Hold the Nuts Please

I'm officially an EpiPen carrying mom. I took Logan to the University of Utah Health Center this morning for allergy testing. First of all, for anyone who hasn't experienced allergy testing, it's totally miserable. After the nurse spent probably 30 minutes getting a very detailed history of Logan's health, the doctor came in and again discussed every detail of Logan's health. We then talked about which items to test him for. I was all for testing for plants as well as foods. Why not get as much information out of this appointment as possible? The doctor, though, limited the list to a couple of controls (items we knew he wouldn't react to), a histamine (to show what a reaction from him would look like) and 11 nuts. Then two nurses came in. As he sat facing me on my lap, they drew 14 dots on his back with a purple sharpie, and then brought out the pokers. One at a time, they gouged his skin next to each dot inserting a liquid just under the skin's surface. He flinched at the first one, then when they didn't stop there, he started to get mad. "Hey, that hurts!" Finally, he turned his head around and told her quite seriously, "DON'T do that again!" Luckily they were about done by then, because his patience had definitely run out (thank goodness I hadn't told the doctor to test for plants too!). Unfortunately the fun was just starting. They told me we had to wait for fifteen minutes while his body reacted. In the mean time, even though the spots itched like crazy, he wasn't allowed to touch them. Poor kid. So I took him outside for a walk. We counted all the Jeeps in the parking lot and admired the motorcycles, etc. When we went back in, he had three huge welts on his back and three smaller ones. The biggest welt was from a cashew, the other two big welts were pistachio and pecan. The smaller welts were the histamine, and two different kinds of walnut. The nurses measured the welts and surrounding redness, then the doctor came out and measured and inspected them too. Then they finally applied some hydrocortizone cream to his sore little back. The doctor recommended a blood test as well, so we'd have a better idea of whether he'll ever grow out of the allergies. As if he hadn't been through enough, then I had to put him through a blood draw, from both arms! It was all so sad! He'd earned a big treat when we got home. We meet with the doctor again in a month to discuss the results of the blood test.