Open Sesame: Anna's Allergy Identified

Here's the good news: Anna is not allergic to shellfish, peanuts, garlic, soy.

She's mildly allergic to green peas, corn, and Brazil nuts.

And what food ranks a 4+ out of 5 on the allergic scale--and was the cause of our ER visit? Drum roll, please . . . . . . sesame seeds. The hummus had tahini in it. Guess what's in tahini? Mhmm, sesame.

Also, I wasn't terribly thrilled when the doctor described allergic reactions as "unpredictable." This was in response to my question: Since Anna reacted with hives and swelling, will this likely be her usual reaction? Thus, we are now a four epipen family.

While I am thankful sesame is not as common as peanuts and soy, changes will be occurring around the Youree household. No more hummus. No more Sesame Chicken Lean Cuisines. No breads with sesame seeds. No Asian or Mediterranean restaurants for Anna. No restaurants where they serve sesame seeds on breads or in foods. Yes, even if someone were to eat something with sesame and then kiss Anna, there's a chance she'd react. This allergy thang ain't no joke.

In fact, the area on her back where they tested for sesame . . . it was still slightly swollen this evening. That's after antihistamine cream yesterday and a full dose of Zyrtec.

I still have quite a bit of research to do regarding what she can and cannot eat, but I do feel relieved now that we've pegged the allergy culprit . . . and that we have a plan if, God forbid, she has another allergy attack.