After a rough night last night with Meredith, I decided to take her to see her ENT today. She wasn't able to get to sleep last night until around 3 am. She just rolled around crying about her ears hurting until that time. I did my best to comfort her, but it didn't help much.
We saw another doctor in the practice at 1:15 pm today. Her usual doctor was in surgery today. It took four of us to hold Mere down long enough for the doctor to catch a peek into her ears. She was unable to see anything other than blood, dried blood. So, she put Mere on an antibiotic ear drop until Monday of next week when she will then have a procedure under anesthesia to clean out her ears and attempt to figure out what's going on in there. They will start with the gas. If she isn't still enough with that, they will have to put her under general anesthesia. They said it shouldn't take more than about 10 or 15 minutes once she's under.
Now, I know this doesn't sound all that bad, but the idea of her being put under general spooks me a bit. And, to top off the stress for that day, Anna starts kindergarten the same morning! So now I'm trying to figure out how to be in both places at once when both events are HUGE to us. Most of you know how big of a thing it has been to me that Anna's going to kindergarten. Ryan took off that day so that we could take her in together. Now, it will be only one of us as the other will have to be with Mere for her procedure. It's a really big deal to the both of us to always be there for our girls, especially in times like these, big days, so it just makes us a bit upset that we can't make that happen.
However, I know it will all be okay. I will update next week after the procedure so everyone knows how it went, and how she's doing.........and how Anna's first day at school was. I don't have a time set for Mere's procedure as of now. I take her in this Thursday morning for preregistration. We'll get a time at that point.
Please just say a prayer for the girls Monday morning that all with go smoothly for both. Thank you!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Points for the 2nd and 3rd opinions
I ended up taking them to the urgent care center last night around 7:15 pm. I kind of just knew that if I didn't, I'd end up in the ER with at least one of them during the night. The doctor spent all of literally about 30 seconds listening to the lungs of the two of them, and quickly diagnosed them both with bronchitis. The nurse tossed us orders for Zithromax and Rondec (a cough medicine) for both the girls. I went straight to CVS to have them filled. While I was waiting, I couldn't help, but concentrate on the lack of faith I had in the doctor and his diagnosis. The girls were feeling yucky, but nothing too bad. Within the twenty minutes it took to get the meds and make it home, Anna had fallen asleep after complaining she was really cold. Well, I pull her out of the car and she's burning hot. I checked her temp when we got inside, and it had spiked up to 103. I got the rounds of meds and breathing treatments in them, and got them into bed, but that wasn't before Anna starting throwing up from the fever and coughing that just wouldn't let up for her. Eventually it did, and she fell asleep around 10:30 pm. I felt so awful for her. We all know how terrible we feel when we are sick, and then have a fever that high.
Ryan was at a class last night during all of this. He's taking a course for the next three and a half weeks that is helping to prepare him to pass his nursing licensing exam. Today he's off because he has to work Saturday.
So, I started this morning with a call to the girls' pulmonologist. She was at the hospital for today seeing patients, and wouldn't be able to see the kids, but the office staff promised to get the message to her. I then called their allergy/asthma doctor. She too was not in the office today. So, I finally called their pediatrician who also specializes in asthma to a degree. They of course go the girls in within an hour of calling. So, we rushed to get ready, and drove over to the pediatrician. He checked them both, and concluded that they do NOT have bronchitis, and did not need to be on the antibiotic (Zithromax). He advised us to continue with the asthma medications we're already doing. If they aren't getting better by Monday he wants to see them again to then possibly start them on Orapred (oral prednisone-a steroid). He felt that they just had a respiratory bug, and didn't need to be on the antibiotic. While there he had to remove a lot of wax from Mere's ears in order to check them for an infection. This proved to be quite traumatic for her, as it usually is, and she cried herself to sleep on the way home. Her ears actually bled a bit from it too which was a bit scary for us, but the doctor assurred us that this is common.
Just as we got home, their pulmonologist called me. Did I mention I LOVE this doctor! She's simply wonderful. So, she wanted to know what was going on with the girls. I proceeded to tell her everything. She gave me some info on using another asthma medication we have if it's absolulely necessary, and also told me to continue with the antibiotic. She felt that because Anna not only had the spike in fever last night but also a low grade fever for several days, she has an infection her body is fighting, and it would be best to keep her on the antibiotic to prevent her from possibly developing pneumonia. She also said that if the kids are not getting better by Monday, they will most likely need to start the Orapred.
So, we are home. The girls are resting, drinking fluids, and taking their big ole' bucket full of meds.
We'll update again on Monday probably.
Thank you for the prayers and kind works! They love you all!!!
Oh! And on a side note, Meredith no longer sleeps in a crib! Last night was her first night in a big girl bed, and she did wonderfully! She slept in it the entire night, never fell out, and didn't come out of her room until we went in to get her this morning. Such a big girl now!
Ryan was at a class last night during all of this. He's taking a course for the next three and a half weeks that is helping to prepare him to pass his nursing licensing exam. Today he's off because he has to work Saturday.
So, I started this morning with a call to the girls' pulmonologist. She was at the hospital for today seeing patients, and wouldn't be able to see the kids, but the office staff promised to get the message to her. I then called their allergy/asthma doctor. She too was not in the office today. So, I finally called their pediatrician who also specializes in asthma to a degree. They of course go the girls in within an hour of calling. So, we rushed to get ready, and drove over to the pediatrician. He checked them both, and concluded that they do NOT have bronchitis, and did not need to be on the antibiotic (Zithromax). He advised us to continue with the asthma medications we're already doing. If they aren't getting better by Monday he wants to see them again to then possibly start them on Orapred (oral prednisone-a steroid). He felt that they just had a respiratory bug, and didn't need to be on the antibiotic. While there he had to remove a lot of wax from Mere's ears in order to check them for an infection. This proved to be quite traumatic for her, as it usually is, and she cried herself to sleep on the way home. Her ears actually bled a bit from it too which was a bit scary for us, but the doctor assurred us that this is common.
