Lab results

We received conflicting results with the blood tests. This could be a bad thing, but maybe not. The items that he showed no reaction to on the skin prick (eggs, peas, pears) showed a reaction on the blood test. The peas and pears were marginal and the egg was similar to the peanut. Tree nuts are showing a mid-range on the blood test and skin prick, so she does not suggest even challening them. She said we could try to peas and pears to see how he does with them. The egg is really confusing, since the skin showed no reaction but the blood test shows a severe reaction. She said we could try a challenge over a 3 day period and see how he does with them. Typically we do the challenge over a 3-4 hour period, but she does not advise that for him with egg. We would have to do it seperately with the yolk and whites, each being 3 days.

Right now, Ethan has an upper-respiratory infection/possibly pneumonia (again) so we cannot start anything until that is completely cleared up.

When I told Ethan that the dr called with his results, he was really excited to try eggs. When I told him the results, he was really disappointed and upset by the conflicting numbers. He really wants to live a somewhat normal life and be able to eat things that other kids eat. Please keep Ethan in your prayers over the next couple weeks so that he can get over his illness and that he will be able to pass his egg challenge. It would mean a lot to him!

As a side note, here is a sneak peak into what's new in my life.

We're just waiting on the lens now. It should be here any time now. Once I get to know my camera, I will be doing 2 months of free photo shoots (in exchange for advertising, of course) ...  I might have to bring it to SF in June and take family pics for anyone that wants one... give me a heads-up if you think you might be interested in a free family shoot so I can be sure to bring my equipment.

Ryan and his dad have been more giddy over it than I have. Ryan's dad is letting me borrow a lot of his equipment until I can afford to buy my own.

allergy test

Ethan's test was much improved today over the last 4 years of tests. Usually, every scratch has at least a small (but usually very large) wheel, meaning that he usually reacts to everything in some degree or another. In the test today, there were only about 10 that had reactions. Most of them had no reaction at all. We know for sure that some of these are false positives, b/c he can eat the foods just fine. We also did blood work on a few foods, just to compare results. We should have the final results within two weeks, so we will keep you all updated. Thank you for all your fasting, prayers, and for putting his name on the temple roll. I know that miracles truly happened because of it.
Love,
Heather