At the Coast w/ Aunt Shauna
So...after observing the above, and being referred by his pediatrician, we went to an allergist. The results?
Yes, Jack is allergic to the cold.
It's known in the medical world as Cold Urticaria (cold hives). It's pretty rare to acquire it so young. Most people who get it are between 18-25 yrs old. The allergist told us that 15-20% of people, who have the type he has, eventually grow out of it. Hopefully he will too! Kinda crazy huh?
The biggest concern is being immersed in cold water - jumping into a cold swimming pool, or river, etc. It has the potential to send him into anaphylactic shock. They armed me with an EpiPen (autoinjector of epinephrine) for "just in case". I don't really like to think about having to use it though. For now we will just try to keep him bundled up, and not stay out in the cold too long.
Edit: I want to add that currently these hives don't seem to bother Jack. He doesn't scratch at them. Thankfully he acts like his normal happy self.
Wow! I've never heard of that allergy, but it sounds tough. Good thing you're an amazing mom! Jack's in good hands.
ReplyDeleteThat's so crazy! I've never heard of anything like that. Poor guy! I really hope he grows out of it too. We have a great solution...move to Vegas! He won't have to worry about the cold here :) Good luck finding info!
ReplyDeleteI just did a Google Blog Search for Cold Urticaria and it came up with a whole list. I know other people have connected when their kids have had problems and it really seems to help when you find someone going through the same thing, even strangers! Here's the link to the list I pulled up. I haven't checked them out yet but figured you could to find any that are helpful to you.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=Cold+urticaria&btnG=Search+Blogs
Thanks Em. I haven't ever thought to search Blogs. Cool!
ReplyDeleteAw poor Jack!That is so crazy. I guess there are a lot worse things he could have??Hope he grows out of it too and just has the usual allergies to girls and cooties :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I've never heard of such a thing. I am totally shocked. Hope little Jack is going to grow out of that.
ReplyDeleteHow weird! I had no idea you would be allergic to the cold and I worked in a HOSPITAL!
ReplyDeleteThat is wild. I hope that everthing is going o.k. Aren't you glad that we live in a day where we can get a correct diagnosis and be able to treat it. We miss you guys!!1
ReplyDeleteCrazy! I didn't even know that was possible. I'm glad to hear that it's not too big of a deal though especially that he's not itching!
ReplyDeletePoor little guy. You know Intel's 2nd biggest site is in Chandler AZ (20 minutes from Mesa) and you also know my dad is a big whig there that can probably hook Reid up. It's never very cold here, even in the winter. If you guys ever seriously think of it shoot him an email: jim.millecam@gmail.com or jim.millecam@intel.com. He was saying the other day that he would love to call you and meet you for dinner or something since he's in Oregon every other week for a day or two. You should email him- he'd love it!
ReplyDeleteWow, crazy! Your fam is so cute.
ReplyDeleteThat's the craziest think I have ever heard of!! I hope he didn't get any at the pool...I thought the water was kinda cold. Good thing you don't live in Alaska or anyplace like that!!!
ReplyDeleteI have this allergy! I don't get it from going down the grocery isle. But when I was little playing out in the snow I would come in to warm up and that change of temp I would break out in hives head to toe! I've never heard of anyone having this! I've never looked into it either! I'm just amayzed right now. I don't know if you remember but I broke out a couple of times at college walking to class my cheeks would break out at times. How Crazy!! I'm loving that someone else is like me! Yeah!!!! You can alaways move to TX, we just have hurricaines to worry about! :) Very cool. Love ya, Audrey
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