Just as we got home, their pulmonologist called me. Did I mention I LOVE this doctor! She's simply wonderful. So, she wanted to know what was going on with the girls. I proceeded to tell her everything. She gave me some info on using another asthma medication we have if it's absolulely necessary, and also told me to continue with the antibiotic. She felt that because Anna not only had the spike in fever last night but also a low grade fever for several days, she has an infection her body is fighting, and it would be best to keep her on the antibiotic to prevent her from possibly developing pneumonia. She also said that if the kids are not getting better by Monday, they will most likely need to start the Orapred.
So, we are home. The girls are resting, drinking fluids, and taking their big ole' bucket full of meds.
We'll update again on Monday probably.
Thank you for the prayers and kind works! They love you all!!!
Oh! And on a side note, Meredith no longer sleeps in a crib! Last night was her first night in a big girl bed, and she did wonderfully! She slept in it the entire night, never fell out, and didn't come out of her room until we went in to get her this morning. Such a big girl now!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
It's here a bit early...
We usually don't get hit with this until early fall, but it's already here. The girls are sick. It started this past Saturday evening with Anna, just a little cough. Mere started showing signs on Monday. She is miserable today. I'm actually trying to decide right now whether or not to take her to the urgent care place here because I have a gut feeling her typical croup will show up in the middle of the night tonight as it usually does. We'll see.....I'm hoping for the best so she can feel well and rest, both of them. They are on their routine meds when this happens, nebulizer, inhaler, allergy meds, cough meds......you name it, they're on it. I'll update tomorrow probably. I play to get them into the doctor tomorrow so we don't go into the weekend with this.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
New updates w/Pulmo & an ER visit
ANNA
Anna saw her pulmonologist last Wednesday, the 4th. The usual breathing assessment she does there showed that she actually had higher levels of inflammation of her airways than a few months ago when there. We recently decreased her Flovent inhaler dosage from twice a day to once a day. The pulmonologist was going to make that adjustment at this visit so she was fine with us having done that a week prior. She said the slight increase in inflammation might have been due to the decrease in Flovent, and she needs time to acclamate, or she might be coming down with something over the next week or so.
Anna will go back to see this doctor in late August. If at that time she's been healthy with no major flare ups, she will go off of the Flovent completely. If she has trouble from there, she can simply go back on it. Now, if she has been sick or had trouble with her asthma by the time we go back in August, she will have to continue taking the Flovent. It has been wonderful for her so far.
Her iron has come up a good deal. However, her iron saturation and iron stores are still not where they should be so she has to continue with the iron supplement. When we go back in August, if the levels are still low, she will have to take a larger dose of iron each day. If they are where they should be, she can stop the iron supplement and just take a children's mulitvitamin that has iron in it.
Today, Sunday the 8th, she has a bit of a mucousy cough so we're watching her closely.
MEREDITH
Meredith developed a fever of 102 Friday night. We noticed it around 7 :30 pm, and gave her Tylenol. We had to then give her Motrin at 10:30 pm because it had still not come down with just the Tylenol. I suspected she had an ear infection, yet again. She slept fine until about 4:15 am. She woke up from a cough that had just shown up. It was, of course, as is common with her, a croupy cough. I brought her into our bed so she wouldn't wake up Anna, and we went back to sleep for about 15 minutes. She then woke up again from the cough, and was gasping for air. She was really struggling to get air in, and her chest was caving in when inhaling. She was retracting (breathing abdominally) which is a sign of difficulty breathing. So, Ryan listened to her, and then she and I packed up to head to the ER. Ryan called them to give them the heads up that we were on our way, and filled them in on her symptoms.
We arrived there around 5:20 am, soon received a breathing treatment of cool mist (saline water), and waited to see the doctor. This was the ER I used to work in. The staff were wonderful. About 45 minutes later, the doctor came to assess Mere. She had some wheezing, but overall was doing better than when we had first arrived. She DID have an ear infection and croup, as I suspected. So, the doctor gave us prescriptions for, Orapred (oral prednisone), an antibiotic and told us to use our nebulizer for her as needed (Xopenex). They gave her a dose of the Orapred before we left. At this point, her fever was only 100, and she started to act as though she was on her way to feeling better.
We've been resting all weekend, and she's almost back to her normal spunky self. The Orapred is always great.
Mere was supposed to be rechecked by her ENT this coming Wednesday, the 11th, but the office cancelled our appointment a few days ago. I have rescheduled it for July 2nd. At that time, the ENT will be able to tell us if the fluid in her ears from this hopefully resolved infection that she has now is gone. If so, that's a great sign because her ears have had a lot of trouble with the fluid draining properly, it affects her hearing, and that's why she's been seeing the ENT. If they have not drained properly or the infection is still present, he will be discussing with us the next step to take with treating this recurring problem with her ears.
Thank you everyone for your get well wishes and prayers. The girls, overall, have been quite healthy over the past few months. It's been so encouraging to see the progress Anna's making since we removed the problem foods from her diet.
Anna saw her pulmonologist last Wednesday, the 4th. The usual breathing assessment she does there showed that she actually had higher levels of inflammation of her airways than a few months ago when there. We recently decreased her Flovent inhaler dosage from twice a day to once a day. The pulmonologist was going to make that adjustment at this visit so she was fine with us having done that a week prior. She said the slight increase in inflammation might have been due to the decrease in Flovent, and she needs time to acclamate, or she might be coming down with something over the next week or so.
Anna will go back to see this doctor in late August. If at that time she's been healthy with no major flare ups, she will go off of the Flovent completely. If she has trouble from there, she can simply go back on it. Now, if she has been sick or had trouble with her asthma by the time we go back in August, she will have to continue taking the Flovent. It has been wonderful for her so far.
