The Plot Thickens

The GI doctor called today.

Had I seen Nathan's labs.

No, I had not.

She thought I shouldn't look because it might make me anxious.

It did.

Nathan's blood tests show allergy to milk and soy, which we knew, but also to oat and wheat and corn and peanut and egg.

Now, I have to say that blood tests are not really the most reliable way to assess allergy. The antibodies in blood which are measured by the test, especially at a low level, may not actually translate into actual allergy symptoms. The classic scratch test is the real way to tell what the reaction will be upon exposure.

This, though is what we know.

1. His giant belly deflated within 48 hours of cutting milk out of his diet.

2. This is our Nathan on hummus:

I was trying to feed him hummus. He refused. It got on his face. He smeared it around with his hands. Hives and facial swelling ensued.Hummus is made from garbanzos, a legume and therefore a relative of soybeans. For now, all beans are out.

The milk and soy are two of the lowest blood levels he has. His level for egg is 20 times milk and soy. Eggs scare me now.

He will have to get scratch testing now, but until then we have agreed to cut out milk, soy, egg, and peanut and monitor. If we cut out everything that was "positive" by blood test we would seriously not be able to feed him anything.

The only positive is that this adds fuel to our fight to get the insurance company to help cover the expense of the formula. Since our policy specifically covers "nutritional supplements" and "medical food" we are having trouble understanding how this doesn't fit into one of those categories. But more on that later . . .