Arghhh, allergies...

Saturday morning before Mother's Day Ellie came to me saying that her arm hurt. I took a look and it appeared to be an allergic reaction of some sort. Because she hasn't had a reaction like this since she was first diagnosed with nut allergies at 15 months of age, we were fairly concerned. She had broken out in a red rash on both upper arms and across her shoulder blades. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out where, when and how she had been exposed, to no avail. I gave her a dose of Benadryl in hopes the rash would clear up. It didn't get any better, but not any worse either. By Sunday, it had spread a little more to her torso and lower back, so more Benadryl. Come bedtime that night, Elle was crying that her rash really hurt. Upon closer inspection, she was covered from the neck down in hives and welts.

Here is an example, though the camera doesn't show how bad it actually was.

I started to panic a bit, thinking that it is bedtime and what if she goes into anaphylaxis and stops breathing during the night while we are all sleeping. Thank goodness for the power of the Priesthood. Chris and a friend gave her a blessing and Ellie and I both were instantly at peace and able to sleep soundly without any further problems. First thing the next morning I called the allergist, and of course the rash has calmed down tremendously by that point. Things always seem to get better right before I go to the doctor, then I feel ridiculous that maybe I overreacted. I went ahead and made the appointment anyway, just to be safe.


We were seen by the nurse practitioner. After much discussion on whether we had added any new foods to Elle's diet, changed laundry/bath soap, fabric softener, etc., she decided to run a blood test to see if maybe Elle has developed new food allergies. Since she already has some allergies, she is apparently prone to developing more. Yippee!!! We will go back in two weeks for the results and a skin test to hopefully further define out any foods that showed up in the blood work, along with a skin test for any outside allergies (haven't ever tested for those). In the meantime, we left with a prescription for two different steroid creams and directions to take Zyrtec twice per day til the rash is gone.

Next, we headed down to the lab to have blood drawn. Elle started to get upset, not wanting to get a shot. I told her afterward I would take her out for a treat for being so brave and she quickly cheered up (shocker). Nothing like a little sugar to cheer up my sugaraholic girl. Elle was such a champ! When it was time to have her blood drawn, she hopped up on my lap and held out her arm for the phlebotomist like she had done it a million times before. Once the tech whipped out the needle Elle asked (with a shaky voice),"Will it hurt?" The tech told her it would be just a pinch and I reminded her about the treat we would go get. Once again, she perked right up. When the needle poked her arm she said "Ouch" and watched very intently as the vials of blood were taken, but never even shed a tear. What a very brave girl - even the phlebotomist was impressed. Now, we wait two weeks for results.

Off to Sonic for a slushy we go...

A happy girl with her bandage, stickers and lime slushy.


By that night it looked like she had rolled around in salt - her entire body was peeling.

Six days later and the rash was still there, but slowly fading away.