Our first visit to the allergist (with Drew)

The NHS is definitely different from the american health system.  Everything funnels through the GP, and a pediatrician is considered a specialist.  So it's a good thing if your child doesn't see the pediatrician because that means they are perfectly healthy!  However, since Drew and Alison both have severe food allergies, we will being seeing the pediatric immunologist.  And getting referrals to the hospital (I love the way that sounds with a British accent) can take some time.  I got a letter about Drew's referral first (most likely because he was already in the system after the collar bone incident.), so we had our appointment yesterday.

First of all, I was late because I thought the appointment was at 10:30, but it was at 10:15, and we just missed the bus.  We did arrive at 10:32, after I finally found where we needed to go.  (St. George's is massive!!  And the children's clinic was at the farthest building from the bus stop.) It was quite a place, with all pediatric needs in one place.  (Very different from Dr. Damin's office in KY.)  The nurse came and took his measurements.  (15 kilos and 90 cm.)  Then the doctor finally called us back at 11.  (Thank goodness we were late because Drew had about reached his point by then.)  I really like the doctor, she was very forthcoming with things, and she recommended that Drew have a skin test, as well as a full blood workup.

So, here they do the skin test on their arms rather than their backs. The nurse was very good and patient with Drew, and it was pretty quick all in all I would say.  Drew was VERY brave!  he just got a bit itchy after the skin test, but he did a great job with the bloodwork as well.

The results of the skin test were peanuts, cashews and egg still pretty high, but sesame seed was negative.  The doctor said once they get the results of the blood test, it may be possible to food challenge with baked egg, so we see.

Next we will take Alison and do the same thing over again....hopefully we get the letter soon,  it makes me a bit nervous that she hasn't been seen yet.  However, I am thankful I have met an allergy doctor.

On another note, I got a call from the health services worker following up on Drew.  She was happy to hear he is doing ok and his bed now has a rail on it.