Ouch!

After a lot of waiting, we were finally able to take Bentley in for some allergy testing!! There is only one food allergist in all of Nevada and he doesn't take our insurance. His front office wasn't even going to allow us to schedule Bentley an appointment as a cash patient, but fortunately our GI doctor was kind enough to make a personal phone call to him on our behalf and the next morning his office called us to set up an appointment time. As soon as we met Dr. McKnight he explained that he was going to be taking on Bentley's case pro bono. Incredible! After we went over Bentley's history he decided to perform a skin prick test on him. Poor little Bentley got tested and pricked with 37 different allergens. I think that he was more bothered about having to be held down than he was with the actual pricks. We waited 20 minutes for the good news...no allergic reactions!!

The doctor told us that we didn't need to worry about Bentley's skin/mild GI reactions to food unless he was projectile vomiting, swelling up, or getting blood in his diaper. We were told to still stay away from dairy, eggs, and a few other foods until he's 2, but those restrictions seem easy compared to what we've been dealing with. We are SO excited to be able to expand his diet! The doctor still wants us to introduce one food per week to watch for any negative reactions, but I hope that in time he will be able to eat a normal diet, minus formula! So far we have been able to add apples, turkey, and oatmeal. He LOVES being able to finally have a finger food to snack on (apple chips and cheerios). These snacks have allowed us to make it through our first sacrament meeting in months without having to go out in the hall! I came away from this appointment slightly frustrated that we have probably been withholding food unnecessarily from him for so long, but overall I am just happy to finally have some answers that make sense!