Her iron has come up a good deal. However, her iron saturation and iron stores are still not where they should be so she has to continue with the iron supplement. When we go back in August, if the levels are still low, she will have to take a larger dose of iron each day. If they are where they should be, she can stop the iron supplement and just take a children's mulitvitamin that has iron in it.
Today, Sunday the 8th, she has a bit of a mucousy cough so we're watching her closely.
MEREDITH
Meredith developed a fever of 102 Friday night. We noticed it around 7 :30 pm, and gave her Tylenol. We had to then give her Motrin at 10:30 pm because it had still not come down with just the Tylenol. I suspected she had an ear infection, yet again. She slept fine until about 4:15 am. She woke up from a cough that had just shown up. It was, of course, as is common with her, a croupy cough. I brought her into our bed so she wouldn't wake up Anna, and we went back to sleep for about 15 minutes. She then woke up again from the cough, and was gasping for air. She was really struggling to get air in, and her chest was caving in when inhaling. She was retracting (breathing abdominally) which is a sign of difficulty breathing. So, Ryan listened to her, and then she and I packed up to head to the ER. Ryan called them to give them the heads up that we were on our way, and filled them in on her symptoms.
We arrived there around 5:20 am, soon received a breathing treatment of cool mist (saline water), and waited to see the doctor. This was the ER I used to work in. The staff were wonderful. About 45 minutes later, the doctor came to assess Mere. She had some wheezing, but overall was doing better than when we had first arrived. She DID have an ear infection and croup, as I suspected. So, the doctor gave us prescriptions for, Orapred (oral prednisone), an antibiotic and told us to use our nebulizer for her as needed (Xopenex). They gave her a dose of the Orapred before we left. At this point, her fever was only 100, and she started to act as though she was on her way to feeling better.
We've been resting all weekend, and she's almost back to her normal spunky self. The Orapred is always great.
Mere was supposed to be rechecked by her ENT this coming Wednesday, the 11th, but the office cancelled our appointment a few days ago. I have rescheduled it for July 2nd. At that time, the ENT will be able to tell us if the fluid in her ears from this hopefully resolved infection that she has now is gone. If so, that's a great sign because her ears have had a lot of trouble with the fluid draining properly, it affects her hearing, and that's why she's been seeing the ENT. If they have not drained properly or the infection is still present, he will be discussing with us the next step to take with treating this recurring problem with her ears.
Thank you everyone for your get well wishes and prayers. The girls, overall, have been quite healthy over the past few months. It's been so encouraging to see the progress Anna's making since we removed the problem foods from her diet.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Update for May
Meredith saw the allergist on Wednesday. She informed us that Meredith's allergy (RAST) testing was great with the exception of three things. Meredith is allergic to eggs. She has a mild allergy to beef, wheat and bananas. We had already removed the eggs from her diet several weeks ago because someone from the allergist's office called to tell us to do so until we saw the doctor again to review the results.
While we were there, she also talked with us about Anna. Anna has been doing well for the past few months. We reviewed her latest lab results. They showed that in addition to her already known allergens, Anna is also allergic to turkey, oranges, banana, corn and sesame. We already knew about the sesame. Her allerginicity to banana and corn is much lower than some of her other foods.
While she is allergic to turkey, the doctor explained to us that some of the protein is changed when the meat is cooked. Some patients with an allergy to that meat are able to eat it in its cooked form.
When Anna saw her gastroenterologist a month ago, he advised us that it was okay to feed her nuts and peanut butter although her testing results showed several nut allergies. He felt that they were low enough to not cause any concern.
The allergist strongly disagreed with him on Wednesday. She explained that Anna already has formed antibodies to the several nuts and peanuts (not actually a nut....a legume). The longer she continues to consume these, the longer she will continue to build more antibodies to them until eventually she produces a strong reaction to them, possibly an anaphylactic reaction. The doctor explained that unlike almost all other food allergies, the allergy to nuts NEVER goes away.
So, our next step is for Ryan and I to sit down this weekend and make a list of what MUST be removed from both of the girls' diets. Then we will make a list of foods that are lower allergens that we will remove some.
We recently stopped giving Anna rice milk and switched to soy milk. She's been okay on it so far, but she doesn't really drink much milk, in any form, anyway.
We will retest Anna for all of these allergies around the age of 9. We are now able to stop giving the Zyrtec every day. If her skin itching returns we will have to keep her on it every day again.
So far it's getting better! She sees her pulmonologist in a few weeks.
While we were there, she also talked with us about Anna. Anna has been doing well for the past few months. We reviewed her latest lab results. They showed that in addition to her already known allergens, Anna is also allergic to turkey, oranges, banana, corn and sesame. We already knew about the sesame. Her allerginicity to banana and corn is much lower than some of her other foods.
While she is allergic to turkey, the doctor explained to us that some of the protein is changed when the meat is cooked. Some patients with an allergy to that meat are able to eat it in its cooked form.
When Anna saw her gastroenterologist a month ago, he advised us that it was okay to feed her nuts and peanut butter although her testing results showed several nut allergies. He felt that they were low enough to not cause any concern.
The allergist strongly disagreed with him on Wednesday. She explained that Anna already has formed antibodies to the several nuts and peanuts (not actually a nut....a legume). The longer she continues to consume these, the longer she will continue to build more antibodies to them until eventually she produces a strong reaction to them, possibly an anaphylactic reaction. The doctor explained that unlike almost all other food allergies, the allergy to nuts NEVER goes away.
So, our next step is for Ryan and I to sit down this weekend and make a list of what MUST be removed from both of the girls' diets. Then we will make a list of foods that are lower allergens that we will remove some.
We recently stopped giving Anna rice milk and switched to soy milk. She's been okay on it so far, but she doesn't really drink much milk, in any form, anyway.
We will retest Anna for all of these allergies around the age of 9. We are now able to stop giving the Zyrtec every day. If her skin itching returns we will have to keep her on it every day again.
