not to us

First, I'll start off with a picture of our peanut...we love her very much!! :)

Ruby wasn't able to visit the real Santa this year, but she did get to visit with the Chick-fil-A Santa Cow! :) This is related, I promise. Chick-fil-A happens to be one of the restaurants on our new "Under No Circumstances" list. Meaning, under no circumstances is Ruby to eat at those restaurants (which also includes Texas Road House.) Life is certainly about to change for us.

We had an appointment with Ruby's pediatrician on Monday morning. If you're in the Lafayette area, I highly recommend Dr. Johari Miller. We love her, and we have been SO happy with our care under her supervision. She confirmed that it was more than likely that Ruby has a severe allergy to peanuts. So, she prescribed an EpiPen, Jr. and trained me on how to use it. Then, she referred us to Dr. Jay Prochnau, an allergy specialist. We scheduled the appointment for Friday (yesterday).

Dr. Prochnau met with us and decided he would like to do a simple scratch test (skin test) for a yes/no determination on the possibility of a peanut allergy. The nurse had three test areas on Ruby's back: a pure histamine sample (this one will definitely react, everyone is allergic to histamine), a peanut protein sample (if this one reacts, then we know Ruby has a peanut allergy), and a control sample (this one will not react at all). Well, within just a few second, the peanut sample was reacting. By the time the test was completed, her peanut sample was three times the size of her histamine sample, a definite positive.

Dr. Prochnau told us that this type of reaction comes with a "poor prognosis." He feels that Ruby's allergy is pretty severe, and any risk of contact is too much of a risk. Especially with her age, he has suggested stict avoidance of all things nut, as well as complete avoidance of the other top allergens: fish, shellfish, egg, and soy. He gave us some hopeful news, too. Since Ruby is still so young, it's still possible for her to be in the 20% that will outgrow this allergy. She will have an annual check-up with Dr. Prochnau, and he will do a blood test each year to see the level of her allergy. If she is still testing positive around age ten, then it is almost certain that she will not outgrow the allergy.

That's the update. Our lives are getting ready to chage dramatically. We cannot have any nut products or products that contain (or were manufactured with) nuts. We cannot dine at restaurants on a regular basis, and, if we do, we must take major precautions to protect Ruby. Many food allergies cause an allergic reaction that is uncomfortable and unhealthy, but not immediately life-threatening. Nut allergies are different in that the reactions are usually much more severe and immediately life-threatening. We still have quite a bit of research and learning to do. For those of you who are in frequent contact with Ruby or often care for her, I will be giving you a lot of information and trying to educate you on how you can help us protect her.

Please be praying for us a lot right now. Because we can no longer eat out at restaurants, and because of the level of observation of Ruby's surroundings that we must now employ, I really need more time in the evenings to prepare meals and control our home environment. For those reasons, I have given notice to Paul and Lynne. We're currently all thinking about how we need to proceed further. We are considering a job-share situation, where I would only watch the girls in the morning and still have the afternoons and evenings to manage our life. However, nuts are a large portion of Lynne's diet, since she's a vegetarian. There will inevitably be nuts present in their home. I'll be speaking with Dr. Prochnau to see whether it's even advisable for Ruby to be in that environment for any portion of the day. There are a lot of things to consider, and we'll be treading carefully for the next few months.

No matter what, I am confident that God is in control. I lost many hours of sleep, preparing myself to lose my contact and involvement with Anja and Isabel. I didn't even know Paul and Lynne would be willing to consider something like a job-share. I was blessed and encouraged by their reaction. Even if it doesn't work out, I am so thankful to know that they still want us to be a part of their lives. In any event, we'll be making sure to have frequent playdates and visits with them.

He is big enough and powerful enough to guide us through this situation. All of these changes are very healthy for our family. Perhaps we just needed a serious push toward some changes in our lives (reducing our dining out, paying more careful attention to our meals, etc...).

Be blessed, we'll keep you updated!