Ask About My Peanut Allergy

An Open Letter of Thanks to Trace Adkins

Dear Trace,
As the parents of a child with a severe peanut allergy, we wanted to say thank you for helping to raise much needed awareness about the seriousness of food allergies and the urgent need for funding food allergy research through your recent appearance on the "Celebrity Apprentice" and the dedication of proceeds from iTunes sales of your hit country song "Your Gonna Miss This".

We were very moved by your dedication, passion, and the class you showed while representing Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and the families, friends and medical staff dedicated to protecting our food allergic loved ones while balancing the desire for them to live normal lives until we find a cure for all food allergies.

Our son Bo is in a peanut allergy treatment research study at Arkansas Childrens Hospital (ACHRI) in Little Rock, and we constantly see the living proof of the real benefits and promise that food allergy research is already providing to those with food allergies. And now that we have your great albums loaded on the iPod, we have more great music to help us pass the time during the 7 hour drive from south Louisiana to the peanut allergy study in Little Rock every other week!

Thank you Trace Adkins for all that you do to support food allergy awareness and research. God bless you and your family.

Bo's Parents
www.askaboutmypeanutallergy.com

Great Song for a Great Cause-Only 99 Cents
Download country music sensation Trace Adkins’ live recording of the hit single “You’re Gonna Miss This” from iTunes for only 99 cents between March 27 and April 10, 2008 to support the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).

My Daily Dosage Update
After 10 months, my daily peanut allergy treatment dosage is now approximately the equivalent of six peanuts! When I first started in the peanut allergy treatment research study, my daily dosage was only a few grains.

Food Allergy Skin Test and Blood Work
Today's visit to Arkansas Children's hospital involved blood tests and skin tests to monitor my peanut allergy treatment progress. As you can see from the first photo below, I have gotten used to these tests now, so I'm pretty relaxed.

The poking and needles don't bother me near as much as them pulling the tape off afterwards! Dad finds that ironic (one of these days I am going to understand what that word means!)

In this second photo, drops of various peanut dilution solutions are put on my back to test which ones cause an allergic reaction and how big the reaction area gets.

In the third photo, my skin is slightly pricked under each test drop so it gets under my skin. Sounds bad, but each prick feels more like a pinch.

10 minutes after the food allergy skin test begins... can you guess which red spot on my back is my allergic reaction to the full strength peanut solution?

Here's a hint... top right of the picture! I go through all of this in the name of food allergy research, plus Mom and Dad reward me with cool Lego sets too!

My Daily Dosage Update
After 9 months, my daily peanut allergy treatment dosage is now about equal to 5 peanuts! When I first started in the peanut allergy treatment research study, my daily dosage was so small it looked like a few grains of sand.

FYI, my picture was used for the front cover of the new Arkansas Children's Hospital "conducting Clinical Research" brochure. Since I was also featured in a photo for ACH's 2007 Annual Report, Dad thinks I should start selling autographs to help pay for our travel expenses to AR. Not!

Recent Food Allergy Research Headlines:

2/21/2008
National Jewish Launches Study to Understand Food Allergy
Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are launching a comprehensive study of food allergy in children. Researchers hope the five-year study will help them predict which children will develop allergies and which children will outgrow them. It should also offer insights into what has caused the alarming rise in food allergies and possible ways to prevent or cure them. ... http://www.nationaljewish.org/news/2008/cofar2-study.aspx

January 2008
Therapeutic Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Food Allergy (FAHF-2)
FYI, the nurses at ACH said the herbal treatment being used in this study at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has actually shown promising results so far. This peanut allergy treatment study is currently recruiting participants according to their web site. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00602160

By the way, thanks for the concerned e-mails. The reason we haven't updated our Blog much recently is because my Dad has been working long hours on a big project at work for the last few months. Things should be getting back to normal now.