So far it's getting better! She sees her pulmonologist in a few weeks.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Meredith's results
Got her lab results today. The only thing she is allergic to is eggs. Thank goodness it's only one thing!
Too bad though. This little girl actually loves eggs.
Too bad though. This little girl actually loves eggs.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Great News!!!
We received the results from Anna's latest lab tests. She is not allergic to anything else we tested for.
Anna saw her gastroenterologist yesterday. They have a dietitian on staff so she saw her as well. The doctor reviewed all of Anna's past lab results and confidently told us that she is not allergic to everything the allergist said she is. He said that even people with no food allergies sometimes show up with a slight positive reaction because we all have antibodies to foods.
So, Anna's diet is no longer as limited as it was. The only things she can NOT have are (in order of severity): eggs, milk, beef and soy. Isn't that great?! We are thrilled!
He did ask us to watch her to see if she possibly has a wheat intolerance (not allergy). He said that a lot of times children have trouble with wheat intolerances. They can have a few crackers and such and not have a problem, but wheat in higher quantities makes them sick. She's not getting a lot of wheat right now so we'll keep an eye on that.
We did discuss the peanut/nut issue. He said that she barely reacted to the nuts and because she has eaten nuts and peanut butter almost every day for three years, it is highly unlikely she'll ever have a negative reaction. He said we can resume feeding her all nuts/nut products!!! She's very happy as she LOVES nuts! You should have seen her little face light up when she heard she can have some of her foods back.
The doctor put her on Prevacid to treat acid reflux. Our insurance does not cover it so the doctor is in the process of trying to get the insurance company to override that and cover it anyway. We should know something about that by next week.
If she is having acid reflux (he's not sure), then by the Prevacid calming that down, we would see a great improvement in her airway inflammation.
We return to see him in three months, end of July. If she has improved by that point, we will just continue with the Prevacid. If she has not improved enough, he will then decide what testing to do. There is some concern about lower GI issues because Anna's daddy has Crohn's Disease, but it wasn't a huge concern to the doctor yesterday.
I will update again next week after I've received Meredith's lab results.
Anna saw her gastroenterologist yesterday. They have a dietitian on staff so she saw her as well. The doctor reviewed all of Anna's past lab results and confidently told us that she is not allergic to everything the allergist said she is. He said that even people with no food allergies sometimes show up with a slight positive reaction because we all have antibodies to foods.
So, Anna's diet is no longer as limited as it was. The only things she can NOT have are (in order of severity): eggs, milk, beef and soy. Isn't that great?! We are thrilled!
He did ask us to watch her to see if she possibly has a wheat intolerance (not allergy). He said that a lot of times children have trouble with wheat intolerances. They can have a few crackers and such and not have a problem, but wheat in higher quantities makes them sick. She's not getting a lot of wheat right now so we'll keep an eye on that.
We did discuss the peanut/nut issue. He said that she barely reacted to the nuts and because she has eaten nuts and peanut butter almost every day for three years, it is highly unlikely she'll ever have a negative reaction. He said we can resume feeding her all nuts/nut products!!! She's very happy as she LOVES nuts! You should have seen her little face light up when she heard she can have some of her foods back.
The doctor put her on Prevacid to treat acid reflux. Our insurance does not cover it so the doctor is in the process of trying to get the insurance company to override that and cover it anyway. We should know something about that by next week.
If she is having acid reflux (he's not sure), then by the Prevacid calming that down, we would see a great improvement in her airway inflammation.
We return to see him in three months, end of July. If she has improved by that point, we will just continue with the Prevacid. If she has not improved enough, he will then decide what testing to do. There is some concern about lower GI issues because Anna's daddy has Crohn's Disease, but it wasn't a huge concern to the doctor yesterday.
I will update again next week after I've received Meredith's lab results.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
New testing complete
Anna saw her pulmonologist last Wednesday. She said she believes that once her food allergies are under better control we will see an improvement in her asthma symptoms, possibly so much that she will be able to stop using the Flovent inhaler twice a day like she is now.
I did bring up with her that the pediatrician did not agree with her regarding Anna's low iron and the need for an iron supplement and that he had told us to stop giving Anna the supplement. She wants us to continue giving Anna the iron supplement, and she will recheck her iron in another 5 to 6 weeks. We see her again in June for a re-check and to go over the results of the iron test Anna will have a week before seeing the doctor.
Meredith saw her pediatrician last Monday for a well visit. Everything checked out fine with the exception of the nurse practitioner's concerns about Meredith's small size. She ranks in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 5th percentile for height. What can we say? She's tiny, but so are most of my family members. She advised us to add olive oil to everything she eats. We won't be doing that. No other doctor she sees is overly concerned about her size once considering her genetics.
She saw our allergist (same as Anna's) yesterday. Skin testing was done. She did not react to anything which was great. She does have exzema on her scalp and we were prescribed a steroidal oil to apply twice a day until it improves. Meredith had blood drawn today to do more allergy testing. She wasn't pleased, but was a trooper. They drew about 9 vials total and we should receive the results in about a week.
They told us while at the lab that Anna's results from last week are in but they are waiting on the pumpkin test result so we should have those completed tomorrow to post for everyone.
I did bring up with her that the pediatrician did not agree with her regarding Anna's low iron and the need for an iron supplement and that he had told us to stop giving Anna the supplement. She wants us to continue giving Anna the iron supplement, and she will recheck her iron in another 5 to 6 weeks. We see her again in June for a re-check and to go over the results of the iron test Anna will have a week before seeing the doctor.
Meredith saw her pediatrician last Monday for a well visit. Everything checked out fine with the exception of the nurse practitioner's concerns about Meredith's small size. She ranks in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 5th percentile for height. What can we say? She's tiny, but so are most of my family members. She advised us to add olive oil to everything she eats. We won't be doing that. No other doctor she sees is overly concerned about her size once considering her genetics.
