by Rose Elder
Nicholas was born at 38 weeks and two days. His delivery was as easy as they go. Since the day he was born he has been pure joy. An easy, content, laid back little guy.
When he was about one and a half months old I noticed his baby acne started turning into a thick greasy rash that travelled from his forehead to his chin. Then this bad cradle cap started in his little scalp. A week later a bad rash on his bum. Eventually the poor little guy had, as the pediatrician referred to, “the worst eczema baby I have ever seen”. Nothing I was trying was working. From oatmeal baths, to lotions like Eucerin and Cetaphil, to essential oils and shea butter. You name it, I tried it. He had to sleep in my bed so I could guard him at night from scratching till bleeding. He was desperate, almost as much as I was.
The pediatrician and dermatologist insisted eczema is a skin disease, which it is, but I had a hunch as Nicholas’ mother that something was causing it. I insisted to be seen by an allergist just to make sure his eczema wasn’t a result of a bad allergic reaction.
When we finally had the allergist’s appointment Nicholas’ eczema was so bad that the allergist couldn’t do skin testing. There was literary no space in his 4 month old body for any skin testing. The doctor immediately sent me to the lab to get my little guy’s blood tested through a test called RAST’s (which stands for radioallergosorbent tests) . Nicholas was such a champ, he didn’t even cry!
The results did not only confirm my hunch, but also broke my heart into many little pieces. The list of his severe allergies was way worse than I could have ever imagined. Eggs, gluten, milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, oats, beef, fish, peas, bananas, amongst many others. Since I was nursing him, I immediately removed all the allergens from my diet. Nicholas’ skin was 90% clear of eczema the week or two after the modifications in my diet. The dermatologist steroid treatment help immensely as well. I hesitated to use steroids, but there was no other solution. I had tried everything else.
Raising a kid with severe allergies is so overwhelming, specially the first weeks after discovering what is going on. For example, I had no idea of all the things that contain gluten or soy. I didn’t know most gluten free breads have eggs to replace the “glue” effect from the gluten protein. That many sauces contain gluten or soy. I also learned that I had to wash all the utensils I used to cook eggs before re-using them to make my breakfast. Otherwise Nicholas would immediately break out after nursing. When you can’t have any cereal, or eggs, or toast, or waffles/pancakes, what do you eat for breakfast? The answer was rice tortillas with beans and vegetables. It is tough, but not nearly as tough as it was seeing my little boy scratching himself till he bled.
As Nicholas started growing a bit and becoming curious about foods I had to be very careful. I never knew when something would cause him an allergic reaction. I had and still have to give him a taste of a new food and wait to see if he reacts to it.
Eventually I had him tested for environmental allergies at about 10 months of age. He wasn’t allergic to anything except ONE thing: Dogs. My in-laws live with dogs. They live in Oregon so it means we cannot visit them until Nicholas grows to at least 3 or 4 years old (allergist’s instructions). It is so hard not only for our in-laws and for us, but our oldest son that adores his grandparents is having a really hard time not visiting them.
At 14 months of age, Nicholas was admitted to the Emergency Room due to a anaphylactic reaction over playing at a public park’s sandbox. The fact that there was dog dander in the sand made him swell up and cry non-stop until we decided to take him to Urgent Care. The doctor noticed his tongue was starting to swell. The first Epipen wasn’t enough, he had to receive a second Epipen after being transferred to the ER via ambulance. He was admitted for the night at the children’s hospital. I was alone with him. Adam had to stay with our oldest boy.
It was eye opening to how delicate and sensitive to dogs he really is. My duty as a mother is not only to raise him to be a good man, but to keep him alive. Will he be able to attend preschool? How many visits will we have to the ER? When will we be able to visit the grandparents? When will he start outgrowing his allergies? Will he?
The amount of questions I have are endless. Right now he is 17 months and as happy as can be. But we still have a long journey ahead.
I met this woman at a park the other day. She saw how protective I was of Nicholas and approached me. She went through the same hurdles with her now 27 year old son. She mentioned how hard it was. A lot of visits to the ER. She had to educate everyone around her son about his allergies; Everyone that cared for him at preschool and at public school had an Epipen. Her visits to the grandparents consisted of renting and RV, having it professionally cleaned and staying in it for the nights while visiting her family. Now her son, at 27 is a professional rugby player. She laughed at the irony of it!
If you have gone through something similar I would love some uplifting advice. If you are going through it I feel for you and I am here to answer any questions I can.
CALIFORNIA - PERFECT 