I took Max in to an allergist. I just wanted to know what exactly was up with the food allergies. So, we get a name, make an appointment, and go. Max and I decide Ricardo should go too. I know what's coming - the prickly test up and down his back. And I've been the mean mom who dragged them to all those immunizations and penicillin shots and all. So, you know, I don't want him to miss out on ALL the fun. Ricardo obliges and goes with us.
We get there and they do a complete check up on him and ask me all kinds of crazy questions. We review his cough he gets. I explain that I'm more concerned with the food allergies and that I get it with the whole seasonal nasal/croup allergies. That's when I was corrected.
I need to go on record, as I was corrected about croup. My awesome MIL suggested one time in the midst of a pretty good croup gig that it was asthma. I might have, under extreme duress of gasps for air and barking, snapped and said fairly rudely, "It's NOT ASTHMA!" or something like that. Perhaps.
Well here's my public apology: I was wrong and you are right. Per the doctor, they don't call it croup after a certain age. "Oh really? What age?"
"Uh, 3 years old."
What the hell, y'all? All these other doctors have been feeding me info and never correcting me. Max is 8 years old now!
Okay, fine. We cleared that up. But if I'm admitting I'm wrong, I want my co-pay back.
But wait, if it's seasonal asthma, then guess who needs an inhaler just in case? Great. Okay, I can do that. One for me, one for the school. Got it.
Next comes the allergy test. You know, the dreaded one. Up and down his back. The only way he allowed this was that a) Ricardo has joined the party, and 2) he gets to take pictures of it with his new camera. Nice. Because boys think that stuff is cool it turns out. It's like a science experiment. Well, it IS a science experiment. It's just on his back.
Max is way too calm and unbothered for Ricardo to witness this. I was hoping for much more wiggling, protest, and pathetic wailing. With that Ricardo will experience my parental emotional pain and anguish of watching my poor kid suffer. But this day, Max bucks up. Oh sure, when I have a witness, don't deliver kid. Whatever.
It turns out that Max is allergic to all fish and shellfish. That's pretty much it. We think he's allergic to dates too, but there's not a tester for that today. So, they just tell me not to feed him dates. Sound medical advice. Again, can I get my co-pay back? We are cautioned that since he has a fish allergy, we need to take it pretty seriously.
Next thing I know, the allergist explains Max needs a seasonal prescription, an inhaler, and an EPI PEN. What just happened?
Well, my suspicions were just confirmed, I guess. The nurse comes in with a grocery bag of the items and walks us through step by step on how to use the inhaler and the epi pen. She makes sure Max is paying attention and taking this seriously, because at current, he's maintaining at our request of distraction - playing angry birds on his ipod. She then explains to me that this can be overwhelming and there is a dvd on how to operate the EPI pen.
Ricardo and I think it's overkill, but I listen to all the instructions and take the stuff to the school nurse when I drop Max off. And that's when the nurse says, "Okay Max, you know to not eat the chicken nuggets, right?" Uh, what? She explains the nuggets are apparently cooked in the same frying oil as the fish sticks. At school. How is that even possible?
Restaurants cross-contaminate fryers as well. So, this is about to get really tricky. Now I'm a little worried. So far, Max hasn't so much as needed a Benadryl. He knows what to stay away from and that he can't fool me, broccoli and spinach are not on the list of allergies.
I realize that Max's food allergies are not as severe as others.
Thank goodness he doesn't have a peanut allergy. Although, the other day, he ate such a giant wad of peanut butter that he started gagging on it and had to spit it out in the sink. Someone in this house that rhymes with Bicardo taught the kids at an early age that a spoonful of peanut butter would get rid of hiccups. The kids now fake hiccups and manage to sculpt a half cup of peanut butter on to the spoon.
So, we're working on table manners, portions, and no seafood in the house.
Do your kids have allergies? How do y'all deal?
That's how I roll.
love the rhymes with 'bicardo'...bwahahaha. sorry about max and with all the healthy eating over there, have you had him eat fish in the past and what has happened? scary, but at least you have the tools and now fully aware he can eat broccoli and spinach! :-)