Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Mother's Guilt (Take Two)
I feel like the worst Mommy in the whole world. Wild Man is having a terrible time with his allergies. I have written about his problems before (I think). Several weeks ago when the weather started to turn nice I opened the windows. Big mistake. Big. All the pollen triggered a allergy/asthma attack for my little guy. Once I figured out what was going on I closed the windows, opened the windows, and took him to the doctor. [A little background here: Last year about this time he was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease (allergy induced asthma) so I was waiting with baited breath to see if it would start up again this year. Of course it did, and with a vengence.
Anyway, Dr P. prescribed Josh Singular and Zyrtec. It has been a godsend for the most part. Well, except for when every drugstore in town ran out then it was like starting all over again. At his last appointment, Dr. P set up an appointment with the allergist to have him specific allergy tested (remember when they told me it couldn't be done until he was 5?!?). They made the appointment for two weeks from then (yay!) but failed to tell me that he had to be anti-histamine (no Zyrtec) for 7 days prior to the test, so...it was rescheduled for this coming Monday.
Sunday was his last night with the Zyrtec. All I can say is last night was hell. He was up all night long coughing his little lungs out. Nothing helped. I tried sleeping with him in his bed, on the couch, in bed with Daddy, sitting up in the recliner. Nothing. Nada. The Benedryl didn't even phase him. AM ended up giving him a breathing treatment and that seemed to help a bit. I think we all got maybe 3 hours of sleep all combined. And all I could think about last night and today was how is he (and us) supposed to deal with this for another 6 days? Without even Benadryl starting Friday? All I could think about was that I was torturing my baby needlessly. What a time to try to get an allergy test done right?
I have been in turmoil all day and broke down and called the Allergist's office this afternoon. I spoke to a really nice nurse (thanks nice nurse for listening to me go on and on) who told me to put him back on the Zyrtec immediately so that he doesn't get worse. So now, I have to take him to the allergist on Monday to get him established as a patient and get him started on Flovent or something similar so that we can evaluate the best course of action and reschedule the allergy test. They said that we can either wean him off the Zyrtec for the test or do the testing via blood instead of skin. Bottom line is his health, and he can't take too many nights like last night.
So, I am grateful that we can get him back to a halfway normal self but also sad and frustrated that we still won't know what exactly is going on or what his triggers are. I have done pretty much everything short of getting rid of the dog to help ease his sypmtoms at home (covered the mattresses and new pillows, air purifier with new filter, dusted and vacuumed, no stuffed animals, etc)and I am hoping and praying that Max doesn't have ot go. I have started bathing him weekly as well to try to cut down the dander and he doens't really go in WM's room. Only time will tell as far as Max goes.
Everyone keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer ok? Everyone in the Lo2U2 needs a little sleep tonight.
Anyway, Dr P. prescribed Josh Singular and Zyrtec. It has been a godsend for the most part. Well, except for when every drugstore in town ran out then it was like starting all over again. At his last appointment, Dr. P set up an appointment with the allergist to have him specific allergy tested (remember when they told me it couldn't be done until he was 5?!?). They made the appointment for two weeks from then (yay!) but failed to tell me that he had to be anti-histamine (no Zyrtec) for 7 days prior to the test, so...it was rescheduled for this coming Monday.
Sunday was his last night with the Zyrtec. All I can say is last night was hell. He was up all night long coughing his little lungs out. Nothing helped. I tried sleeping with him in his bed, on the couch, in bed with Daddy, sitting up in the recliner. Nothing. Nada. The Benedryl didn't even phase him. AM ended up giving him a breathing treatment and that seemed to help a bit. I think we all got maybe 3 hours of sleep all combined. And all I could think about last night and today was how is he (and us) supposed to deal with this for another 6 days? Without even Benadryl starting Friday? All I could think about was that I was torturing my baby needlessly. What a time to try to get an allergy test done right?
I have been in turmoil all day and broke down and called the Allergist's office this afternoon. I spoke to a really nice nurse (thanks nice nurse for listening to me go on and on) who told me to put him back on the Zyrtec immediately so that he doesn't get worse. So now, I have to take him to the allergist on Monday to get him established as a patient and get him started on Flovent or something similar so that we can evaluate the best course of action and reschedule the allergy test. They said that we can either wean him off the Zyrtec for the test or do the testing via blood instead of skin. Bottom line is his health, and he can't take too many nights like last night.
So, I am grateful that we can get him back to a halfway normal self but also sad and frustrated that we still won't know what exactly is going on or what his triggers are. I have done pretty much everything short of getting rid of the dog to help ease his sypmtoms at home (covered the mattresses and new pillows, air purifier with new filter, dusted and vacuumed, no stuffed animals, etc)and I am hoping and praying that Max doesn't have ot go. I have started bathing him weekly as well to try to cut down the dander and he doens't really go in WM's room. Only time will tell as far as Max goes.
Everyone keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer ok? Everyone in the Lo2U2 needs a little sleep tonight.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Allergies Schmelergies
So Little Man had a bunch of bloodwork done last week. I was hoping that we would find out if he has allergies and what he is allergic to. Anyone that knows me knows how much I want a pet but AM and I agreed that we shouldn't get anything until we knew how it would effect WM.
The good news is at this point, he isn't allergic to anything in particular. The bad news is he definately has allergies, but the Dr. said it is too early to say what he is allergic to. We won't know anything specific until after he turns 5. I guess it is a good thing that he didn't test positive for certain things, I just wish I knew what his triggers were.
So for the next 2.5 years we will have to keep a close eye on him to see if he reacts to anything. The next time he becomes wheezy I have to bring him in and they will prescribe him a nebulizer since he will be more prone to asthma because of it.
I am happy my little boy is ok, but majorly bummed that there will be no fur babies for me in the near future (if at all).
Everyone keep your fingers crossed that he sleeps tonight. I don't know what was going on with him, but he refused to go to sleep. He was up until past 9 (he was in bed at 8 pm) playing and then cried off and on until 11 pm, with shourt bouts of crying throughout the night. Mommy is not a happy person when she doesn't get sleep.
The good news is at this point, he isn't allergic to anything in particular. The bad news is he definately has allergies, but the Dr. said it is too early to say what he is allergic to. We won't know anything specific until after he turns 5. I guess it is a good thing that he didn't test positive for certain things, I just wish I knew what his triggers were.
So for the next 2.5 years we will have to keep a close eye on him to see if he reacts to anything. The next time he becomes wheezy I have to bring him in and they will prescribe him a nebulizer since he will be more prone to asthma because of it.
I am happy my little boy is ok, but majorly bummed that there will be no fur babies for me in the near future (if at all).
Everyone keep your fingers crossed that he sleeps tonight. I don't know what was going on with him, but he refused to go to sleep. He was up until past 9 (he was in bed at 8 pm) playing and then cried off and on until 11 pm, with shourt bouts of crying throughout the night. Mommy is not a happy person when she doesn't get sleep.
