Another Poke, Hopes & Worries

My daughter has a calendar that we put her activities on with picture stickers so she knows what to expect and can learn about days of the week, etc. At the beginning of the month, I put two stickers on for doctor's appointments - one for her 4-year checkup and one for her allergy appointment coming up on the 24th. She tried to tell me a couple of days ago that she already went to the doctor twice - once for her poke (just a blood draw at the lab) and one for her shots (her 4-year old appt). So she wanted me to cross off the second doctor sticker on her calendar. I tried to explain to her that we still do have another doctor's appointment, to which she started crying saying she didn't want more pokes. I really don't believe in lying to her, so I've just been telling her things like, "It is a long time from now," and "We're not going today," or just, "I know you don't want to go."

Now, today, I got a call from the pediatrician. He is agreeable to doing the blood test for celiac's disease. Which means another blood poke. And we need to go today, because you can get a false negative if you are off gluten--which she has been since last Thursday. So now I have to take her to get another poke AND explain again that she still has her allergist appointment where they do the scratches. I feel so bad for her, she is such a brave girl but she has been bringing up "no more pokes" daily now.

Her last blood draw was precious and heartbreaking, she spent the rest of the day holding her bandaid. It didn't matter that we told her it was all better, she just wanted to hold it. And she got ice cream afterwards...luckily we still have some birthday cake--that might just be today's reward!

The good news: we got a printout of the results in the mail. The results are on a huge scale from 0.35 to 100. Four of them are super low: wheat, rye, barley, & peas. They all tested ~0.40, just barely showing. I discussed the results with the pediatrician and we both have hope that the allergist may just say not to worry about those foods. Or maybe they are showing up because they are related to other foods she is allergic to. Or maybe we don't have to worry about cross-contamination as much? I am so frustrated that we have 3 more weeks until her allergist appointment. I feel so lost without all of my questions answered, and my pediatrician understandably wants to leave all of those decisions to her.

Thankfully, egg continues to be her only life-threatening allergy. So even if we have exposure, the worst we might deal with would be hives or behavior issues. The worry is if the allergies are new, and her egg allergy gets worse every year, what if these get worse or she develops more? Today she complained of itching on her face and wanted medicine, but all she was doing was playing with some balloons from her party. So of course I start to worry about a latex allergy. Honestly.

One day at a time. I can do this.