HAPPY UP-DOSE (BACK-DOWN) DAY!

Don't let the title of this blog fool you- it is Coby's up-dose day!!! It is MY back that is down :(. Thankfully there was no snow today (though I was concerned about the roads up there being clear from the bit we got yesterday--- the roads thank goodness were fantastic- though it was snowing up in New York as we drove through- but nothing too bad. Worse than the snow were the several new pot holes that did not exist last time we up-dosed), but my back started acting up again a bit last night. I wore my back brace for several hours but this morning it was still not a happy back. I had to wear a medicated back patch, took some meds and wore my back brace a bit this morning and afternoon hoping I'd still be able to drive up to Suffern. Thank goodness it all worked out!

After all I really had no choice since we were basically completely out of Coby's dosage! Yitz had to help me the last several days holding that glass jar (CAREFULLY AS NOT TO SHATTER IT) at an angle as I tried to get the syringe and my fingers into the glass to pull up enough liquid (and it was quite a feat to do it without bringing up air-bubbles) to dose him. We were basically scraping the bottom of the barrel.

He had been on this current dose for an extra 4 days due to the snowstorm we had last Thursday, Today's dose he will be on for the next 10 days since we cannot updose him THIS Thursday, just three days away since that would be dangerous.

Coby was excited I had to pull him out of school over an hour early to get to his appointment. I was excited that I wouldn't be driving in the dark at all this round! When we got there Coby was excited to see Dr. Selter and even had another doctor come up to him (who he hadn't met before) who said, "I know you. I read your blog and tell all my patients to read it too." Cool!

So same ol'- vital checks, peak function, lungs, pulse, blood pressure, blood oxygen, temperature taking and he was good to updose!

25mg (1/11th of a peanut)

BUT.... the peanut concentrate was now ten times stronger than it had been yesterday! (Yesterday he was on 20mg at 8ml of koolaid, while today was 25mg at 1ml). He did NOT like the taste. After dosing he downed his cup of water really quickly as he was still scowling from the after-taste.

(After each dose the child is supposed to rinse with water to make sure no residue is on his lips, gums, throat or cheeks. He rinses it down. Kids who don't do this tend to get itchiness in their throat and on their mouth from a contact reaction.)

Thank goodness it all went well, BUT we witnessed the child next to him have an anaphyalctic reaction. In a way it was 'good' to witness it in that we saw how it happened and how fast the staff responded. In fact the child (looked to be about 12) and his mom were completely calm this entire time. (My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest.) This particular child actually successfully completed his peanut OIT and was doing day one today for a wheat allergy. First his eyes felt itchy, then they began to swell, then his throat felt itchy and then hives started popping out.

A couple of doctors and nurses came in and quickly decided to epi him. They didn't use an epipen but they used the real stuff hospitals use. No need to rush the child to the hospital because this place was completely equipped to handle it.

On the way home Coby and I discussed it. We discussed how important it is to tell someone when you feel 'off' and how when they needed to epi the boy nobody freaked out and how the epi helped reverse the symptoms. I did get a little bit alarmed when Coby kept exclaiming, "I am so tired mom," which is very unlike him. I know feeling 'sleepy' can be a sign of a reaction. In fact you cannot allow your child to sleep for the first hour after dosing--- but we were past the first hour. I just kept on driving, talking to Coby and stealing glances at him in the rear-view mirror.

We are now at the two hour mark and he feels a bit tired, but is doing okay. So pheeeeew- another successful updose! And he is now holding at 1/11th of a peanut. CRAZY!!!