Food Allergy Test - Part I

Today must be the only day that I cried so much in a day !!!!

I will be starting my infant / childcare soon so Mummy wanted to find out specifically what are my food allergy in case I eat the wrong thing in the childcare centre. So Daddy and Mummy brought me to KK Children's Clinic for an allergy test.

I reached there at about 10 am. The doctor (Dr Chiang) was a very nice lady (that was before I knew she was going to put me through a whole series of test !!!!) ... she took down my food history and eating habits, before she explained to Daddy and Mummy what the rest of the day entailed.

Pain No 1 (Skin prick test) :

I went into this lab with many sweet looking nurses (only later than I knew they were angels in 'disguise'). Daddy held onto me and took off my blouse .... then the nurse used a ballpoint pen and make 11 markings (each marking to denote one allergen test) on my back. It was so uncomfortable that I struggled and cried a bit. Then the actual test came. The nurse took a small needle-like thing (filled with each allergen) and pricked on my back. Then I really struggled and screamed the whole place down (even with toys, that was not enough to calm me down). I struggled so much that Daddy had difficulties holding onto me. His fingers accidentally touched part of the allergens on my back and the nurse had to repeat part of the prick test AGAIN !!! The whole process took about 15 mins (after so much struggling) and I need to wait for at least 20 mins to see the reaction of the test.

So Mummy fed me some milk to calm me down and I dozed off .... After 20 mins, Daddy brought me into the lab again so tat the nurse can measure the size of the bump. When the nurse brought the ruler near my back, I woke up again because it was painful / itchy .... Struggled and cried again so in the end, took another 10-15 mins before the measurements were done.

And the end results .... I am severely allergic to
1. Milk and dairy products
2. Eggs
3. Garlic
4. Peanuts and Tree Nuts (eg. gingko nuts, cashew nuts, hazel-nuts, chestnuts etc)
5. Dust mite

Dr Chiang said for items 1 and 2, 80% of the kids will outgrow when they are 3-4 yrs old. For item 3, she said it seems to be a local phenomenon and should not be a big issue. For item 4, only 20% of the kids will outgrow eventually. Sigh ....

Then Dr Chiang recommeneded a blood test for me .... BLOOD TEST ??!!???

It was near lunch time so Daddy and Mummy decided to feed me lunch before proceeding on ... the lunch experience is another thing to share later (Part 2) because it was the most dramatic lunch ever (at least to me) .....

I also saw a dietician before lunch to see if she can find out what is wrong with my diet, since I am underweight. The dietician was very sweet .... she let me play with her cupboards and plastic food while Daddy and Mummy talked to her .... in short, the dietician said my diet is complete in nutrients (rice, meat, vege, fruits) .... but Daddy and Mummy gave me too much soup to drink so I got bloated easily and therefore eat very little of the main course .... got to cut down on my soup intake :( The dietician said as long as I take the same portion of my meals regularly, I should be growing well .... *phew*

Pain No 2 (Blood Test) :

After lunch, we went to another lab and Daddy held onto me again .... this time, I suspected I will be in pain again and before the nurse could prepare her needles etc, I struggled to get out of Daddy's arms (I literally did that and the nurse was shocked that I could sense something was coming !!!!). Daddy was so worried because he has never seen blood taken out from a toddler before and was afraid that if I struggled too much, the needle might hurt me more ... luckily, the nurse was pretty experienced .... she used the smallest needle and poked into the top-side of my palm and then let the blood drip into the container .... I screamed the whole lab down AGAIN !!!! After 10 mins, the whole process was finally over and I struggled to get down and run away from the lab ...

Dr Chiang said I might as well take my MMR injection at KK since polyclinics always refer toddlers with egg allergy to KK anyway ... so you can guess what is coming up next ....

Pain No 3 (MMR injection) :

This time, Mummy held onto me while Daddy went to make payment ($400 for all my crying and struggling !!!) fast so that I can catch a long afternoon nap at home. Even though this time was Mummy holding me, I was too smart ... I knew pain was coming soon and I started to cry a bit and struggle. Daddy tot I had my injection tat fast and came over to the room .... ha ha. After another 10 mins, I was out of the room, with a plaster on my thighs and red eyes !!!!

I was so tired from all the crying and struggling that I fell asleep in the car while having milk ... tat day, I took almost a 3 hr afternoon nap !!!

At least no more prick and blood test, until 6 months later ....