Test Results

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from the allergist saying she had most of the test results back. There is good news and not so good news...

The good news is that both boys are negative for Celiac Disease. What a relief! Also, Zak's stool sample didn't have any parasites in it which is also good. She is still waiting on the results from Ryder's stool sample.

The not so good news is that Zak's IgG levels came back too low once again. Basically, IgG is a type of antibody in our body that makes up about 70-80% of our immune systems which fight off infections. The doctor said some kids do outgrow this and start to produce more of the IgG antibodies later in life, but not all kids do. There is a urine test that we are going to do which shows a more in-depth result of just how low his immune system is. The allergist said sometimes doctors decide to put kids on preventative antibiotics during the winter since they are at higher risk to get infections, but I don't think we will do that with Zak. In the end she said this basically means Zak is at a high risk for picking up things like ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, RSV, flu, and swine flu. The main concern at the moment will of course be flu and swine flu since they can be pretty bad for young kids and then add in the fact he has asthma and a lowered immune system.

As for food allergies, she thinks their issue might just be their lactose intolerance. We have been giving them cheese once and a while because the pediatrician said it would show us if they are outgrowing it or not, but that it wouldn't hurt them. The allergist thinks their system is really sensitive to the lactose and wants us to go on a complete lactose-free diet for the boys. She said after about 4-6 weeks if things improve then there is no need to do other testing. So no more cheese, ice cream and other foods with lactose for the boys for a while.