It's official

It’s official. Blayne is allergic to milk.

From the mayoclinic website:

All food allergies are caused by an immune system malfunction. Your immune system identifies certain milk proteins as harmful, triggering the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to neutralize the protein (allergen). The next time you come in contact with these proteins, these IgE antibodies recognize them and signal your immune system to release histamine and other chemicals. Histamine and other body chemicals cause a range of allergic signs and symptoms. Histamine is partly responsible for most allergic responses, including runny nose, itchy eyes, dry throat, rashes, hives, nausea, diarrhea, labored breathing and anaphylactic shock.
There are two types of protein in milk that can cause an allergic reaction:
* Casein, which is found in the solid part (curd) of milk that curdles
* Whey, which is found in the liquid part of milk that remains after milk curdles
You or your child may be allergic to only one milk protein or allergic to both casein and whey. These proteins are not only present in milk — but also are found in many processed foods. Certain foods contain both casein and whey; other foods contain only one allergy-causing milk protein

Blayne was tested for soy, wheat, cow’s milk, mango, and cheese. Apparently, the lab forgot to test the mango and cheese so we are waiting for the results.
When the nurse called me yesterday with the results, I was prepared for a milk allergy. I was not prepared for the severity of my baby’s allergy.

There are two ways to test, skin test and blood test. According to the nurse, they prefer not to do skin testing on anyone younger than age 6. Blayne had the blood test, a RAST test more specifically. The suspected allergen is introduced to the blood and a reaction either occurs or not. There is a scale 0-6 that is assigned to each testing agent, Blayne’s results:

Wheat 0
Soy 0
Milk 2
Cheese n/a
Mango n/a

I was super excited to hear so many zeros!! Also, only scoring a 2 for milk?? We can surely beat this little allergy, right?

The nurse continued to talk, after my sigh of relief. She explained that testing for a 9 month old is very rare and the numbers indicated above are not very dependable. She explained that the doctor requested his IgE numbers as an infant can score a 0 on all tests, but will have an elevated IgE and still have severe allergies. The reason: 9 month olds are not exposed to the number of allergens as say, a six year old.

This is the part my heart skipped a beat.

For the current age of my baby, 9 months old, IgE is scaled from 1-10. 10 being severe. Blayne’s number… 62. Yes, you read that correctly. 62!! This is critical.
Blayne cannot touch milk, smell milk, let alone inject the stuff. One drop could send him immediately into Anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis could kill him. This was NOT on any of the literature or mentioned in any of the stupid birthing classes!!!

Yesterday, I was in shock. I slept on the news and woke up today scared. Did you know that turkey, sandwich meat, has whey as an ingredient? Whey is MILK.
I have a LOT of research to do… specifically how to cope. I know that people live with Allergies daily, this isn’t a terminal situation… but it still sucks and scares the bejesus out of me.

Just this morning, I dropped Blayne off at daycare, he crawled over by the little boy who was drinking from his bottle. Little friend dropped his bottle to play with Blayne and little girl crawled over and immediately stuck bottle in her mouth. If that happens to Blayne, he spends the night in the hospital. It can happen that quick. Yes, I am freaking out a little bit.