AN ENTIRE ACTUAL PEANUT--- IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING????

So this just happened. My super-star ate an entire actual peanut!!!! But to backtrack to yesterday for a second, here's a glimpse to his spelling sentences this week. Check out numbers three and five...

3. I am cheerful about Oral immunotherapy
5. I yearn to get finished with OIT. (when I asked him why he said he wants to be able to eat whatever he wants safely)

Okay back to today. I was actually relatively calm going into today. I know, SHOCKER, right?! I don't know why I was. Maybe it was because he had eaten the half a peanut the entire week with ZERO issues. Maybe it' was because I knew that he already had the equivalent of an entire peanut in the flour. Who knows. But being relatively calm was a nice change of pace for me. Patting myself on the back!

So we go, we get there, they check him out, they clear him to up-dose.

I've got this!

But before they could do anything else he asked one of the nurses if I can dose together with him. I didn't know he was planning on asking them but I am happy he did. Since I hadn't eaten peanuts in over six years, I had been afraid to try peanuts at home. Avoiding a food can actually cause an allergy to begin, so this way I'd be surrounded by nurses and doctors just in case.

The doctor took the shelled peanut from me and said that she was going to crack it open in another room because of other people in the area who may have airborne reactions to the particles. It was a nice change of pace thinking that she was removing it because of OTHER patients and that Coby himself would probably at this point be safe from the airborne particles of the single peanut! I'm telling you. It's the small victories that are so so huge! They brought back our 'doses' and we clicked them together and said 'cheers'.

















Before dosing though, he asked me to 'start recording', so I did, though I did not know what he was about to say... He cracks me up....

Coby dosed first.

And then I did. 

(Real fast about my experience so I can get back to his... I thought a few minutes in that I had tingling on my lower lip and then a bit of weirdness in my left eye. I KNEW anxiety can cause that though, so I tried to distract myself knowing that if I were having a real reaction distraction would not make it stop, but if it was just anxiety distraction would help mitigate that. I drank water, same as Coby, and my hour passed uneventfully. Back at home I still think my lower lip feels a bit weird and there is now actually a tiny bump there too near my pointer (and confirmed by Yitz),
BUT it's possible the bump was there beforehand, who knows. Coby now wants me to 'dose' with him every day. The next few days I'll 'dose' with him since Yitz will be home since it's the weekend, so 'just in case', I'm covered. And hopefully all will go well and come Monday and for the next chunk of time I will continue dosing with Coby. We will build up our 'tolerance' together. Me and my boy in it together! :-) )






And back to Coby. He rocked it!!!!!! When the hour was over and the doctor rechecked him, his heart and blood oxygen levels were great. His peak flow was a bit  lower than it was from before dosing. (190 instead of 220) and I also noticed that he did have a bit of eczema break out on his upper arms, but I know that's okay (ish). His body is fighting hard and doing what it needs to do. He still is considered 'passed', though I know my ears and eyes are going to be listening and watching tonight for many more hours to come.

I asked the doctor my questions of the week, like when he will be cleared for 'made in a facility' or 'may contain'. I know other practices people can be cleared as early as three peanuts. She said at their practice, they tend to be a bit more cautious. Sometimes they wait til the very end before clearing the child, but it's possible he can be cleared as early as 6 peanuts. She said she'll talk to the doctor but in the grand scheme of things, after six years, what is another four weeks... Absolutely nothing.

I also asked what happens he gets all the way up to 12 peanuts and does just fine, but then at the food challenge a month later, he fails- what would that mean? She said knock on wood (and yes, she actually and literally knocked on wood) she has never seen that happen. At that point (of 12) it is expected that the body would be able to handle any amount.

She also wrote out the list of 'replacements' for dosing. She said he can begin dosing with certain types of peanut butter. (She said different brands of peanut butter have different peanut amounts. In one brand a teaspoon can be equivalent to one peanut but in another it can be equivalent to two peanuts--- how weird is that---- she told me which brand to buy which would be right for dosing purposes.)
She also said he can begin dosing with peanut m & ms. (though those peanuts are smaller than shelled nuts but the doctors know the right calculations) WOOT!!!!! Right now Coby says he doesn't want to ever eat m & ms but I'm hoping he'll change his mind. After all he hates the taste of peanuts and we all know peanut m & ms are sooooo much better!.
He can also begin dosing with reeses pieces (5 equal one peanut).

Initially though, Coby can NOT try them at home. Each time he tries another form will be done at the doctor's office.

She asked if I wanted to try any new forms next week. I told her that I will put it on the shopping list but I'd rather for one more week he doses actual peanuts.
"His big reaction was to two goobers, I need to see him eat two actual peanuts and not react before I can more fully exhale. Maybe after next week's up-dose of two peanuts then I can switch it up a bit."
She understood.

BUT when I got home Yitz told me she had called his cell after I left to say that next week Coby might not up-dose to two peanuts. They may have him go to 1 and a half peanuts instead of 2.
WTH???? BUT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT NEXT WEEK'S UPDOSE OF TWO PEANUTS JUST FORTY MINUTES EARLIER.
He said she is going to talk to the main doctor- sometimes in certain cases they go from one peanut to one and a half and then to two so they may want to do that for Coby but she will call us back to let us know.
"Does that mean instead of ten more appointments, it's another TWENTY?"
"No. She just said the very beginning of peanut form is hardest on the body so they may want to take it slower with him."

Sigh. I get it. I will obviously do what the doctor thinks is best- but it was still frustrating to hear we possibly may need yet another week of dosing before reaching graduation.

I guess I'll find out what next week's dose will be soon enough.

For now I'm just going to rejoice in the miracle that I witnessed once again today.

From less than 1.2 millionth to an ENTIRE PEANUT. How wild is that?!