to it. His eyes continued to swell, so we put in Optivar eye drops. This didn’t help much either. He had no other symptoms of an allergic reaction, but soon his eyes were bulging and swelling to the point he could barely keep them open. I gave him a Claritin in the hopes that everything would calm down, and he would be able to attend school for the day. Of course, Claritin is not a fast-acting antihistamine, so relief wasn’t immediate.

In the meantime, we scheduled an allergist’s appointment and went immediately to the doctor’s office. She quizzed us on what could possibly be the cause. The only thing that we could figure is that Morgan touched something that he was allergic to and then touched his eyes. The rest of the family had barbequed grilled salmon for dinner the previous evening (cooked outside), and maybe a piece of fish had been left on the counter. We are fastidious with our cleaning methods around fish, yet there was always a possibility that we missed something.

An Attempt at a Lawn Mowing Business 

Morgan wanted to make some money after learning how to use the lawn mower during the Spring of 2007 (at age 11). We agreed he’d have to mow our lawn first and do it well before mowing for anyone else. After two weeks of mowing our lawn, he began getting hives around his neck, arms and legs right after mowing. We had him wear a mask so that he wasn’t breathing in the grass clippings. However he soon got what appeared to be a cold that immediately went into wheezing and bronchitis – probably due to the grass pollens he was breathing, even with the mask!

This began a series of pollen-related reactions for him. His eyes were almost continually swollen despite eye drops, and Claritin wasn’t even beginning to quell his constant runny nose. He ended up with an upper respiratory infection requiring antibiotics, Albuterol and Pulmicort to rid him of the bronchitis. This put an end to his potential lawn mowing business!

Boy Scout Camp in 2007

Morgan left for Boy Scout Camp in the Rocky Mountains during June of 2007 for one week. We sent up an arsenal of medicines with him, including steroid nasal spray, a steroid inhaler, Claritin, eye drops and of course his EpiPen along with three extras, just in case.

I prepared all of Morgan’s foods for him to take to camp. The camp cook kept the foods either in the freezer or in the refrigerator and then heated them in a microwave prior to a meal. By the last night of camp, Morgan had eaten through all of the dinner vegetables I had prepared – growing boys outdoors eat more than I knew! The camp cook offered to prepare broccoli for Morgan in the camp kitchen for dinner. Within 30 minutes after eating that meal, Morgan began to have severe stomach cramps and headed to the Medic’s cabin. The Medic wasn’t sure if it was an allergic reaction or dehydration, because there were no other allergic symptoms such as hives, wheezing or itchiness.

My husband and I received a phone call from the Medic and Morgan explaining the situation. The Medic had given Morgan Benadryl® and some water, and wanted to know if we wanted to pick him up from camp. We decided instead to have him monitored continuously in the Medic cabin, and to call us every 20 minutes for the next hour, especially since there were no breathing difficulties evident. After an hour, Morgan was feeling good enough to stay at camp for one more night, until the end of the camp.

We never did figure out what caused this reaction. It could have been some food allergen that crossed with the broccoli, or the peanut butter that some other kids were eating at another table in the cafeteria (highly unlikely), or just dehydration. That’s the real issue with food allergies for us – not always do we know EXACTLY what causes these strange reactions!

Morgan came back from Camp with extremely swollen eyes, eczema all over his body and dirt caked on top of that! These issues were probably due to the pollen in the air, and when camping outdoors that is a hazard.

We began a twice a day regimen of Elocon steroid cream with Eucerin paste lotion on top. He had his annual eye exam scheduled a few days after his return from camp, and the eye doctor wasn’t able to get an accurate read of his vision because his eyes were so swollen. Even the corneas were swollen!

Morgan was put on steroid eye drops and antihistamine eye drops for the remainder of the summer, which began helping immediately. He also was put back on Singulair for the remainder of the summer.

Immunocap RAST testing in June 2007

Morgan hadn’t had an Immunocap RAST blood testing since 2002. With his skin prick test the previous summer being a disaster of a reaction, our allergist wanted to pursue a blood test to confirm the skin prick test results.

Many foods increased in their IgE level from the last Immunocap test, even though Morgan hadn’t eaten them. His highest allergen appears to be pecan at a 23. Surprisingly peanut decreased to 1.47, yet his skin prick test had to be halted because of the severity of the reaction. It’s difficult to find the meaning of that!

We also tested for latex, and received three separate test results to the surprise of our allergist. Generally, the latex results are reported in just one number. Instead, we received a number for Ammoniated Latex, Buffered Latex and Glove Latex. The Buffered Latex was a 12, which is high. The other two were negative. Yet Morgan has never appeared to have any reaction to anything with latex. At this point, we will watch this very carefully. Our allergist did tell him that “when” he becomes an allergist himself, he will want to use non-latex gloves in his office!

