New Allergist

David and I went to meet his new allergist in Santa Maria. We discussed David's future over the next couple of years and went over David's medical history to date. Dr. J was very good and can handle a lot of the testing in house that we had to travel to Denver to do. This means that we will not be going back to National Jewish while we are living in California. Dr. J can do all the testing (blood work and skin testing) in his office and then when David is ready for another food challenge we can go to either UCLA or a hospital in San Francisco. It will be even more manageable to take care of David this way, though I must confess I'm a little sad to not go back to NJ!

A while ago my mother-in-law asked me if David was allergic to goat's milk. It turns out that he's never been tested. Also, David's new pediatrician asked us if David had been tested for Celiac's Disease. We know David is allergic to wheat, rye, and barley - all grains that contain gluten, but not actually allergic to gluten. People with Celiac's Disease cannot properly digest gluten causing lots of digestive issues, but not actually causing an allergic reaction. If David has Celiac's then we would need to do some more stringent dietary restrictions and even once David is no longer allergic to gluten grains he would still never be able to eat them. The pediatrician suggested this because David dropped from the 50% to off the charts in weight and height around 6 months of age which he says happens often in children with Celiac's. So, Dr. J has us going in on Monday to take blood samples to see if David is allergic to goat's milk and to do some preliminary testing for Celiac's Disease.

I'm very impressed with Dr. J. He spent an hour and half with us discussing David's medical history and going over all my questions. I also played dumb mom once to see how well read he is on current research. I asked him about my current pregnancy. Up until about 3 years ago it was recommended that if severe allergic disease, like David's, was known in a family that a pregnant woman shouldn't eat any of the top 8 allergens during her third trimester of pregnancy and while she nursed the baby. This means no dairy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, and shellfish during 3 months of pregnancy and during the entire time you nurse. All I've got to say is uggg. Anyways, about 3 years ago the American Medical Association did a complete 180, saying that all current research shows that limiting the mother's diet was not stopping newborns from developing severe allergies. In fact, some evidence shows that by withholding these foods the baby is even more likely to develop allergies because they have never been sensitized to the food. Unfortunately though, a lot of doctors still recommend very strict diets for pregnant women like me. I was pleased and reassured to find that Dr. J was very knowledgeable about the current research and only recommended joking that I refrain from eating peanut butter with every meal.