UPDOSE DAY... KEEPING IT INTERESTING

So I thought and I had hoped that I'd have nothing much to say today. I thought 'eh, he's just going up by 25%, it'll be boring, I'll post a couple of pix and that is that.'

HA!

When will I learn?

Now just hoping he is okay ENOUGH.

Coby had his last day of 3rd grade today--- hello summer! That means we now have been OITing in every season! Fall, winter, spring and now summer- which will hopefully bring us to graduation!

And so Coby was super excited to be up-dosing to 5 peanuts.

Before heading out he noticed some 'white things' and asked what they are. When I told him they were packing peanuts, he asked if he could dose with those! :)

dosing with 5 packing peanuts...

SILLY KID!

While Coby was super excited to be up-dosing to 5 actual peanuts today, he was not as excited as last week's up-dose since he probably will be getting no additional clearances until graduation.   When I asked if he can eat things 'made on equipment with peanuts' she said she'd have to check with Dr. Selter. But until graduation he cannot eat things that 'may contain traces of peanuts.'

We just have to keep trekking towards graduation day!

5 peanuts, here I come!

On the way to our appointment, I had to stop the car as a deer and two of her babies crossed in front of us. "Soooo cute, but argh, I can't take a picture." My sweet little boy with his unique and amazing way of looking at the world replied, "Sure you did. You took one with your memory." Love him!

So we got there and we were put into our 'section'. He had his pre-check.... and we came close to not up-dosing at all!

WHAT?!

The nurse did Coby's peak flow check a few times. She then called in the doctor who told us she's not getting a high enough read on the peak flow to go ahead with the up-dose. 

WHAT?!

The lowest read Coby has had in the last few weeks was 180 (with some as high as 220) and now he was just managing to get it to 160. She asked me if he had been having any coughing at all, to which I replied, "No." She then told Coby to take a few minutes to rest and we'll then try one more time.

Sad, scared and nervous that they won't allow him to up-dose

Coby spent those few minutes trying to inflate those lungs of his. He also decided to drop down on one knee and ask me to marry him.

Awwww!

Jessi came back, rechecked him and Coby managed to get it up to 170. She hemmed and hawed saying this was borderline to her allowing him to go ahead and up-dose. She then listened to his lungswhich sounded perfectly clear so she okayed him to go ahead and up-dose.

PHEW!

It was go-time!

2 fingers plus 3 fingers equals 5 peanuts

down the hatch

...and the waiting began.

...and a few minutes in, I noticed a red mark on the lower corner of his right lower lip.

Enlarging this pic since it's hard to get clear pictures of things...

Freakin' crap on a stick.

As I ran out to grab Jessi I quickly flipped through the recent pix on my phone and noticed that while Coby did NOT have that mark on his lip just before coming to the appointment, it seemed he did have that mark on his lip while waiting to check his peak-flow again (feel free to scroll up to the pic and look for yourself.), which was BEFORE up-dosing.

Was it possible that since they had Coby place his lips around that cardboardy tube peak flow thing again and again again, that that could have irritated his lip?

Yep, wearing that detective cap again....

I showed Jessi the mark on Coby's lip (in real life) and then had her scroll through the earlier pictures. She agreed that the mark seemed to have been there before up-dosing and could very well be his sensitive skin response to the over-use of the tubey peak flow thing.... but a picture is not 100% clear, so "we will keep watch."

Jessi left the room and Coby turned to me and said, "I told you you were crazy." HA!

Well just because you are paraonoid, it doesn't mean they aren't after you....

(And this traumatized mom who has experienced three significant reactions so far during the OIT earned the right to be one 'paranoid person' at this point...)

And so he kept playing on his phone... and I kept watching. He had his slightly flushed cheeks that is common for him- see above pic, (occasionally they have gotten quite red which is not common for him), some eye- rubbing and some itchiness on his belly and back.

And yep, after about a half hour I noticed a few marks on his skin, some of which appeared hive-like.

Sigh.

So I scrolled through my phone at a picture Coby had asked me to take of him just before coming here, one in which he had extended his arms. I scrolled in and noticed ABSOLUTELY NO MARKS ON THAT ARM BEFORE DOSING. 

just before heading out

 And now....

one mark above the midpoint of his arm' and one about three inches below it towards the right side

eczema break out with redder one in middle

and a couple of marks on the flip side of that left arm

Other than those spots, his post up-dose check was fine. He managed to keep his peak-flow steady at 170. Chest clear. Pulse and oxygen good.

BUT...

While not all the above marks were hive-like, a couple possibly were.

Jessi told us she would like us to stay a bit longer so we can keep watch on him at their office.

After those 20 minutes nothing worsened. Yes, it didn't improve either, but it didn't worsen, so she said she was comfortable in discharging us.

She made sure we had our meds with us "just in case you need to pull over on the side of the road and handle it."  She also told me I should call her from that side of the road if need be...

Lovely...

But we both reminded each other that Coby's full body hive reactions have always been delayed by several hours so the ride home itself should be okay. She also told me that his dose 'only' went up by 25% so she is choosing to remain optimistic that he will be okay through the night and all this is just his body fighting off the up-dose in an okayISH enough way.

But yeah, obviously we will keep extra watch through the night.

Before leaving I asked her what happens after graduation in regard to appointments.

She told me after the first month he will come back for his 24 peanut challenge and then he will come back two months after that (each day dosing with 12 peanuts at home and 'free eating') and they will recheck his blood. Many people actually have a climb in IGE numbers that soon after graduation, because of the constant exposure of the allergen. It sometimes takes years before there will be a decline, IF there will be a decline. But still they check. Then several months later he will go back etc etc etc.

Happy to say Coby remained engaged the entire ride home and we did not have to pull off on that side of the road!!!

He is though, currently lying down on the couch. Lying on the couch post up-dose/tired-ness has in the past been a sign that something may happen. BUT hey, he was up til past eleven last night when we saw the first show of the summer... YES, I LET MY KID STAY UP THAT LATE FOR THE TWO SHOWS OF THE SUMMER. SUE ME. NEXT UP MARY POPPINS IN AUGUST! (and for those of you who are interested in amazing shows for just 7.00 and aren't affected by the 3 weeks- West Side Story is in July)

Legally Blonde (Mikey was at his camp orientation for Moshava Bair (for 2nd month)
and Josh was in the city seeing GROUNDHOG DAY)

So here's hoping his tiredness and those spots/hives are not a sign of what the rest of the night will bring...
And Mikey just called to ask me to pick him up from his all day orientation that was today- but I'm too nervous to leave Coby, so I sent Josh out to get him...

Hoping for an easy night and all the above was just fluke...

And now Yitz just texted me from Shop-rite telling me, "ENTENMANN'S IS HALF OFF!"

Oh crap....