Our family has had an emotional, & jam-packed, fast-paced last few weeks.
First of all, my computer has been acting up--I have had to run our virus scan a couple (or more) times a day.
And today it froze up, & lost 1 1/2 hours (according to the computer clock--no wonder dinner was so late **ha, ha**)
But that is just mild, compared to what has happened the rest of the time.
Callum, our 4th child with special needs, has had extreme eczema for most of his life (I always thought this wasn't "fair" since he has so many other challenges to deal with). But he has been a trooper, tried his hardest not to itch his itchy skin, & has lived with the fact that his skin was always full of scabs & dryness.
We had tried all the prescriptions, OTC medicines, & even home remedies. So many people have offered advice & suggestions on what worked for them. We saw a dermatologist, & finally in June, our family doctor said we needed to do the dreaded skin allergy test.
So we set an appointment for when we got back from our vacation in Wyoming.
Callum went to the allergist (the #1 in our area) the Monday after we got our puppy.
I didn't tell him what was going to happen until we were already in the office (I didn't need to have him freaked out sooner than necessary). His first test was an asthma blow test, where he blows into a machine & tries to blow out 10 birthday light candles.
He was able to blow out 2 or 3 of them.
Then the dreaded skin test. They tested him for 84 things, & the technician told him that it would be itchy, but not too bad. So the poor kid laid on his tummy while she poked his back (& he is skin & bones).
Then she told him he had to lay very still for 12 minutes to let the serum do it's job (irritate his skin), & left. The poor kid started to have reactions immediately. He said he felt like he was getting stung by a bee, over, & over, & over, & over. Callum was screaming so loud, that I thought everyone would be coming in to see if he was dying. He had a juice to drink while we waited, & he chewed that straw to pieces because of the intense pain he was in.
This in not a picture of his back, (because I forgot mine), but the biggest welt you see on the left side was the smallest welts that formed on his back. When the technician came in 1/2 way through, she told Callum she was so sorry that she had told him that this testing wasn't that bad. She had never seen such a powerful, fast, & severe reaction in a child. His whole back was covered in the welts.
I have a hard time writing about this because it was something that I was putting him through. It was one of the longest 12 minutes I have ever had to endure (& I can't imagine how painful it was for Callum!!!!).
When they came in to wipe off the test site, Callum thought he was out of the woods, but then they needed to map his back with the reactions, & that took about 10-15 minutes.
We used almost 1 tube of the cream to help alleviate the itchiness & swelling. He was given a high-dosage shot immediately, & some Benadryl also. I was just thankful that his reaction was hives & not closure of the throat.
Callum had allergic reactions to 65 of the 84 items tested. Thankfully (I think), he isn't allergic to a lot of food--his top 3 that we need to eliminate from his diet are green beans (Yay, he shouts, because he hates them); cantaloupe (but not watermelon)--a bit sad on this one because he likes cantaloupe, but he can cope/live without that; & the last 1 & hardest one: EGGS--all kinds & whites & yolks both. He loves his daddy's omelette's, scrambled eggs & German pancakes.
The doctor wants to treat this aggressively, so he is currently have allergy shots 2 times a week (1 time a week when school starts), has 2 asthma inhalers, & 3 different syrup prescriptions he takes. Plus he has an ointment for eczema outbreaks.
So that has meant 2 trips to town a week, along with the other scheduled appointments we have had. Unfortunately, the office is closed on Fridays, so we will have to come in on a school day. The office is opened until 5:45 on Thursdays, so we will probably try to go in on that day during the school year.
Callum is most allergic to weeds, ,most grasses, a lot of trees, & also molds, dusts, & environmentals (tobacco, pollens). So the shots help counter those reactions, along with his prescriptions.
His skin nearly cleared up after the first week of the shots/meds. And the first 2 weeks he really hasn't itched. Then Sunday we ate macaroni, & he emptied our dust-buster, & soon he was scratching. I forgot that a lot of noodles have eggs, & if he wanted to vacuum under the table, who was going to complain??? We are both still learning & will need to be more aware.
Alright--there is so much more with Callum, but I need to get to bed. And that is just with Callum--I have more to blog about our emotional last few weeks.
Zane got a kitten from a friend. Emmalee loves playing with him!
Emmalee shut her finger in the front door. It bled for a couple of hours--I took her to Urgent Care to see if she needed stitches (she didn't). 
It still looks yucky!
So that was 2 trips to the dentist to get them fixed.
Benjamin is now 10 months old--and loves to walk & push toys.
He is getting a ride on the mini 4-wheeler Callum bought at DI.
Thank goodness someone cleans at our house!!!! :)
All tuckered out after a long day at football games.
Ethan playing football (#30 white).
Nice block, Ethan!
Zane at his football game. 
