Update on Blake

So, we headed up to Sioux Falls this morning for Blake's 1:15 appointment.  I was definitely ready for answers but not ready for more prodding & poking.  We went through his medical history.  He says that a majority of kids with eczema does have asthma which would explain his breathing/respiratory problems.  However, they do not test for that this young.  They will say that the have an overactive airway---something or other :). 

He had a blood allergy test which came back ok, but he wanted to do a skin test to for sure rule things out.  We talked about the different things he is exposed to and what she should test for.  So, Blake was tested for allergies to eggs (#1 allergy for kids), milk, soy, wheat, mites (the ones that are found in carpets and pillows), cats, dogs and horses.

They test him on the back.  They use this plastic device with 4 different "arms" sticking out  The end of it is a small circle and perforated.  The basically dig these devices into his skin releasing the allergen.  Blake HATED this to say this least.  I was so thankful that Beau went with and held him this time :)  He did manage to move around when they did the horse test.  Then we waited for 15 minutes.

They came back in and checked the site.  When there is an allergy then the site is very red and spreads out from where they poked in.  At first, all the sites looked red and I thought, "Great!  He's allergic to everything!" When he came back in he said they all looked good except for the horse one.  We were tryinc to decide if he was really allergic to it or if it was influenced by the wiggle factor....So they re-did the horse one to show that he was not allergic to that.

NO ALLERGIES!!!  YAAAYYY (I think).  The only bad thing is that there is no allergies affecting his HORRIBLE eczema!  He did explain that there are what they call vaseoactive foods.  These foods are not something that he is allergic to.  He said that these foods open up the blood vessels more than other foods, and will make eczema worse He said that these things in moderation are ok, but in excess aren't good.  So, on Halloween when he wants his chocolate candy, it is up to us to decide if we want a crabby kid or an itchy kid...And an itchy kid isn't always bad.  He also said, that his first drink of alcohol is ok but we should cut him off after that :). Some of the things on the list is alcohol, chocolate, strawberries, raspberries, avocado, oranges, bananas, tomato, fermented cheese, MSG, Red Dye #20.....so basically EVERYTHING!

He also says that because the eczema is not caused from allergies that he will more than likely outgrow it sooner than later! 

So, next week we will be heading to the dermatologist to see if he can shed some insight on his skin!

Thank you so much for all the prayers and well wishes!  It means a lot to us!