Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Elidel and the other suggestions sound great Theres hope! I googled Elidel and the website has some interesting info. Sometimes I know Dr's have to try one med before the insurance will allow you to try something else. Maybe that has been the case with Elidel? I hope you and Wyatt have a good day LadyKluck
Originally Posted By LadyKluck Oh thanks amazedncal2!! We're doing really well right now! The round of meds he's on right now is working really good! He's still not sleeping through the night but I think I figured out the cause of that and we're working on it! I wish I could post a picture on here of his before and after this time around! I may do that on the LP flikr page that was made...hmmmmm.......
Originally Posted By LadyKluck OK, so I did it!! I scheduled him an appointment (and his sister of course) at Sears Portrait Studio!!! I feel so bad not having done this earlier but its the perfect time, his face and body are almost completely cleared up from this round of meds and he'll be 1 in a couple of weeks so why the heck not!!?? Poor kid, I just feel like I haven't exactly treated the same as his sister when it comes to pictures, and that's my own fault for having this stupid idea that I don't want to have to explain to EVERYONE that looks at his pictures why he looks the way he does - but I'm done with feeling that way - he's my son - I love him no matter how he looks and I'm going to take his picture no matter how he looks! SO THERE! I've just spent too much time worrying about what other people are going to think of him, and me - I'm so very over that now, thank goodness!
Originally Posted By LadyKluck OK, lets see if this works. The first picture is of Wyatt a couple of weeks before he went to the dermatologist the first time. He actually ended up worse than this picture which is what prompted the call to the dermatologist in the first place. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures4lp/2631836042/in/set-72157605181168555/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/p...1168555/</a> This second picture is of him about a week into his first round of antibiotics and steroids the first time. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures4lp/2631891258/in/set-72157605181168555/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/p...1168555/</a>
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP what a handsome guy... I feel for him with those bright red patches!!
Originally Posted By nevadarebel I love his cheeks, they make me just want to cuddle him up, he is so cute!! My oldest had the same kind of cheeks. Have you gotten in to the allergist yet? We are back to square one (almost) with my youngest. They have sent him for more testing and now is allergic to more things. Luckily they did the food test and peanut butter had no reaction because he lives on it. I think everything that has leaves or grows is on his list. We are in the process of redoing our yard to get rid of those things that he cannot be around and now we are limited to like 2 things and both are not desert friendly. Our HOA is giving us a really hard time and they don't understand that a hospital stay because of trees blooming is not what I enjoy. sorry for the rant... Now back to your cute babies.
Originally Posted By beamerdog {{{{{Klucky & Wyatt}}}}} Oh my! Those red cheeks looked painful. He must be a trooper to smile through all of that. Please be careful of using steroids for long term treatment, even oral ones. In addition to causing a steroid "round face", they cause cataracts and damage to some of the internal organs during long term use. It's great that there are now other remedies Klucky and nevadarebel, call those suckers at the insurance companies. Keep going up the ladder - INSIST on speaking to a rational soul with a kind heart. Send them pictures of your kids. Send them tapes of them crying in the middle of the night. I have been dealing with this for a long time. My kids call me Ms. Relentless. I have taken it as a complement, lol.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck >>>Please be careful of using steroids for long term treatment, even oral ones<< We've been extremely careful! I already voiced my general opinion on the steroid he's on - but the doctor assures me because he's only on it for 2 weeks every 6 months or so that it doesn't have a chance to build up in his system enough to cause any harm. Believe me when the doctor told me the name of the steroid I about had a cow! It's the same type of steriod we had my cat on for her illness and it eventually caused her to go into kidney failure (the steroid not the illness)! I still have to get a recommendation from the pediatrician for an allergist or insurance won't cover it, but Wyatt's appointment with him is the end of next week so we should be (hopefully) good to go as this is a new pediatrician too! We'll see! nevadarebel - I am so sorry about your little guy! It's a good thing he's not allergic to peanuts though because that's usually a biggie! I bet the older he gets the more they'll find just because you'll be trying new foods and that sort of thing with him and I bet the allergy doesn't show up until after you've tried that new thing with him! What a bummer!! I am so nervous about what Wyatt could come up with being allergic to, but I also know if we find out that's what's causing the breakouts then we can get rid of it and maybe he'll clear up for good! Thanks again everyone for the support, help, and just plain listening to my griping!
Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 Awww...he is so cute Klucky!!! Wyatt and Jaden would be buddies I am sure. Just wait until we can get them together at DL!
Originally Posted By LadyKluck OK everyone, fingers crossed for us tomorrow - we've got an appointment in the afternoon to see the dermatologist again tomorrow and this time if he doesn't think Wyatt has improved enough, he's going to involve the "real" dermatologist (the guy we've been seeing is a PA) & also told me if they would accept it, HE would write the referral to the allergist. I also plan on asking him about the Elidel to see if that may be a better option.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck ARGH! I'll say it again - ARGH!! So my life is a total Soap Opera! I received a phone call from the dermatologist's office yesterday confirming my appointment for Wednesday. I explained to the lady she must be mistaken because my appointment was for Monday (yesterday), she said they didn't have me down for Monday that the appointment was set up for Wednesday. Fine. Whatever, I'll bring him in on Wednesday. So after that, I went ahead and called the allergist and asked if I could go ahead and set up the appointment and then I can just bring the referral in with me for the appointment, the receptionist said that should be fine. Well, while I'm setting up Wyatt's appointment, one of the questions she asked me was what insurance was he covered under. I gave her the info and she kindof paused and asked me if I was sure I needed a referral. I told her I had talked to the insurance company and they told me I did need one. She said that I may want to call the insurance company again and double check because she was pretty sure I didn't need one. What the.... So I finished the appointment set up with the allergist's office and immediately called the insurance company. The totally fabulous lady on the phone told me I DIDN'T need a referral - that the plan I'm on is a "self referral" plan, meaning if I think I need a specialist, I can just go to one. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! She appologized profusely for the misinformation and explained that the self referral thing just started with this plan year (which started in June) so a lot of the reps on the phone were still giving out old info. Nice. Idiots. Get some training. So, Wyatt goes to the dermatologist on Wednesday and the allergist on Monday and then has his normal 1 year checkup at the pediatrician at the end of next week. My boy is a lab rat. *sigh*
Originally Posted By Elderp I agree, that sucks... we had referal drama getting to the ob I wanted it was no fun at all! (And then more referal drama as he decided to drop my group when I was 6 months pregnant) However it did all work out. And your boy has the apointments he need, whoo hoo!
Originally Posted By Elderp ^^ and that was Mrs. ElderP of course, because Mr. Elderp was never pregnant, or you would have alread known about it!!
Originally Posted By LadyKluck I did kinda scratch my head for a half a second trying to figure out why Elderp would need an OB!! I needed the good laugh though - thanks!!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Man, the whole referral thing is a pain isn't it? Now you don't have to deal with it LadyKluck!!! YAY!!! FYI at the homeopathic Dr our grandson went to, a finger stick was all that was needed for testing tons of things. It took 2 weeks for the results. At Kaiser they wanted to do their own testing and it was the needle in the vein thing with a vile of blood. We have Blue Cross which they now call Anthem for some reason. The last couple of times I've called them, with a simple question, I've been very unimpressed with the people. Snotty with a touch of I could care less is the attitude I'm getting. I used to get perky with a touch of you could be my mother. Shoot. Fingers still crossed for Wednesday and Monday
Originally Posted By LadyKluck ^^I'm not so sure we're going to get the nice finger prick you mention - she said the first appointment is about 2 hours so I think they may be doing the scratch test on him! I guess it will be worth it in the end, at least I'm hoping it will!
