For the past few weeks, we've been gearing up for Callum to have repeat allergy testing, and on Tuesday of this week, the dreaded day finally arrived.

It started with a visit to the consultant just over a month ago for a regular review and check-up, and discussion about the allergy testing that was coming up. As part of the preparation for the allergy testing, we were asked to trial him on 3 food types, which included trialling him with strawberry, which didn't quite go according to plan!

In fact, it was far from what we had been expecting, and scared us somewhat!

Let's be honest, the poor little dude has had a pretty rough ride in the lead up to the appointment. And, after all of this, we also had to go through full repeat allergy testing. On top of this, and because of ongoing tummy symptoms/ issues, Callum was also booked in for blood tests, primarily to test whether he may be suffering due to wheat and/or gluten.

I was absolutely dreading the appointment day, particularly after the last round, which quite frankly was a horrific experience to go through!

We dropped Chloe off at school as normal, and then Callum and I headed off to the JR, me with fairly high stress levels, Callum his usual calm, cheery and smiley self.

On arrival, his consultant explained that they would be testing for 18 allergens due to the extent of Callum's reactions, and also to see if any had improved at all.

That's an awful lot of things to test in one go, especially for such a little person.

On top of that, he had the blood tests to get through, which were also to include RAST testing as a result of the query around wheat and gluten.

So, it started with Callum having his arms numbed, so that it would be a slightly more comfortable experience whenthey drew the blood. 5 vials were taken in the end (!!!) and he didn't even flinch, not even a tear!

Brave brave dude!

Then came the important bit, the actual skin prick testing. Last time, it had to be done on Callum's back because he was covered so badly with severe eczema. This time round, his skin is thankfully much calmer, so they were able to do the standard skin prick test on his arms.

Somehow they managed to fit all 18 (yes 18!) tests onto his 2 little arms.

These pictures show immediate reactions within just a couple of minutes...!

Such a brave little soldier, again no tears, but he did complain of it being very sore and itchy!! I'm not surprised, I think I'd be pretty damn sore if I was experiencing that too!!

So, at the end of it all, it was confirmed he still has severe immediate reactions to:

• Peanut
• Almond
• Cow's Milk
• Grasses
• Dog
• Cat
• House Dust Mite

Interestingly, egg has now become negative response for the first time, so we are now considering an egg trial to see if he can cope. If successful, it opens up a whole new world of opportunities food wise, so fingers crossed!!

The not so good news, wheat has now become an immediate response, which we were kind of expecting. It now means we need to exclude wheat from Callum's diet, and see if it improves his symptoms.

So, back to the drawing board, and new learning time for mummy!

Watch out for some new recipes as I try to overcome this latest hurdle in the journey to get Callum better!