Tuesday 3 May 2011

An Eggcellent Adventure

Today we went Yorkhill Children's Hospital for Blondie Boy's appointment with the allergist. A few months ago we asked our GP for a referral and after his referral we got a letter from Yorkhill saying they approved his referral and he'd be allocated an appointment later. It took just under three months from our GP's referral to his appointment today.


If you are in Glasgow, be warned, parking is an absolute nightmare around Yorkhill. We left ourselves plenty of time and luckily NotBlondeHusband only had to loop around once after dropping us off to get parked. We went to our appointment and the first thing they did before we even started waiting was check Blondie Boy's height and weight.  The scales were just a big chair which I personally thought was pretty cool. 


We got there about 20 minutes early so I was surprised that they actually saw us early. We spoke to the Doctor and explained how BB has eczema and the reactions he has had to eggs. We also told her about his penicillin allergy and she asked us other questions about how he is in general. Then we got sent upstairs to test for peanut and egg allergies.


Again we didn't wait long and a nurse came and brought us through to another room. She drew four x's on BB's arm. Two were controls: one of saline for the no response control and the other was a histamine which would be the response control. The other two were for egg and peanuts.  She dropped a droplet of each liquid next to the appropriate X and then made a "dent" into the droplet with a metal spade. She didn't break or scratch the skin, just pushed it in a bit. Blondie Boy was totally fine with all of this and then got sent out to play for 15 minutes.


The waiting room was amazing: there was a full size play house, kitchen, rocking toys, fire trucks, books, play food, musical toys--basically any toy any child could possibly want--and most impressive they all had working batteries!  I overheard an older boy getting to choose a Nintendo DS game to play while he waited, too. Blondie Boy was in heaven and played away happily while we waited. 


After the fifteen minutes were up we went back into another room and it was clear to see he had two red welts on his arm where the histamine control and the egg droplets had been. The nurse drew around the two welts in pen and then stuck a bit of clear tape on them to take a tracing and taped the tracing to a report. Blondie Boy got his arm wiped off and we headed back downstairs again.


I should say as there are a lot of different outpatient clinics running at the same time we did see some visibly sick children. Blondie Boy wasn't bothered but as a Mom I did notice it and if you have older children they might ask questions. Questions are great, but just thought I'd put that in there. I should also say every staff member we came in contact with was so friendly and smiley which was lovely.


We had another wait and then went back to see the Doctor who confirmed Blondie Boy is allergic to eggs. He's not allowed any eggs, including eggs baked or cooked in other foods, and had a prescription antihistamine in case he has any allergic reactions.  We'll have to go back when he is four to re-evaluate and it is totally possible that it is an allergy he will outgrow. Since he had no reaction to peanuts we got the okay to try peanut butter so I think a trip to Costco for American peanut butter is in order.


We didn't get much in the way of information other than a pamphlet on what to do in case he has an allergic reaction. I'm not sure what other information I was looking for, but I guess I maybe expected something a bit specific about his allergy.


I had no idea what to expect when we went in today so I thought maybe there might be another Mom out there who would benefit from knowing what happens.  So expect to see some egg-free baking recipes and if you have any I'd love to hear them! I make some mean applesauce pancakes so I'm sure I can adapt other recipes to be Blondie Boy friendly, too.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think y'all are getting a Whole Foods soon and if so, they carry Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes from the states (cakes, cookies, etc) and they are egg free. I can imagine it will be quite tough to bake without eggs.

Boo, Jax and Bo said...

My nephew is allergic to eggs, peanuts and treenuts and our whole family tends to rely on the cookbook Bakin' Without Eggs since we can't buy anything in bakeries for family gatherings anymore. I also use a chocolate depression cake recipe for most of the birthday cakes I make for family parties now, or tomato soup cake if I want to change it up a bit. Good luck!

Aly said...

As I said on Twitter my 8 yo has an egg allergy and I am surprised at what your doctor has said.My little boy is allowed eggs but he has had to have them reintroduced slowly. I've never blogged about it thinking about it. Think I'm going to write something over the next few days.My son gets tested every 3 years. Can I reassure you that it is very common and you will get into the swing of things honestly :)

Melaina25 said...

LJL: We are getting a Whole Foods? Who? What? When? Where?

BJB: What is a Tomato Soup Cake?

Alison: Are there any random food stuffs you wouldn't think contain eggs but do?

Ellen said...

My sister had an egg allergy as a kid. Gave her scary fits. Now she's 39 and can have as many eggs as she likes. She grew out of it as a teenager.

Ellen said...

PS let me know if you find out what tomato soup cake is.

SusanKMann said...

I thought they would have given you some information about the allergy. Surely they could have given you some advice on how to avoid them, etc? They place does sound really good & the wait wasn't to bad so that's good. Glad it all went well and knowing is half the battle. x

Unknown said...

Theo is allergic to eggs. His reaction was so severe we have to carry EpiPens. Lots of recipes adapt well using various subs. Yogurt, applesauce & bananas can be good egg subs depending on the recipe. Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes are good but pricey. A better option might be getting some Organ No Egg powder (there are a couple of other brands as well) and using those with a normal baking recipe. I'll email you some recipes later this week. -jeanne

Laura McIntyre said...

We love Yorkhill (well as much as a parent can love a kids hospital...) but have spent to much time there in the past and always impressed by it . I remember when my eldest was in and they had the play specilists come by the wards and made sure she had stuff to do (which was important when she could not move out the bed) .
Was the park still shut ? My kids love it and the last few visits it has been closed and they get upset

Sorry about the egg allergy though - i imagine it could be a pain

Sarah @ ExPat Bride said...

First of all costco has American peanut butter? Second, I'm glad you had a great experience. I know that all of my doctors appointments in the UK have been less than fun, but probably because I was feeling horrible to begin with.

Helen said...

Aw bless, perhaps he'll outgrow it as some people do.

Is he not allowed them in any food at all such as in baking? Poor lad :(

Melaina25 said...

-Yes my Costco has Jif creamy and crunchy!

-He can't have any eggs whether on their own or as an ingredient in baking or cooking. No eggs, full stop.

Melaina25 said...

Thanks for practical advice about Yorkhill. Going to an outpatient appointment next month and what you've said will stand me in good stead.

Melaina25 said...

If you have any questions please just email me and ask! We've been back several times since this appointment x