I got a call from our pediatrician today. Courtney is allergic to peanuts and egg whites. She said that in a year, we will retest her and the egg white allergy could go away. Apparently it often does. The peanut allergy is usually chronic. So I asked about a billion questions and it turns out that when doing allergy testing, the results are given as a ranking from 1, which is mildly allergic up to 3 which is highly allergic. Courtney was a 1 for egg whites and a 2 for peanuts.
I didn't know what to think about the egg white allergy..... there are eggs in EVERYTHING. Dr. Sprenkle said that typically the eggs in cakes and other BAKED goods are ok. But nothing from the stove (poached, scrambled, french toast). So that allergy seems a lot better than what I was first expecting. Courtney doesn't like eggs anyway, maybe there was a reason for that!
I will now be sending all of the peanut products that we eat to either school with Brian or to work with me. I also will go through all of our foods and see if any have the peanut warning on them. I asked if she could be around peanuts or PB and it turns out that she can be around them, but she wants her separated from other kids that are eating PB. This is achieved with her high chair right now, but we will have to formulate a plan with our day care provider on how to proceed once she is at the table with the other kids. Dr. Sprenkle is worried about Courtney grabbing other kids' food and eating it. She does it with our food all of the time!
So, it's time to educate myself and read a lot of labels. I will also be showing a lot of you how to use the epi pen for emergencies. Hopefully we will never have to use it! If anyone knows any resources for this, feel free to share.
In the grand scheme of things this is only an inconvenience. Courtney is a healthy and happy little girl and I thank God everyday for that!