Life After a Successful Egg Challenge - Answers and Questions

Eggs have re-entered our home and there is rejoicing all around.  We have made brownies, pancakes and scrambled eggs.  I am sorry for those of you still egg less ones, but eggs really do make things easier for the cooking impaired such as myself.  The brownies actually taste ok, and don't double as a stepping stone for the garden.  The pancakes can be removed from the pan without a chisel, and actually resemble a pancake.

However I am still uncertain about this whole egg thing.  Previously Conor had never really reacted to cooked egg.  He ate lots of things with egg cooked in it and I never noticed anything before.(not that I was a little bit slow on noticing these things before).  He seemed to really react to raw egg, or things like meringue powder that I put into icings.  How do I know if he will react to these things now, and what if he does???  And if he gets some eczema, how do I know if it is exacerbated by the eggs???

Now here is my other really stupid thought.  He used to be allergic to eggs, and now he ate one.  How do I know he is still allergic to peanuts.  Sure I remember a few years ago when he ate on and his head blew up to the size of a basketball, but how do I know he still is.  I am thrilled that he has not had a peanut reaction since, and it means we are doing a good job keeping him safe, but the part of me thinks denial is a river in Egypt wonders if I am just being paranoid in my anti-peanut crusade.

Don't worry, I know he is still allergic to peanuts.  We will navigate the waters of our own journey with eggs one egg and one day at a time.  We got some new answers I really like, but why do I still have so many new questions.

It's Eggcellent!!! - A Successful Food Challenge

Things are calming down a bit here.  We are much poorer, but have a new computer, and a spiffy new rental car while the minivan is in the shop.  The second car has had its breaks replaced, and life is returning somewhat back to normal.

On Monday we made our way to the Allergist for our Egg Challenge.  This was a long time coming, and our third attempt at actually making it to the Dr. to do the challenge.  The first time Conor got sick, and we spent all sorts of time at the Dr and the emergency room, but not for an egg challenge.  The second time the Dr. had an emergency and her not so wonderful office staff failed to inform me and this unfortunate discovery was made when I arrived at the Dr. office, eggs in hand to a locked door and a note.

But Monday was the third time, and the third time was the charm.  We arrived at the Dr. bright and early.  Conor was not hacking and the door was open, so we figured so far so good.  We had never done a food challenge before, and although I had read about it, I was not sure what to expect.

We got taken back to a room which was to be our home for the next few hours.  I had brought all sorts of entertainment to keep Conor out of trouble, and I have to say, he really behaved quite well.  They started off with a skin test of just a histamine and egg, and of course Conor failed it miserably.  Although he failed, they said they pretty much just like to poke little children for fun, and would go ahead with the challenge anyways.  HHHMMM just how accurate are those tests anyways???

Then they started with a hard boiled egg, and just rubbed Conor's finger on it.  The nurse set a timer for 10 minutes, and when all was well, they proceeded to rub it on his lips.  He found this highly amusing, and kept saying he had on egg lipstick.  He still tells everyone how the nurse at the Dr. office gave him some egg lipstick and now he is not allergic to eggs.  Ten minutes later they had him lick the egg.  Ten minutes after that, he took a small bite, another ten minutes, another bite, and finally a big chunk of egg.  After each ten minute period the nurse came in, took all his vital signs and looked him over.  I of course just sat there staring at him, waiting anxiously to see if hives would pop up, or his face would start to swell.  In order to get him to eat the egg I had to bribe him with some left over Halloween candy, and I had one small scare, when I thought lollipop leftovers were hives covering his chin.   

There was a lot of waiting and looking, but in the end, Conor passed without a hive or swell in sight. We ended up spending almost 5 hours in the office by the time it was all over, and even got a flu shot to boot.