Peanut on Purpose

Long post warning... After 3 months of Xolair shots, my 12 year old had his first reaction to peanut since he was 3 and a half.

First taste of peanut on purpose!

After sitting for an hour in Monday morning Atlanta traffic, we got to the office right on time. They took his blood pressure, weighed him and put us in a room. He started with 1/8th tsp of peanut butter mixed with honey. Since his first reaction when he was 18 months old, we have been instructed to keep him away from peanuts and anything that "may contain" or is "processed with peanuts". Watching him ingest peanut butter for the first time made me feel like I was punched in the stomach. He quickly grabbed the stick and shoved it in his mouth. After making faces and swallowing he said it tasted bitter and then it got "stuck" in the back of his throat. Thanks to my Facebook groups and other blogs, I knew this was common. He drank several glasses of water. By the 3rd dose, the doctor gave him the option of peanut flour mixed with cranberry juice. He liked that much better, but then he started sneezing, his eyes started itching and his stomach started hurting. The doctor gave him benadryl, Zyrtec and liquid steroid to stop the reaction. He was ready to Epi him if needed, but Rich quickly recovered. Dr. Seidu has assured us that this should be the worst reaction he should have.

Rich has been concerned that if he were to accidentally eat something with peanut over his dose that he would have an even more devastating reaction than before treatment. Dr. Seidu explained to us that with Xolair, his reactions would be so minor compared to without. That is why he uses the drug. He said that since he can tolerate almost a teaspoonful of peanut butter, cross contamination should not be a problem so we took him to Menchies for the first time tonight!

Menchies Cake Batter Yogurt and sprinkles

Tomorrow will be our first at home dose. He will have .25 tsp of peanut flour in grape juice. Per doctor's orders, we will dose him 3 times a week. I know most dose at least once a day and some twice, but we trust our doctor and will do as he says. He says he has noticed fewer GI effects with this timing. He has an appointment for his next Xolair shot on Thursday 9/25.

Mike wanted to make sure no one got into the peanut flour.

Rich loves Minecraft so I made sure he knew this was his ;)