Preparation for Allergy Shots

Because of Morgan’s severe pollen allergy reactions during the summer of 2007, our allergist suggested beginning allergy shots over the winter of 2007-08. Morgan had to withstand another skin prick testing for grasses, weeds and trees in order to develop the allergy shot serum. Apparently, the blood test results for pollen allergies to develop an allergy shot serum aren’t as accurate.

The allergy testing was miserable, because of all the high scores and welts that appeared. For 3 days, Morgan’s skin remained itchy and welted, but we were ready to begin allergy shots in the fall.

Starting Middle School

We began our preparation for Middle School in the spring prior to the 5th grade year ending. We met with the principal of the middle school, along with the teachers Morgan would have, and his 6th grade counselor. The elementary school passed the baton – so to speak – over to the middle school by providing information about what has worked with a nut-free classroom and a nut-free table in the lunchroom. Morgan was able to share what works for him, and we discussed having his locker near his pod of classrooms so that teachers could monitor other kids and potential food hazards coming out of lockers!

Once the 6th grade school year started, all of the teachers that had been assigned to Morgan had changed. Yet, our school district had created a Food Allergy Task Force during the spring of 2007 to create guidelines for schools to deal with students with life-threatening food allergies. These guidelines were to be followed for all students beginning in the 2007-08 school year. This made the transition to middle school even easier.

We met with Morgan’s teachers during the first week of school, and discussed foods in the classroom. Since there were three other severely food allergic children on his team, the teachers had determined that no foods would be allowed in any classroom. What a joy middle school is! There would be no holiday parties, no birthday celebrations, no food given as a reward, and no morning snacks! That made the meeting with the teachers exceedingly short.

The lunchroom had a nut-free table, and all four of the 6th graders with allergies sit there along with their friends. Morgan said that many times, there are so many people at the nut-free tables, that it’s difficult to find a seat! That’s a preferable problem to sitting with no one during lunch.

Allergy Shots

Morgan received his first allergy shot on a Friday, the end of August in 2007. He appeared to suffer no severe site reaction to the shot. Yet, he had been battling a stomach ache earlier in the week, and that resurfaced after the shot. He also had the feeling of a cold coming on, which could have been a coincidence or the fact that he’d been back in school for 3 weeks allowing germs to infiltrate his system!

More Hives

Two weeks after receiving the first allergy shot, Morgan awoke on a Monday morning covered in hives. He had no breathing difficulties, felt somewhat tired, yet had no other symptoms than severe hives. 

Once again, we headed off to the allergist office. By the time we arrived there, the Benadryl® we had administered had taken effect, and the hives were gone. However, the doctor checked him out thoroughly and determined that a blood test was in order to see if his white blood cells were elevated (indicating a virus) and to see if he possibly had strep. She also tested for a few more foods that he had eaten the night before, which were not standard in his diet. These foods were garlic, onion, and red pepper.

She gave him a prescription for Prednisone and Zyrtec. The steroids took a day or two to get into his system, and in the meantime he would erupt in hives every 3-4 hours for two days. He was miserable!

The Prednisone lowered his immune system, and within a week he had a severe cold! All of this at the start of 6th grade meant he was missing a lot of school. We became detectives trying to figure out what was causing his immune system to become so overloaded. The blood tests revealed a normal white blood cell count, and no strep. However, he did test positive to garlic, onion, red peppers and rice – all were a Class III on a RAST test. Yet, our allergist really believed that he had a virus, and that the foods eaten may have pushed his immune system over the edge.

A week after going off the Prednisone, Morgan had another rash appear. This one was itchy, and had a sandpaper like feel to it. I suspected scarlet fever. We headed to the doctor for a strep test which once again came back negative. The allergist thought it was viral yet again. After 3 days, the rash disappeared. 

By this time, Morgan was spooked as to what was occurring with his body! We couldn’t imagine that all of these rashes were caused by receiving one allergy shot. Yet, everything began after that.  

The allergist suggested that we skin prick test Morgan for the glycerin solution that preserves the allergy serum, which came back negative. 

We visited with a chiropractor who practices sacro occipital technique, and he worked on Morgan’s energy fields. It’s a strange science/art, yet Morgan began to feel much better afterward. Puberty is beginning, which can have strange effects on the immune system. 

Morgan has been receiving allergy shots for several months now with no more than local reactions. We are hopeful that we’ve seen the last of these problems.

Being a Real Boy

Morgan has had the opportunity to go to overnight camps for a week, to participate in after school activities, mountain bike, and golf …basically, he’s a real boy!

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