Abigail is peanut allergy free! She did it! We did it!
After the required IV, blood draw and skin test, we got down to business with the first flour food challenge. Even with cinnamon applesauce, she knew it was the peanut flour almost immediately. The nurses couldn't confirm, but it didn't matter. She successfully finished the first challenge having consumed the equivalent of 16 and 2/3rd's peanuts. Several hours later after sitting through the observation period and finishing the required oat flour challenge, we moved on to the real stuff. She ate 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Can you guess how many peanuts are in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter? Approximately 33 and 1/3rd! Amazing! Per a suggestion from the nurse, we made a party of it. I brought leftover party plates, napkins, a few party hats and the bag of ingredients for our peanut butter treats. Her doctor and nurses joined us, and we all sat around the kiddie table and ate peanut butter together. She was nervous, but excited for the treat.
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| Here we are almost ready to start the party. |
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| Abigail at the start of the clinical trial. |
What an incredible day and an incredible journey. It's been three years and three months. I reminisced this morning that she was just about to finish up Kindergarten when we started in May of 2009. Now, no longer a little girl, she's going to start 4th grade in a couple of weeks. This year though, in a completely different manner.
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| Abigail on the last day of the trial. |
While she'll have an Epi Pen in the nurse's office, there is no longer a need to have one in the classroom. She can sit beside anybody in the cafeteria. There's no need to wipe down her spot with a wipe and inspect neighboring lunchboxes. I won't need to request that special snacks be served at her class parties. There will be no meeting with her teacher prior to school starting to discuss her allergy, no printing out allergy action plans for her classroom, book and medicine bags or reviewing safety precautions with her bus driver. Our only allergy requirement for the start of this school year is the completion of the medical authorization/release forms that stay on file with the nurse.
And tomorrow...she eats peanuts. A peanut and a 1/2 on a regular basis will protect her. The nurse's advise this afternoon was to relax and just have her eat some peanut products. Honestly, I don't think I'm going to have any trouble doing just that! We are so excited about the life changes that are about to come our way. It's hard to believe that we've been blessed in such a manner.
12 comments:
Way to go! How incredible!
What are you going to do with all your extra time at the beginning of the school year? :) What a great problem to have. I pray that Abigail can become comfortable eating peanuts and not worry about contamination. Love and hugs to all!
Wow! I am so happy for her and your whole family! It is also incredibly inspiring :) My PA son is only 3, but I look forward to things to come so we can visit ice cream parlors and donut shops! lol
So did she like the PB at all?
Wow! I just sent you an email to ask how it went, then decided to check in here. :) I am so happy for her (and you) and I hope we will be posting the same results next year! Thanks for sharing your journey and thanks again to Abigail for all her hard work and effort on behalf of all the other allergic people out there! :)
Crying here - so happy for you guys!!!!
Gabrielle
(aka Peanut Free Mama)
Thanks everyone! We're still reveling in her success! She just had her daily dose of peanuts in the form of peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's. She loved them and marveled at how good they were. Her younger brother and I joined her. It's been a really, really long time since I could openly enjoy a peanut treat!
@Kenneth - thanks for the praise. Can't provide info. or endorsement of your product when never used it.
@Susan - My sweet boy is starting Kindergarten. My extra time will be spent in mentally preparing for the time I have to walk him into school and then make my exit before breaking into tears. :)
@Lissa - So far, she's loved the peanut butter treats...they've all included chocolate. :) Going to purchase some honey roasted peanuts for her to try. At some point in the future, her daily dose can't be all about the chocolate.
I just like to throw this out there- this is not successful for all children. My daughter did this several years ago & wound up very sick & developed EE. There are children who develop EE from this & they do not know how to determine which kids will or which kids will not.
Congratulations - happy for your family!
Stephanie
@Stephanie - you bring up a very good point. I should write another post pointing out that the majority of the kids in our study are having to go 5 years instead of the original 3. Only a handful have been able to complete the challenge. There are risks including a very small chance of EE. Also, I'm a huge advocate of going through a research center for treatment. There is still so much the doctors don't know, but they do know that it takes time to build desensitization/tolerance. I don't want to give any impression to anyone that this is something that can be done at home or even hurried through in a medical practice with little to no experience. We were extremely blessed that Abigail was one of the few that was able to complete the challenges at this point in the trial.
Congratulations Abigail and family! That is wonderful news! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Congratulations! This is so exciting! :)
Thanks again everyone! We are so appreciative of your support.
Again, what am amazing journey! I am sooo happy for your family. From a parent view point. How hard was it and how did you come the realization that you wanted to participate in the trial? Did you fear any risks? Or did you just "feel" it was the right thing to do?
Thanks for sharing your life us, perfect strangers and yet your community sending you well wishes!
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