She saw our allergist (same as Anna's) yesterday. Skin testing was done. She did not react to anything which was great. She does have exzema on her scalp and we were prescribed a steroidal oil to apply twice a day until it improves. Meredith had blood drawn today to do more allergy testing. She wasn't pleased, but was a trooper. They drew about 9 vials total and we should receive the results in about a week.
They told us while at the lab that Anna's results from last week are in but they are waiting on the pumpkin test result so we should have those completed tomorrow to post for everyone.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Until next week...
We took Anna to the lab at the hospital today to get the bloodwork done, but her favorite phlebotomist off today so we'll have to go back Monday. She won't let anyone else draw her blood. This particular lady is absolutely amazing! Anna doesn't even fuss or flinch. She just sits still and talks and laughs for this lady. She makes it painless!
So, Monday it is. We're settling into the diet changes pretty well for not doing it for long.
I'm heading to an allergy seminary at Chamberlain's tomorrow.
So, Monday it is. We're settling into the diet changes pretty well for not doing it for long.
I'm heading to an allergy seminary at Chamberlain's tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Girls' Stories
ANNA
Anna is now 5 years old.
Anna was born 6 1/2 weeks prematurely. At birth, she was not breathing, but within minutes she was successfully breathing on her own. She remained in the NICU for a few days after birth and then went to the Special Care Nursery, a step down from NICU, to finish out her 12 day stay after birth. Her only real issue that kept her from going home was maintaining her body temperature on her own.
When she went on to formula at 10 months old, we had to put her on a hypoallergenic baby formula because she couldn't keep milk and soy based formulas down. A bit after she turned one she went on to soy milk but didn't tolerate it well so we switched to a toddler follow-up sort of formula. Around 18 months she started drinking Lactaid milk. We were told she was lactose intolerant. During the first year of life, she had chronic ear infections and was on a load of antibiotics. Those cleared up when she turned one. During the first year of life, she also dealt with what seemed like almost constant stomach viruses that always left her with vomiting and diarrhea.
At 18 months she had an anaphylactic reaction to something we were never able to identify but believe now was dog hair. Her daycare called Ryan to pick her up because she had a fever, had red welts covering her face and was having a bit of trouble breathing. Within thirty minutes, when they arrived at the ER where I worked, her face swelled so badly I could barely recognize her. She was covered in thick patches of hives all over her face, neck and arms. She could barely breathe and was very agitated. The nurse and doctor were able to treat her with strong doses of antihistamines and breathing treatments to get it all under control. We were most afraid because we had no idea what had caused this reaction. Was it a pet hair reaction, bee/bug bite, or exposure to a food we didn't know she was allergic to?
A few weeks later, she and I were out one day at the farmers' market when a dog sniffed her face. Within minutes, the same symptoms began to reappear. I ran with her in the stroller back to our car and rushed her to the ER. Again, they were able to take care of her because I reacted quickly.
When Anna turned two, she was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease (asthma). She was put on a Flovent inhaler with an air chamber/spacer. Every time Anna would get a cold, it was always a bit more than a cold and would take longer to go away.
When Anna turned four her ear infections returned but not often. Her asthma seemed to start getting worse and we noticed that when she was exposed to dogs or cats she would have an asthmatic reaction but then be sick for several days to weeks following that. When she got a cold, it turned into much more than that for at least a few weeks. She started missing a lot of school because she was too sick to go or on breathing treatments too many times in a day to take her in to school.
She spent her fifth birthday in the ER. A few weeks prior to this, Anna had an allergic reaction to something that irritated her asthma. She ended up with a high fever for a few days, a lot of chest congestion and wheezing, strep throat and a double ear infection. The night of her birthday, I put Anna to bed at 8 pm. She couldn't stop coughing for what seemed like an eternity. Her cough would not stop long enough for her to lay her head back to relax and take a good breath. Around 1 am she came into our room because she was quite anxious. Ryan continuously monitored her BP and respiration and listened to her lungs. By 3 am she was extremely hyperverbal and still had not slept a wink or had a break from the coughing. The coughing had been almost constant. She started to get quite upset and asked repeatedly to be taken to the hospital. Ryan took her at 3:30 am once we realized she was really struggling to breathe at this point.
When they arrived at the ER, her oxygen saturation, the percent of oxygen able to get into her blood, was dangerously low at 89%. Her temp was 103.3 F and her heart rate was very elevated. She was soon to be admitted to another campus when shift change occurred and because she was stable when the new doctor checked her stats, he sent her home. The next day I asked her pediatrician to see her. He refused. I didn't understand why. After much arguing, he agreed to see her. Once he realized how serious she was, he offered to direct admit her to a nearby hospital but left the decision up to us. We decided to keep her home and take him up on the direct admit if she got worse through the night. Late that night (the day after her birthday) her fever reached 104.2 F. After Motrin, a nap, and a lot of prayer, she just sort of snapped out of it and started to improve. After about three weeks total of being sick, on several medications the entire time and missing a lot of school, Anna seemed to get better. She returned to school for a few days, but we had the teacher keep her inside during playground time.
A week after getting better, her symptoms returned. She got very sick again and ended up on more medications. At this point she was on Omnicef & Zithromax (two antibiotics), Orapred (oral prednisone), Albuterol or DuoNeb and Pulmicort in her nebulizer, and Tylenol and Motrin. She became quite mean and aggressive as a result of taking so many steroids. A few weeks later she was better again.
At this point, I decided to find a new pediatrician. While waiting to see the new ped, I took Anna to see a Pediatric Pulmonologist. The nurse practitioner saw her and decided to make some changes in her medications. She no longer would take the Albuterol and Pulmicort in her nebulizer. She would now use Xopenex in her nebulizer, Flovent inhaler w/spacer and Singulair chewable. She would use Xopenex or Albuterol in her nebulizer for rescue situations if necessary. The pulmo's office is also a sleep lab. Because Anna is quite a restless sleeper, the NP ran labs to check her iron and test for several allergies. She told me the results showed that Anna's iron was drastically low and started her on a liquid iron supplement. She also told us to remove all dairy, eggs, soy and wheat from Anna's diet. She also tested positive to dust mites, dogs, cats, pigweed and oat tree.
