Allergy testing

As many of you know Bella ended up at PCMC at the end of June for an overnight stay due to an allergic reaction to an unknown source. Today we had our visit with an Allergist for skin testing and we are a lot closer to an answer. The three main allergens are:

• Eggs:
  

Which basically we knew. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a little girls face shouldn't look like this after eating a scrambled egg Christmas breakfast.

Luckily so far, the facial swelling has been the extent of the effect from eggs, and it goes away after about an hour. We just have be careful of less obvious sources such as the "ah-ha" moment in the Buenos Aires food court when we remembered too late that Chinese fried rice is made with scrambled eggs. Dr. Allergist also said that raw egg is often more allergically potent than the cooked stuff, so we will be avoiding cookie dough for the time being.

• Shellfish:
  

Also not a huge surprise as it is the familial allergy group. The weird thing about it is that each member of my family with a seafood allergy is allergic to different things. My grandmother is allergic to Trout. My father gets deathly ill with Scallops and I have a mild allergy to Shrimp that I have mostly grown out of. One of my earliest memories is of being rushed into the bathroom by my dad to wash the hives I had developed after eating a shrimp dinner. I think I was about 5. Now I just get itchy hands if I have to peel shrimp. Dr. Allergist seemed somewhat surprised when I was asking in depth questions about what is defined as a shellfish. His comment of "most kids foods are fairly safe" in the tone of "what are you feeding your 18 month old" made me realize that most families eating habits are somewhat different from my own. We don't really go for Kid foods vs. Adult foods around here. My cousin Conner's favorite food as a toddler was Crab Legs. I'm sure that Bella has probably had Shrimp before without problem, but it will be interesting trying to figure out which Shellfish is her specific No No.

Number 3 and the real Kicker:

• Cats

Bella loves cats, Kitty was one of her first words. Thinking back, it makes sense and is probably the one that ended us up in the Hospital. She would always get a little congested when we would visit Grandma's and she would play with the Ancient One (i.e. Crystal), when she was still around. Two of the upstairs neighbors have cats but luckily they mostly run away from her before she can get too cuddly. For the time being I am just going to watch this one and try to prevent her from rolling around naked with felines. At least we have a good excuse now to turn down free kitten offers. We had a narrow escape from this the other weekend when we visited with Aunt Leanne. She tested borderline positive for dogs as well so no furry friends at all for us. Not news that will break either my or the Blue Prince's hearts. The down side is that this allergy leaves her at high risk of developing asthma, so another fun thing to look out for.

All in all I think it was a worthwhile visit and I appreciated my friend Kellie's referral to the Doctor in question. Anyone else have any fun allergy related comments to share?

In memorium of the oldest cat I have ever known

So my mom finally broke down and took the family cat, Crystal, to the vet to be put to sleep last Thursday. Crystal was 21 years old, suffering from severe arthritis and assuredly many other undiagnosed underlying conditions.
Crystal came into our lives on Christmas 1986 when my mother finally gave into the frequent begging on the part of my sister Emilyand asked my Grandpa Jim to find us a kitten. (Grandpa Jim was a vet and had the connections to know of litters with extra kittens) Since Emily was the one who wanted the cat she got to be the one to name her. Emily was all of 4 years old at the time and I have the suspicion that it had to do with my mom owning several Krystal Gail records at the time. I know that looking at record covers with a woman who had hair down to her feet deeply impressed me.
So that is generally how the little bundle of fur came into our lives. She was skittish, and liked to hide, and for years her collar had a bell on it so we could track her down. She was an attention hog and used to bite my hand when I was reading in order to get me to pet her. She ruled over our home, defending us frequently from invasion from other cats in the neighborhood. As she got older and more rickety she would spend most of her time between the warm sunny spots of the living room and the warm spots in my mom's bed. Not content to peacefully share the bed, she would plop herself down and stake out the exact middle forcing you to scrunch to one side or physically move her over. Considering her infirm state she put up fairly well with Bella's overeager toddler affections, only occasionally crying and nipping at her when Bella's fur petting became fur pulling. Her presence has become so much a part of my mother's home that last weekend I kept being startled by movements out of the corner of my eye. I kept having to reexplain to my brain that the shifts and rustling from the houseplants was due to the air conditioner and not a cat winding herself through the leaves. It's a part of our family history gone and she will be missed, but I have to admit that the practical side of me is giving a little cheer that maybe now we will be able to get some of the cat hair out of my mom's sofa.