But, we knew Nate was going to have to go through a lot in order to find the cause. We were there for over 3 hours. It was terrible. There is just no other way to describe it. Nate did amazing. He was so brave and continued through each test in order to get them done. I had to fight back tears to stay strong for him, it is oh so heartbreaking to watch your child in tears and pain in order to undergo these tests.
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| His back scratch test |
He had a series of tests and I can't even tell you the specifics. It started with a prick on his shoulder to make sure that his system was ready to take the allergy tests. Then we moved on to the back scratch test. They did so many his entire back was covered. And then they did a few on his arm with a needle that injected something into the skin. The last round of tests was the blood draw.
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| Look how brave he is! |
The results....
Not great but definitely a step towards getting answers. He is allergic to a bunch; basically at least one thing in every category. He is allergic to tree, grass, and weed pollen (I had a feeling about that grass!), mold, cats, and dogs. Yes, dogs. That one was devastating. They don't expect us to get rid of Sammy, but we are taking steps so that they can live together. He is also allergic to tree nuts (big time allergic). There were also some tests that I think were inconclusive and the blood work will tell us more. Right now there is a chance that he is allergic to dust mites, peanuts, soy, chicken, pork, corn, and tomato. Some of those (peanuts, chicken, tomato) would be pretty upsetting if they come back positive. Hopefully we will find out in a couple of weeks.
He also had a sinus infection (he's always so snotty) and a lot of these environmental factors/allergies are the reason why we can never seem to clear that up.
The surprising news was that he does not have a chocolate allergy. Well, at least it came up negative, but she still wants him to stay away from it for now. Maybe he outgrew it?
The plan...
Stay away from chocolate and tree nuts. We will see on the other food later.
He will be using Flonase and Allegra to help with the allergies/sinus stuff. He also has some eye drops to use as needed. He will take Atarax at night to help with the itching. He is also on a couple of meds for the sinus infection which will also help clear up some of the infections on his skin from itching.
We are sanctioning off his bedroom. Sammy is not allowed in his room. We have gotten allergen-proof mattress and pillow covers for his bed. We will be getting an air purifier. He needs to have his carpets vacuumed often. No more stuffed animals. We also need to keep the humidity low.
Since he is just a little boy, they are not forbidding him to play outside. He can play outside (evenings are recommended because pollen is lowest at that time), but when he comes in he has to shower and change clothes. No dirty laundry in his room.
She gave us a prescription cream to use as needed, along with a hydrocortisone cream. We will continue to moisturize with the Eucerin but it needs to be done twice a day.
He will also now have an Auvi-Q (like an epi-pen). The doctor doesn't seem to think he will need it but is concerned about the tree nuts (I guess it's a major one for him). He has had certain tree nuts before and his throat has never closed up on him, but it's a good piece of mind. We will need it anyway because he is also going to be starting immunotherapy (allergy shots) when he turns 6. It will be pretty intense at first (getting shots often-probably twice a week) until he builds up to the maintenance dose. He will then continue with a maintenance schedule for 5 years. The hope is that he will build up a resistance and then not affected by these triggers. This will also allow him to be with Sammy and play outside without all the side effects. It takes a full year to see that but will start seeing some of the benefits sooner.
What's next....
He goes back in two weeks. He will undergo more testing at that time. :( This will help determine what needs to be in the injections. Our Nate is brave but this is a lot for a little boy. After the testing he will be getting shots weekly for some time and I know that is going to be very hard for him.
This is all a lot and overwhelming. We are just taking it steps and trying to get organized with all this information.
Pray for strength and endurance. I can see the end and it will be good. We just have to get there.