Anna soon saw her new pediatrician who specializes in asthma. He reviewed all of Anna's charts including info from the pulmo's office and decided to send her to an allergist.
The allergist also treats asthma. We saw the NP there as well. She is wonderful. She did skin testing which revealed Anna's allergic to pork and lamb. She prescribed an inhaler called Proair w/spacer for rescue when we are not at home and don't have access to the nebulizer. She also started Anna on Zyrtec (antihistamine). We also have several EpiPens to administer epinephrine in the event she ever has an anaphylactic reaction that may be fatal and closes off her airways. One is placed at her school. The allergist explained that Anna is also have histamines inside her body going crazy because of all the things her body is reacting to. She believes that Anna possibly still has GERD which she had quite badly as a baby and maybe some gastroenteritis as well. She explained that she probably has hives in her bowel at times from all of the allergic reactions occurring inside her body from the foods that are aggravating her immune system.
A little over a week ago Anna was exposed to a dog. The contact was extremely minimal yet she broke out in hives within minutes. This is a reaction she hasn't had externally in over three years.
The allergist sent us for lab work to test for allergies to several more food items. The new results showed Anna is also allergic to all nuts (including tree nuts), beef, pork, chicken and lamb.
Anna saw her pediatrician yesterday, a different one in the practice, who told us that there was never anything wrong with her iron levels and that she should not have been placed on an iron supplement.
Anna saw her allergist again this morning. She sent Anna's records to the Pediatric Gastro for their review. The gastro wasn't able to see her until the middle of July. However, once he reviewed Anna's records he was able to make the decision that he needed to see her much sooner. She will see the gastro at Nemours Children's Clinic on Thursday, April 24th. At this time, he will be able to set Anna up with a Dietitian we're hoping who will help make sure that Anna receives proper nutrition while eating a very limited diet. He will also be able to look farther into the possibility of her still having GERD (acid reflux) and any lower GI issues.
We return to the lab tomorrow for more bloodwork. This time we will be testing for all the foods in the post below. Some of these foods are the only alternatives to the foods mentioned above that she can not have. We need to be certain she's not also allergic to these before we use them.
For now, Anna's on Rice Milk, Rice cheese slices, allergen-free (gluten, soy, milk, nut, egg, wheat-free foods made in a totally allergen-free facility with no possibility of cross contamination with allergens) cereal, snack bars, cookies, pancake mix, chips/crackers, bagels, fruits, veggies, juice and fish. She eats SunButter which is made from sunflower seeds and is an alternative to peanut butter, made in an allergen-free facility. When we see the gastro, we will be discussing testing and treatment for any vitamin/nutrient deficiencies she may have or end up having due to this very limited diet.
She saw the ENT a month ago. The fluid from her prior double ear infection is almost gone. She will return to the ENT in another month to make sure her ears are empty of fluid and that they are responding properly to sound again. They were not responding to sound exactly as they should be, but the dr was quite certain they would in another month's time.
MEREDITH
Meredith is 2 1/2. She was born healthy and quite unhappy, three days late.
At 7 weeks of age, after many weeks of screaming and not keeping much down, we found through testing that she was allergic to milk and lactose and had to be put on the same hypoallergenic formula that Anna was on at one point. She also had reflux. At 8 weeks old we started putting baby cereal in her bottle to help thicken her formula to get it to stay down better since her reflux was bad (under dr's advisement). At 8 weeks she slept through the night and then some! This was something that Anna NEVER did and still does not do. Meredith became a new baby and was usually always happy, but a bit high maintenance.
She never got sick until she was about 1. Around that time she got croup. She got croup two other times after that all in one year. She also ended up with her first double ear infection. From there she's had a few more. She's had her share of visits to the ER as well.
When Anna dealt with that three week time of being very sick around her birthday this year, Meredith was also quite sick. Meredith was also on Zithromax, Orapred, Oral Albuterol and a decongestant.
She saw the ENT who found that the fluid in her ears wasn't empying in a timely manor. Because of this, her ears were not responding properly to sound, especially her right ear which was not responding at all. She returns to the ENT within the next several weeks to retest her ears.
Our new pediatrician diagnosed Meredith with asthma when we saw him a few weeks ago. We will use the same medication we use for Anna in the nebulizer (Xopenex or Albuterol), for Meredith when she has an exascerbation (flare up of asthma). So far, she's been fine.
Meredith will see the pediatrician again on Monday, April 14th for a check-up.
She will see the allergist on Monday, April 21st to begin testing her through labwork for food allergies as we believe she is allergic to dairy and soy as well.
Anna is now 5 years old.
Anna was born 6 1/2 weeks prematurely. At birth, she was not breathing, but within minutes she was successfully breathing on her own. She remained in the NICU for a few days after birth and then went to the Special Care Nursery, a step down from NICU, to finish out her 12 day stay after birth. Her only real issue that kept her from going home was maintaining her body temperature on her own.
When she went on to formula at 10 months old, we had to put her on a hypoallergenic baby formula because she couldn't keep milk and soy based formulas down. A bit after she turned one she went on to soy milk but didn't tolerate it well so we switched to a toddler follow-up sort of formula. Around 18 months she started drinking Lactaid milk. We were told she was lactose intolerant. During the first year of life, she had chronic ear infections and was on a load of antibiotics. Those cleared up when she turned one. During the first year of life, she also dealt with what seemed like almost constant stomach viruses that always left her with vomiting and diarrhea.
