No nuts please

For those of you who have allergies, you know what this is:

For those who don't I will explain. This is a test for allergies. It is called a scratch test. This is Rebekah's arm after the test, about 20 minutes after benedryl cream was rubbed on, and after an oral dose of benedryl was given. The black marks are from a sharpie so the doctor can know where to look for a reaction. That big red reaction was even bigger before all the benedryl was administered. She had a welt just bigger than a pencil eraser and the redness spread out to about the size of a silver or half dollar coin.

That reaction was for peanuts.

I had about 2 weeks where I was doing the happy dance thinking I was all done worrying about allergies. When we were driving back from Florida we spent the night with some friends in NC. They had brownies and ice cream waiting for us. What I didn't realize is that they put peanut butter in the brownies. Not to worry. Rebekah had been tested when she was 2 and it was negative. That night Rebekah threw up.

That isn't really conclusive. We had been traveling all day. We had spent all week at WDW. One of the boys that was with us at WDW had just thrown up the night before. Who was to say she was having an allergic reaction.

The next week I bought myself a little stash of Valentines candy. I bought Butterfinger hearts. Clay found my stash and offered one to Rebekah. She took the tiniest bite and started complaining. She wanted to wipe off her tongue. She drank a full glass of water. She started scratching her neck and crying. Within the hour she threw up.

Now that was enough evidence for me. I called the allergist and made an appointment to get it confirmed. We now have a peanut allergy. I have mixed feelings about it. I am extremely grateful that she is not anaphylactic to it (though that is still a future possibility). I am worried that since this allergy started later, it may stay with her forever. I am also comforted that peanut allergy is the most understood and "respected" or "tolerated" allergy out there. Meaning that most public places for kids do have a NO PEANUT rule. And most parents of kids don't offer anything with peanuts without asking first.

Rebekah is used to checking if things have eggs before she eats anything she is offered. She has been telling everyone that she sees (person behind us in line...) that she is now allergic to peanuts. I really don't doubt that she will continue checking for peanuts. But still, I do have my worries.