Originally Posted By nevadarebel In my experience as a adult, the first appointment to the allergist involves the scratch tests to see initially what he is allergic too. They do it by panels of items such as foods, animals, trees, grasses and such. From there they may do the blood test but this really depends on the allergist. For my kids, I went to a kids ENT who also does allergies so he just sent us directly for a blood test because of the family history on both sides (allergies with shots from me and asthma and allergies from dad). Once he got a little older they did the scratch tests because it seemed that he was better for a while but then got worse so with new trees in the area, they had to determine which ones were directly affecting him at that time. I think it also depends on if they are having reactions at the time they are seen. I know that sometimes I make an appointment because he is bad but then when I get there he is not. Make sure if they send you for a blood test that you set up the follow up appointment with the allergist in a week or so (or whatever they recommend). I waited for them to call me to set it up and waited and waited so I finally called. They told me that I should have already been set up before I left to go to the testing. Sorry this was so long.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck OK so I thought I'd update everyone again seeing how we've been to the dermatologist again and to the allergist yesterday... First off, the dermatologist appointment went as usual - he's disappointed Wyatt's not getting any better (join the freakin' club doc), so they wanted to see him again on the 21st because we started him on Elidel! I asked him about it and he said he really liked Elidel and lets give it a try - so he's been on it for a little less than a week. Again, working good on the face but not so much on his body, but I'm still pretty pleased with the results. The only downside the stuff is the most expensive stuff we've used so far - $45 even after insurance!! YIKES! Ok, so yesterday was the allergist appointment. They did the scratch test on him and he is allergic to a few things. The main ones were cats and eggs. He also has a slight allergy to dogs and peanuts as well, but not as bad as the eggs and cats. So no more eggs or peanut butter for the little guy which is pretty sad because he really likes eggs. The doctor did say most kids that have an egg allergy grow out of it by age 2 but to omit it from his diet for now because we want to take away ANYTHING that could be causing the eczema. The hard one is the dogs and cats allergy. Yes we have several of both, they are all outdoor only pets and the doctor says that isn't too much of an issue just don't let Wyatt play with them and if we do to just make sure that we wash our hands and arms really good and if we've been "cuddling" with them to just change our shirts too if need be. The real problem is the house/carpet. The people that lived here before us had indoor dogs and not only that, didn't keep up after them or even really do basic housekeeping so the smell of dogs is everywhere and there's still tons of dog hair/dander in the carpet. The other nasty thing is with it being hot here we've started running the A/C which has been lovely because we've got hair and dander coming up thru all of the vents from the stuff that settled down there from the previous tenants. We've tried cleaning the carpet several times with a Rug Doctor but it's still nasty. I think we may talk to the landlord and see if he'll pay for like half of the cost of having Stanley Steemer come clean or something. We really don't want to move (not to mention can't afford it). I really like this house and if we can get it cleaned really good I think things would be just fine in the long run. I'm really glad that now we know what could be causing his eczema so we can try to eliminate it but I'm a little bummed it does involve something that's a huge part of our lives (the animals, not eggs, LOL) but we'll figure it out I know we will. The allergist also gave me a prescription for a stronger cream to use on his body rash and told me to just keep using the Elidel on his face only. He also told me to give him Zirtech (Zurteck - how the heck do you spell it) at night. Its an antihistamine like Benadryl but it last for 24 hrs instead of only 4-6 hours. DH gave it to him last night before bed and we didn't have the normal tossing and turning and thrashing about that we normally do at night. The only difference was that he woke up about an hour earlier than he normally does, but I gave him his morning bottle and he actually fell back asleep for about another hour and a half!!! I really hope this means good things are going to happen!!! Not to mention he's down for his nap right now - alone. I'm not holding him and rocking him the entire time to keep him asleep!!! FREEDOM!!! Most of the time I'm on LP its holding him in one arm and typing with the other! I'm also supposed to bathe him everyday for 20 minutes. Little Dude will LOVE this - he adores bath time. I don't have to actually wash him every single bath, just let him splash around for 20 min to get himself nice and soaked & of course slather him up like a pig in slop with lotion when he gets out. I think DH is going to buy him one of those plastic swimming pools too so he can play in water outside (in the shade of course) too. The more moisture the better the allergist said. I'm really glad we went to the allergist after all - thanks you guys so much for pushing me to do it because I really had no plans to go that route until it was brought up here!!! Thanks again to my LP family for helping me when I needed it the most!!