At 18 months she had an anaphylactic reaction to something we were never able to identify but believe now was dog hair. Her daycare called Ryan to pick her up because she had a fever, had red welts covering her face and was having a bit of trouble breathing. Within thirty minutes, when they arrived at the ER where I worked, her face swelled so badly I could barely recognize her. She was covered in thick patches of hives all over her face, neck and arms. She could barely breathe and was very agitated. The nurse and doctor were able to treat her with strong doses of antihistamines and breathing treatments to get it all under control. We were most afraid because we had no idea what had caused this reaction. Was it a pet hair reaction, bee/bug bite, or exposure to a food we didn't know she was allergic to?
A few weeks later, she and I were out one day at the farmers' market when a dog sniffed her face. Within minutes, the same symptoms began to reappear. I ran with her in the stroller back to our car and rushed her to the ER. Again, they were able to take care of her because I reacted quickly.
When Anna turned two, she was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease (asthma). She was put on a Flovent inhaler with an air chamber/spacer. Every time Anna would get a cold, it was always a bit more than a cold and would take longer to go away.
When Anna turned four her ear infections returned but not often. Her asthma seemed to start getting worse and we noticed that when she was exposed to dogs or cats she would have an asthmatic reaction but then be sick for several days to weeks following that. When she got a cold, it turned into much more than that for at least a few weeks. She started missing a lot of school because she was too sick to go or on breathing treatments too many times in a day to take her in to school.
She spent her fifth birthday in the ER. A few weeks prior to this, Anna had an allergic reaction to something that irritated her asthma. She ended up with a high fever for a few days, a lot of chest congestion and wheezing, strep throat and a double ear infection. The night of her birthday, I put Anna to bed at 8 pm. She couldn't stop coughing for what seemed like an eternity. Her cough would not stop long enough for her to lay her head back to relax and take a good breath. Around 1 am she came into our room because she was quite anxious. Ryan continuously monitored her BP and respiration and listened to her lungs. By 3 am she was extremely hyperverbal and still had not slept a wink or had a break from the coughing. The coughing had been almost constant. She started to get quite upset and asked repeatedly to be taken to the hospital. Ryan took her at 3:30 am once we realized she was really struggling to breathe at this point.
When they arrived at the ER, her oxygen saturation, the percent of oxygen able to get into her blood, was dangerously low at 89%. Her temp was 103.3 F and her heart rate was very elevated. She was soon to be admitted to another campus when shift change occurred and because she was stable when the new doctor checked her stats, he sent her home. The next day I asked her pediatrician to see her. He refused. I didn't understand why. After much arguing, he agreed to see her. Once he realized how serious she was, he offered to direct admit her to a nearby hospital but left the decision up to us. We decided to keep her home and take him up on the direct admit if she got worse through the night. Late that night (the day after her birthday) her fever reached 104.2 F. After Motrin, a nap, and a lot of prayer, she just sort of snapped out of it and started to improve. After about three weeks total of being sick, on several medications the entire time and missing a lot of school, Anna seemed to get better. She returned to school for a few days, but we had the teacher keep her inside during playground time.
A week after getting better, her symptoms returned. She got very sick again and ended up on more medications. At this point she was on Omnicef & Zithromax (two antibiotics), Orapred (oral prednisone), Albuterol or DuoNeb and Pulmicort in her nebulizer, and Tylenol and Motrin. She became quite mean and aggressive as a result of taking so many steroids. A few weeks later she was better again.
At this point, I decided to find a new pediatrician. While waiting to see the new ped, I took Anna to see a Pediatric Pulmonologist. The nurse practitioner saw her and decided to make some changes in her medications. She no longer would take the Albuterol and Pulmicort in her nebulizer. She would now use Xopenex in her nebulizer, Flovent inhaler w/spacer and Singulair chewable. She would use Xopenex or Albuterol in her nebulizer for rescue situations if necessary. The pulmo's office is also a sleep lab. Because Anna is quite a restless sleeper, the NP ran labs to check her iron and test for several allergies. She told me the results showed that Anna's iron was drastically low and started her on a liquid iron supplement. She also told us to remove all dairy, eggs, soy and wheat from Anna's diet. She also tested positive to dust mites, dogs, cats, pigweed and oat tree.
Anna soon saw her new pediatrician who specializes in asthma. He reviewed all of Anna's charts including info from the pulmo's office and decided to send her to an allergist.
The allergist also treats asthma. We saw the NP there as well. She is wonderful. She did skin testing which revealed Anna's allergic to pork and lamb. She prescribed an inhaler called Proair w/spacer for rescue when we are not at home and don't have access to the nebulizer. She also started Anna on Zyrtec (antihistamine). We also have several EpiPens to administer epinephrine in the event she ever has an anaphylactic reaction that may be fatal and closes off her airways. One is placed at her school. The allergist explained that Anna is also have histamines inside her body going crazy because of all the things her body is reacting to. She believes that Anna possibly still has GERD which she had quite badly as a baby and maybe some gastroenteritis as well. She explained that she probably has hives in her bowel at times from all of the allergic reactions occurring inside her body from the foods that are aggravating her immune system.
A little over a week ago Anna was exposed to a dog. The contact was extremely minimal yet she broke out in hives within minutes. This is a reaction she hasn't had externally in over three years.
The allergist sent us for lab work to test for allergies to several more food items. The new results showed Anna is also allergic to all nuts (including tree nuts), beef, pork, chicken and lamb.
Anna saw her pediatrician yesterday, a different one in the practice, who told us that there was never anything wrong with her iron levels and that she should not have been placed on an iron supplement.
Anna saw her allergist again this morning. She sent Anna's records to the Pediatric Gastro for their review. The gastro wasn't able to see her until the middle of July. However, once he reviewed Anna's records he was able to make the decision that he needed to see her much sooner. She will see the gastro at Nemours Children's Clinic on Thursday, April 24th. At this time, he will be able to set Anna up with a Dietitian we're hoping who will help make sure that Anna receives proper nutrition while eating a very limited diet. He will also be able to look farther into the possibility of her still having GERD (acid reflux) and any lower GI issues.
