Allergist Appointment

Aurora and Alex had appointments with their Asthma and Allergy specialist today. For Alex, this was a followup on his antibiotics for the sinus infection and his eczema. His sinus infection is gone, but the foam stuff she gave me for his eczema made it much worse! She gave me another prescription for some steroid cream, but I think I will just stick with Eucerin for now, it at least keeps it under control. I may also try a few things some friends have recommended. As I expected, she discharged him from her care. He tested negative for allergies and does not seem to have asthma, so there is really no reason for him to see her. We followup with the ENT regarding his sinuses on October 22nd, and I'll talk to his pediatrician about his eczema at his 2 year appointment.

For Aurora, this was a pre-season appointment to discuss our game plan for the season ahead. In previous years, Aurora has coughed constantly from October until May. She has tested negative for allergies, but they think she has some sort of seasonal allergy related asthma. Last year, her coughing was down a LOT and we had absolutely no issues this summer so I am hopeful she is growing out of it and this season will be even better. Right now she has no symptoms at all, so the current plan is to have Pulmicort on hand and if she starts showing signs to begin using it once a day. We are also keeping her on the Singular.

That's the latest news!

Chronic Sinusitis

This is what Alex's Allergist thinks he has, based on the the results of the X-rays. It is basically where the sinuses are inflamed all of the time. It can lead to constant sinus infections, and according to the x-ray Alex actually has an infection right now. There are many different things that can cause chronic sinusitis - a deviated septum, narrow sinus passageways, nasal polyps, too much fungus production, or a combination. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to have a CT scan done, which at his age requires sedation. My boss was actually diagnosed with this a few years ago and had surgery for a deviated septum and is going back in surgery this fall to open up his nasal passageways. Depending on the cause, there is a variety of treatments - surgery, antibiotics, steroids, daily nasal flushing. So the plan of action is to take his x-rays to his ENT and get his opinion. From there we will discuss the CT scan. Unfortunately the only day I could get an appointment with the ENT was on his birthday, October 22nd. Poor guy! For now he is on antibiotics for his current sinus infection (this explains why he has been extra cranky this week!) and I am going to start rinsing his nose with saline spray daily.

Allergy Testing

Well Alex had his allergy testing today. I felt so bad for him, his back is ticklish and so he was laughing his butt off while she was marking the grid on his back, and then she started poking him and he just looked at me like I had betrayed him and starting crying and screaming...ug...you would think with all of the technology we have now there would be an easier way to do this! Anyway the good news is that he is not allergic to anything! They tested him for the most common food allergies, tons of plant allergies, cats, dogs, mold, dust mites, etc and he didn't have a reaction to any of them. The bad news is that we still don't know why he has always been draining/congested since he was 6 months old! The doctor thinks it might be some problem with his sinuses, since the drainage is always yellow or green. She wants us to have an Xray done of his face to look at his sinuses. She also gave me some stuff to try on his eczema, it's this foam stuff called Verdeso, but it seems to be making it worse. She also suggested trying Vanicream Skin Cream so I just started trying that tonight.