HAPPY UP-DOSE DAY- 6 PEANUTS BABY!!!

This is probably going to be one of my shortest posts ever. Picked him up from camp a bit early. Showered. Carbed up in the car. Went to his spot.

CRUSH HOUR- about to eat 6 peanuts!!!

They checked him pre-dose, cleared him to dose. He hemmed and hawed for 2-3 minutes before chugging it down.

6 peanuts down the hatch!

The hour passed by completely uneventfully. We were the last patient there by a good half hour. It was creepily quiet when we were there and I had guilt that they were all still there because of us. I actually even apologized to the doctor and she assured me it was fine and that they would have still been there anyway. The doctor then re-checked him. We asked our questions and we left!

Yes, yes we all know Coby has a tendency for delayed reactions--- but so far so good!

AND IF ALL IS WELL JUST 3 OR 4 MORE UP-DOSES TIL THE FINAL UP-DOSE AND GRADUATION DAY!!!!

HOLY CRAP IT'S HAPPENING!!!

And you know what--- part of this journey has been a blessing in disguise. Yes, you read that right- a blessing! I know, believe me I know how much this has sucked throughout the years and how scary this has gotten at times, and I know that he will continue to have to fight the good fight for the rest of forever...

but still---

This process has taught Coby such amazing things. It has created such an optimism in him and such a zest in life that can't be matched. He has such optimism and stamina and endurance and hope and belief and unbelievable characteristics that I very rarely see in others. I can learn a lot from him.

For example right now as he continues his rest period and is playing a game on his phone--- the game got a bit rough and at first he grumbled but then he brainstormed and figured out what to do & literally said out loud to his game, "I NEVER GIVE UP!" I hope this message has really become ingrained in him and will serve him well for the rest of his life. After all it is one's belief in himself that is more important than anyone else's.

He blows me away every single day.

And this brings you to the end of my regular blog post...
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But for those who were asking me questions and wondering what his restrictions are in maintenance, I got some of my questions answered:

1. In regards to eating on a plane. She said he should be fine to eat any meals that may be cross contaminated but to never ever eat anything with actual peanuts on an airplane 30,000 miles up. NEVER EVER.

2. We should be able to begin tapering off the applesauce but don't do it right away and honestly, applesauce is healthy anyway, so why not? Coby should be able to touch peanut by then but we shouldn't jump on day one and start testing him on tolerance of everything in every manner.

3. The 2 hour rest period after his dose will remain indefinitely as well as the no showering or bathing 2 hours after dosing.

4. He will still need to self carry his epipens. She stressed that "he is STILL allergic and a reaction can STILL happen and he should always be able to respond in seconds." (I had hoped he could leave epipen with nurse or in his backpack or with a counselor like every other kid, since wearing that bulky belt is annoying, oh well, can't have everything.)

5. He should remain on probiotics forever.

6. They will give us equivalences to everything at graduation (including planters peanuts--- woot woot, cannot wait to when I don't have to shell peanuts anymore!). Whenever he eats anything cross contaminated it will require NO rest period at all. His daily dose will be 12 peanuts and he will be able to free eat whatever else he likes. We do not have to grill a waiter at a restaurant and when shopping we will not need to scrutinize labels. Cross contamination will mean NOTHING!!! But if he were to eat anything with actual peanuts that is equal to less than 6 peanuts (half his maintenance dose) it will require NO rest period at all. Anything more will still require the 2 hour rest period (though I cannot imagine him seeking to eat anything with peanuts other than his actual dose anyway, but you never know when that may change.)

7. He will have to keep his environmental allergies under control from here on out. Usually by this time of year pollen is no longer an issue but for some reason it still is a problem out there these days and so he is still on his zyrtec and flonaze. She hopes he can get off of them by the end of July and then go back on it before next spring. We had hoped to do SLIT for that (which I spoke about in a  prior post) but we learned not many places offer SLIT for his specific environmental allergies and those that do can be hours away, cost thousands and take 3-5 years to complete. If it's too complicated to figure out oral meds and keep it his allergies under control, we may have to go the shots route. (sigh)

8. While it is risky to take Motrin while doing OIT (it can cause a reaction), once he graduates it should be okay for him to take it again when he gets sick. They will tell me the protocol for what to do in regards to dosing when he does get sick in the future (since fever plus dose can equal bad reaction)- it would basically mean skipping doses or halving doses and then building back up to his maintenance dose.

And that is all the info I currently have. I'm sure I'll think up many more questions before graduation date which may be just a few weeks away!!!! THIS IS INSANE!!!!