It was Easter sunday, we had attended a few small family gatherings, and closely monitored not only what Connor ate, but also what everyone else was eating around him. By now, my mommy senses are pretty keen, and both grandmas had consulted me on menu options, so I was pretty confident the day could be enjoyed by all. In true Connor style, he wanted no part of the foods prepared especially for him, and instead went for his old standby - hot dogs and Oreos. Like a college kid lives on Ramen, my toddler lives on Oreos and hot dogs. Strangely enough, he's still small for his age/height. Do you have any idea how big I'd be if I gorged myself on hot dogs and Oreos everyday????
Back to the mystery. While visiting my mon that afternoon, Connor had been digging at his arm, and after closer inspection, we figured it was a contact reaction, such as cat hair or dog licking. Gave him some Benadryl and all was well. Fast forward through the evening, we get him ready for bed, and put him down for the night. Or so we thought. He kept whining and squirming for over 2 hours, which is not normal for him. I went to check on him, noticed he was scratching again, and unzipped his jammies to find he was absolutely covered in hives. Keep in mind this is a good 8 hours after he last ate, and that was safe food. I was ready to call the nurse line or take him to the ER as we had never seen hives present on him like this. My husband said to give him Benadryl and see what happened. He didn't seem to be having any respiratory distress, so I reluctantly decided to monitor at home for a while. About 20 minutes later the hives subsided, so we changed him and his bedding and he was fine for the rest of the night. I wanted to make an appointment with the allergist, my husband disagreed, saying it was an isolated incident. I made the appointment anyway, and when I told my husband the next afternoon that the hives were back, he agreed Connor needed to be seen. Now, I don't make it a habit to go against what my husband says, but I am Connor's primary caretaker, and I'm the one who deals with all of the issues surrounding the allergy, so I think (and my husband is in total agreement) that I have complete carte blanche when it comes to Connor's allergy care, simply because I know more about it, the reactions, the connections, all that good stuff.
We couldn't get in for four days, but I caught the doc before he left that Monday and he had me do an aggressive round of Benadryl and steroids to keep him under control until he could be seen, and he asked me to bring the photos that I had the presence of mind to take as documentation. Four days, $550 (insurance covered a good chunk of that) and a few dozen allergen pinpricks later, we had no idea what was causing the hives. Or why they show up so randomly. We were instructed to give him an anthistimine daily, and we were given a standing order for children's oral prednisone for when he gets really bar. Now prednisone is a nasty drug, both in terms of taste and side effects, but they have a new chewable children's version that tastes way better (and costs WAY more!). So for now, we're managing, but the mystery deepens...
Yesterday he was covered in itchy little pinprick bumps, not hives. What the $#%*?!?!?!
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