We return to the lab tomorrow for more bloodwork. This time we will be testing for all the foods in the post below. Some of these foods are the only alternatives to the foods mentioned above that she can not have. We need to be certain she's not also allergic to these before we use them.
For now, Anna's on Rice Milk, Rice cheese slices, allergen-free (gluten, soy, milk, nut, egg, wheat-free foods made in a totally allergen-free facility with no possibility of cross contamination with allergens) cereal, snack bars, cookies, pancake mix, chips/crackers, bagels, fruits, veggies, juice and fish. She eats SunButter which is made from sunflower seeds and is an alternative to peanut butter, made in an allergen-free facility. When we see the gastro, we will be discussing testing and treatment for any vitamin/nutrient deficiencies she may have or end up having due to this very limited diet.
She saw the ENT a month ago. The fluid from her prior double ear infection is almost gone. She will return to the ENT in another month to make sure her ears are empty of fluid and that they are responding properly to sound again. They were not responding to sound exactly as they should be, but the dr was quite certain they would in another month's time.
MEREDITH
Meredith is 2 1/2. She was born healthy and quite unhappy, three days late.
At 7 weeks of age, after many weeks of screaming and not keeping much down, we found through testing that she was allergic to milk and lactose and had to be put on the same hypoallergenic formula that Anna was on at one point. She also had reflux. At 8 weeks old we started putting baby cereal in her bottle to help thicken her formula to get it to stay down better since her reflux was bad (under dr's advisement). At 8 weeks she slept through the night and then some! This was something that Anna NEVER did and still does not do. Meredith became a new baby and was usually always happy, but a bit high maintenance.
She never got sick until she was about 1. Around that time she got croup. She got croup two other times after that all in one year. She also ended up with her first double ear infection. From there she's had a few more. She's had her share of visits to the ER as well.
When Anna dealt with that three week time of being very sick around her birthday this year, Meredith was also quite sick. Meredith was also on Zithromax, Orapred, Oral Albuterol and a decongestant.
She saw the ENT who found that the fluid in her ears wasn't empying in a timely manor. Because of this, her ears were not responding properly to sound, especially her right ear which was not responding at all. She returns to the ENT within the next several weeks to retest her ears.
Our new pediatrician diagnosed Meredith with asthma when we saw him a few weeks ago. We will use the same medication we use for Anna in the nebulizer (Xopenex or Albuterol), for Meredith when she has an exascerbation (flare up of asthma). So far, she's been fine.
Meredith will see the pediatrician again on Monday, April 14th for a check-up.
She will see the allergist on Monday, April 21st to begin testing her through labwork for food allergies as we believe she is allergic to dairy and soy as well.
Updating here from now on.....
I've decided this is much easier to do in order to keep everyone updated on what our girls are going through. Everyone can just come to this blog site to catch up.
I will post on here at least once a week or as we have new information.
As of today, Anna will be having more lab work done tomorrow afternoon to test for all of the following food allergies:
codfish
flounder
salmon
shrimp
trout
tuna
turkey
apple
banana
coconut
grape
melon
orange
peach
pear
strawberry
watermelon
green bean
broccoli
carrot
corn
green pea
white potato
pumpkin
sunflower seed
oat
macadamia nut
baker's yeast
brewer's yeast
She just received an appt to see the Pediatric Gastroenterologist for Thursday, April 24th! So we only have two weeks to go for that. We were going to have to wait for three months, but after the dr reviewed Anna's records and results from the allergist, he decided he wanted to get her in soon and made room for us.
I will have the results for the above foods early next week, and will post again at that time.
Anna goes back to her pulmonologist on Wednesday, April 16th for a re-check since starting some new meds for asthma maintenance.
Meredith will see the pediatrician on Monday, April 14th for her check-up and to recheck her ears. The last test a few weeks ago at the ENT showed her right ear drum still wasn't responding much to sound. When she saw the pediatrician a week and a half ago, the fluid was pretty much gone from her ears, yet her ear drum still wasn't responding to sound like they would hope it would.
Meredith will see the allergist on Monday, April 21st to start the blood testing for food allergies. We believe she has at least a few. As a baby, we had positive test results that she did. She was also recently diagnosed with asthma so she will continue to see this allergist because they treat both asthma and allergies. We have been very pleased with this dr and the office.
I will post on here at least once a week or as we have new information.
As of today, Anna will be having more lab work done tomorrow afternoon to test for all of the following food allergies:
codfish
flounder
salmon
shrimp
trout
tuna
turkey
apple
banana
coconut
grape
melon
orange
peach
pear
strawberry
watermelon
green bean
broccoli
carrot
corn
green pea
white potato
pumpkin
sunflower seed
oat
macadamia nut
baker's yeast
brewer's yeast
She just received an appt to see the Pediatric Gastroenterologist for Thursday, April 24th! So we only have two weeks to go for that. We were going to have to wait for three months, but after the dr reviewed Anna's records and results from the allergist, he decided he wanted to get her in soon and made room for us.
I will have the results for the above foods early next week, and will post again at that time.
Anna goes back to her pulmonologist on Wednesday, April 16th for a re-check since starting some new meds for asthma maintenance.
Meredith will see the pediatrician on Monday, April 14th for her check-up and to recheck her ears. The last test a few weeks ago at the ENT showed her right ear drum still wasn't responding much to sound. When she saw the pediatrician a week and a half ago, the fluid was pretty much gone from her ears, yet her ear drum still wasn't responding to sound like they would hope it would.
Meredith will see the allergist on Monday, April 21st to start the blood testing for food allergies. We believe she has at least a few. As a baby, we had positive test results that she did. She was also recently diagnosed with asthma so she will continue to see this allergist because they treat both asthma and allergies. We have been very pleased with this dr and the office.
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