I told him it was a tattoo.

Yesterday was a big day for Noah. You couldn't tell by the way he was acting; for him, it was just another day, another trip to the doctor. (Incidentally, Noah's allergist is married to his pediatrician - both Drs. Broadbent.)

For those of you who don't know, Noah had a very serious reaction to peanut butter in November 2007. Let's just say we made TWO trips to the emergency room that day, capped off with a two day stay at Primary Children's Hospital.

About one month ago we took Noah to the allergist Dr. Broadbent and she performed a blood test. She wanted to gauge just HOW allergic Noah was to peanuts and tree nuts. Miracle of miracles, the blood test came back NEGATIVE for ALL peanut and tree nut allergies. I couldn't believe it. Everything that I had read said that the chances of outgrowing a food allergy, especially one that produced such severe reactions, was slim to none. Yet, Noah's blood work came back negative. Of course, blood work is NOT conclusive, so Dr. Broadbent asked us to come back in a month to perform a scratch test. (See picture.)

Noah wasn't too excited about the idea of someone writing on his back AND scratching him with something that he is potentially allergic to. He remembered the FIRST scratch test (and the blood work done last month) and was distrustful. He even told Dr. Broadbent that the lady poked him HERE (indicating to his arm) and that it hurt and he doesn't want another poke. But, he IS a two year old boy and can be bought (relatively cheaply). What was it that finally convinced Noah to lift up his shirt? Well, two things, really. First, I DID tell him that the doctor was going to give him a tattoo on his back. Judge all you want, but it worked. He wants a tattoo. And he's two years old. I will now wait for the parenting accolades to pour in. Thank you, thank you.

The second? Dr. Broadbent bribed him with a bouncy ball. But, of course, she mentioned "BB" BEFORE she had said treasure in hand. Not a good idea. Noah expects fast pay outs; none of this "you'll get it as soon as you (fill in the blank)." We've done that too many times and now he doesn't fall for it. Sometimes that kid is too smart for his own good. As Dr. Broadbent and I were discussing his allergies and any reactions he may have had during the past month, Noah kept interjecting with "and my bouncy ball? And my bouncy ball?" Each time stating the question less of as a means of determining WHERE his bouncy ball is, but more as a means of gently reminding Dr. Broadbent that she PROMISED him a ball and Noah was not about to forget. Noah continued reminding Dr. Broadbent about that accursed ball even after she got up to leave the room. She had only gotten as far as opening the door when Noah said, "Doctor, and my bouncy ball." I'm sure that Dr. Broadbent had far better things to do than give a kid a bouncy ball, but she promptly returned the the bouncy ball and the lesson learned that YOU DO NOT promise Noah something unless you are ready to pay up.

After Noah finally got his "treasure," it was time for the "tattoo." As you can see in the picture, there are ten lines drawn on his back, each one indicated the allergen tested. The first one is the control, the allergen next to the "1" is peanut, and the subsequent marks are for different tree nuts. I know that you can't really see the marks now, but if you look closely, to the right and above the "1" is a slight red mark. That is where the peanut allergen came back with a very, very trace reaction. So slight that the blister was smaller than the control blister. Even so, given Noah's serious reaction that put him in the hospital, Dr. Broadbent advised us to keep him away from peanuts and any foods that could have been contaminated by peanut protein. But, because there were no reactions to any of the tree nuts, we were free to slowly introduce Noah to foods that contain tree nut products: cookies, pastries, cereals, etc.

Given the strictly monitored diet Noah has been on, it was hard for me to finally give him his first treat with nuts. But, tonight I did it. I gave a small bite of a cookie with pralines. I sat him on his little chair and sat directly across from him as he took his first bite. I watched with anticipation as he chewed, examining his face for hives, any swelling of his lips or tongue. And nothing. Nothing after the first bite, nothing after the second bite. Nothing even after Noah said that he didn't want to eat any more cookie. NOTHING!!! And nothing has never felt so good.