Allergies and Anomalies

McKaylie has mild asthma. In the summer, seasonal allergies are really bothersome and sometimes trigger an asthma attack. She also has what's called oral allergies, which long story short, means that some fruits and veggies she eats makes her lips and tongue all tingly but it's not actually the food that she's allergic to. She actually has pollen allergies and because they share some of the same molecules as the fruits and veggies the brain is tricked into thinking that it's the pollen and reacts to it. It never advances to more than just tingling, though. (Chad and Vance have them too) There's also a strong family history of allergies (starting with her dad) So, with all that, we know that McKaylie does have some allergies. We just don't know exactly what they are. Our pediatrician suggested that she have allergy testing done to pinpoint them and then they can be avoided, if possible. Which would stop some of the asthma attacks. Sounds good, sure.

So, McKaylie and I went to Portland on Wednesday for her allergy testing--took us 2 1/2 months to get the appointment. We talked to the doctor and he agreed with everything I was already suspecting about her allergies. And then they did the allergy tests on her back and arm. I would guess they tested 30-40 different things. . . . McKaylie was amazing through it all. The nurse told she did better than most teenagers. However, ALL the tests came back negative! I couldn't believe that she didn't test positive to even one thing. The doctor was pretty surprised, too, but he did have an explanation and since it sounded pretty plausible, we're going to go with his assessment.

When most people have an allergy to something, it will show up in their skin, which is why the skin test works. But, there are those few people who definitely have allergies but test negative on the skin test. Basically, if their nose/mouth/throat (all those membranes and things) are exposed to the allergen then they react, but for whatever reason their skin doesn't. So it's centralized to a specific area (the nose and mouth usually) . . . . . and McKaylie is one of those few.

So, that's all fine and dandy to know, but doesn't help us prevent asthma attacks really. I felt bad that McKaylie went through all that not to have any more information than we had to begin with. She took it pretty good, though. She's an amazing little trooper.

After the appointment, I told her that she was special. She was an anomaly. She gave me the strangest look. She thought I'd called her an anemone. (after I finished laughing) I explained to her that an anomaly was someone or something that doesn't follow the common rule. She thought that made a lot more sense than a sea creature. I had to laugh. She went to school the next day showing all her friends the poke marks in her arm and telling them that she was an anomaly. If she gained nothing else from this whole experience, at least she learned a new word!