Look! I figured out pictures!! So now you will all get a mini photo history of Hazel's trip to the allergist yesterday. Ooh exciting! I can see you all shaking in your boots.
First of all we hung out in the exam room. Everyone was pretty happy. There was talk of prickles, but no one seemed overly concerned. And of course there is always the pride that you, yes you, are the reason for the visit. How exciting to the be the center of attention! Who cares what the reason might be!
Then the lovely nurse came in and listened to breath sounds and checked pulse rate and generally got a good baseline. Hazel thought all the this was marvelous. Took it very seriously until the nurse starting writing numbers on her back. Then she couldn't stop giggling. It tickled!
Then the prickles started. They were not fun at all.
And then even after the nurse had wiped off the allergens so that Daddy didn't have to hold Hazel's hair any more, it wasn't any better because her back itched and was sore.
I don't know how well you can see the weals, but the big one on the right is Hazelnut and another to the left is Walnut. She was eating Hazelnuts in October, but now they are out, along with Pecans, Walnuts and Brazilnuts. Almonds and Cashews were okay both with the blood and skin prick, but Hazel needs to avoid them because of possible cross-contamination at the processing factory. However we can have them in the house. So we can still eat Dundee cake and marzipan as long as Hazel doesn't eat it.
You might notice some big weals on the bottom row as well. Lobster was positive and with her history, all crustaceans are now out. I think we will probably just avoid all shellfish. Why risk it when corn chowder is as good as clam?
After 15 mins the nurse measured the weals and noted them down and they went in the file. Then some benedryl gel and a purple and green pinwheel and all was well.
Finally you all get a photo of Hazel with her new allergist. He thinks that she has reached an age where we should pretty much stop seeing new allergies (fingers crossed) and we have crossed the point where we need to worry about wheat, corn, soy or dairy popping up. We hope so, but as I was saying, she was eating hazelnuts in Oct. We now have two new epipens since the Dr was worried about Americans getting confused by the French anipens. Whatever. Now we have 4 in total so they will be easier to spread around. And Jon needs to start remembering to carry the manpurse he bought in France so he has a means of carrying something that big with him all the time.
Now when we come visit you all get to share our joy as you clear out your house of all nuts and crustaceans.
2 comments:
is it really this easy to comment? I couldn't figure it out before, and feel foolish.
I LOVE your blog. You write like a dream, the pix are perfect, and even though I had to google Dav Pilkey to remember who he is, I'm loving every word.
Oh Hazel, I'm so sympathetic. When I return from Salt Lake, I'm going to do a spring clean and rid the kitchen of every single thing. I know the dog could be a problem, though Dana isn't doing way better with Maggie than he did with Ali. Maybe we can get Katie to give her teeny apartment over to wall to wall blow up beds for your family while you're here...
I think Lavinia meant to say that Dana IS doing way better with Maggie than Ali. Her hair is shorter with less dander, and she seems to only shed a few times a year, unlike Ali who shed constantly.
What a bummer about all of Hazel's allergies. Hopefully she is still young and doesn't get yet all the things she won't be able to eat. Not that it makes it better, but still. If she is like me, when she grows up she can use her food problems and become obsessed with cooking yummy things that she can have and the whole family can reap the benefits.
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