The Youngest Will Never Be Ignored

On Tuesday of this week we arrived back at our house from Florida around 10:30 PM.  On Wednesday we(Brian stayed behind for work)headed to my parent’s house to attend the end of VBS.  Wednesday night/Thursday night VBS-late nights . . . but TONS of fun!  We tried to get a group shot, but Abram is at a very active stage.  His audience of five wasn’t helping, only encouraging his escape tactics :) 

On Thursday I received a call as a reminder about Abram’s allergy doctor appointment on Friday.  I had completely forgotten about it.  I made plans to leave early the next morning to make his 9 AM appointment in the city.  It was a crazy idea and the rest of today I have paid for it.  Bedtime could not come soon enough(30 minutes and counting).

 

We arrived 15 minutes early(sweet!)and surprisingly were called back at our exact appointment time.  The four of us crammed into our tiny room to wait.  14 month olds do not understand the point of waiting.  This boy spent his time destroying what toys he could get his hands on, whining, crying, throwing tantrums and opening and slamming the door.  We had alot of nurses come to visit to get vital signs, talk about the episode that sent us to the allergist in the first place and more.  The doctor came in to hear my story again and access exactly what all he was to be tested for. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally the nurse came in for the testing.  Abram did well sitting on my lap while she took her pen to write what she would poke him with.  She was an expert and poked quickly enough that he didn’t start to cry until the 5th prick.  It was over before he could get to worked up and she was gone.  We were to wait 15 minutes to see the true effects of his allergies.  Immediately two spots started to swell and he began to cry and itch.  I scratched his arm up and down and he would sit there staring at the spots.  I felt so sad for him.  The doctor stopped by halfway through the wait and commented that she didn’t need to come any closer to see how huge the one little drop had done to his arm.

Two and a half hours later we were heading to the car.  It was a LONG morning.  Little boy is HIGHLY allergic to peanuts.  When she came in to talk with me she said over and over about how important it was that I understood this.  The way the skin test reacted to the prick was severe enough that we are to remove all peanut products in our house, he is to get a bracelet to wear so others know, if the other boys are at a friend’s house and they are exposed to peanut butter they are to SHOWER and brush their teeth before they interact with him, IF he does come in contact with peanuts we are to use the epi-pen(mis-spelled?) immediately. 

This has thrown this already hypochondriac mother into shock! 

We were given TWO epi’s to have on hand at all times.  She gave me a website to visit to download warning worksheets for church workers, grandparents, family and friends about his allergy and the importance of it to his life. 

On top of all this he is also allergic to eggs?!?

We will go back in 6 months to talk over it all again and then he will see her once a year to poke him all over again.  She feels he will outgrow the egg allergy, but the peanut one will be with him the rest of his life.

Whew!  This takes meal time to a whole new level.