Today we had Sam’s baked egg challenge. I was instructed to make a muffin recipe they gave me, which I did, except that I did waaay less sugar than they called for (kids don’t need that much sugar!!!) and then added some blueberries to make it taste better. When we got there, they took his vitals and whisked away the muffin to cut into a bunch of little bites. The plan was to eat one bite, wait 15 minutes and check vitals, eat 2 more and check vitals, wait 15 minutes, eat 3 more bites, etc etc. until he ate the whole muffin, then wait two hours to see how he reacted.
Sam at the first bite with no problems. After the third bite, about 20 minutes into the challenge, he said out of the blue, “My tongue itches.” My stomach sank. Of course the doctor and nurses all hovered around him, giving him Benadryl, checking his breathing, on and on. Everything else was fine, although it looked like maybe his lip was swelling and red (maybe?). After a few minutes he said he it didn’t itch anymore. But at that point, the challenge is considered over.
Nothing else happened.
With a significant “fail,” you would wait a year to retry. Sam’s doctor said that she “wasn’t 100% convinced he reacted,” so she wanted to try in six months.
I have no idea what I think. Sam’s not the kind of kid who randomly says things like that. But it was so mild, and went away so quickly (too quickly, really) that I do wonder if the power of suggestion was making him feel things he couldn’t interpret.
Either way, yes, I am a little bummed. I asked Sam in the doctor’s office if he was disappointed, and he said, “About what?” LOL. He is a pretty resilient and positive kid.
I want to thank everyone for praying. I feel like I can feel everyone’s prayers being answered. Of course it wasn’t a positive outcome, but there were many good things.
Obviously, it was a very mild reaction. I tend to be a little high strung (ahem) and it didn’t faze me at all. I’m not scared to try it again in the slightest. Also, while I thought I would be really crushed, I’m not. I could sit around and mope that boo-hoo my son can’t eat baked muffins with egg, but the truth is, I have a wonderful, beautiful child with a wonderful life. I am learning more and more that all of us have problems. Many of us, if we could choose our problems, would choose, gladly, the ones we have.
Yes, I am disappointed. But It is not the end of the world, by any stretch. Sigh. Thank you again for being such wonderful friends and readers.
Jessica
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I’m sorry, Jessica! This is such a mixed bag here. I’m so glad you’ve got hope of passing the egg challenge in the future, and I think that’s a very real possibility. But it would be nice if you didn’t have to avoid egg in your home. That would make your life so much easier (and less scary!).
Praying it goes better next time! You never know! 🙂
We had a similar experience – egg is also one of my son’s allergies and he was recently given the green light to try baked egg. Our trial was at home – first day – 1 bite, second day – 2 bites, etc. We did great for a few days but eventually he developed a huge rash. I feel the same way you do – it would be soooo nice to not have to avoid egg on top of all the other things. But oh well – what can you do?
Well,…it’s good to know that an accidental bite or two of egg probably won’t give him trouble and if so it won’t be anything he can’t remedy quickly with some benedryl.
If you don’t try, you don’t know.