Another trip, another dose

We are moving right along on our updosing schedule.  Thus far, our son has has no reactions to any of his doses and he seems to be tolerating them with no issue.  We follow the protocol exactly and make sure that we do as we are told!  He is supposed to eat a full meal prior to his dose and to not do any "strenuous" exercise after his dose.  Now, he is 19 months old, so he is able to run around and play and be a normal toddler, but we won't be taking him outside to run any races or do anything super strenuous for the two hours after his dose.  During the week, he gets it in the evenings after dinner, so we are settling down anyway.  So, our biggest challenge is just getting  home from work and getting his dinner on the table as quickly as possible.  We are to monitor him for two hours, so that puts us in a time crunch in the evenings since he goes to bed before 8:00 pm.  So, I rush home with the kids, get their dinner ready and then give him his dose after he eats.  On the weekends, we have more options, but I normally try to get his dose done right after his breakfast, so then we relax for a bit and then are up and about for the day.  That seems to work out really well.  Oh, and it is okay to give him his dose at different times each day.  It isn't a medication, it is just an "exposure".  :) 

Also, I found out that some of the kids in his study who started 2 years ago are ready for their food challenge!  Their IgE has dropped below 2 and they have been tolerating their maintenance dose for over a year.  So, they will start their food challenges in September.  They are ready to challenge now, but it is such a labor intensive process that Duke simply doesn't have the staff to handle the food challenges.  It is an all day process and requires one or two people to be in the room the entire time, so they have to schedule them way out.  I hope to have good news to share this fall about those first kids.  :) 

One more down!

We have been on treatment for over 2 months now!  My how time flies!  I feel like I have learned so much and I am very happy with everything and our efforts.  My son is doing great...his environmental allergies are under control, his peanut allergy is being treated and he is doing great on the treatment and he no longer has any real tilt, so his eye surgery was a success!  I feel like this is the "healthiest" he has been since he was born!  Although we are still dealing with the allergies, the treatments are working and he is doing so great!  We are truly blessed!  We had another updose of peanut this week and all is well!  We go back again on the 25th!

Still going strong

We are now up another dose and doing well!  My son is handling the treatment with no issues so far and we are so grateful and blessed!  He has also been suffering all spring from congestion and obvious pollen allergies or some kind of environmental allergies.  So, after talking with the Duke team and our local allergist, we started him on first Zyrtec to see if that would help him...we tried it for about a month and it did help, but didn't clear things up completely.  So, we started him on Nasonex nasal spray.  Within 3 days, his congestion cleared completely and hasn't been back!  Oh gosh, I wish we had started it earlier...he is so much more comfortable...all day and all night. His sleep has been great and he is just in better spirits all day since he isn't sneezing and wiping his drippy nose all day.  So, we just do one squirt a day in each side of his nose and that does the trick!  We still do the Zyrtec too just to keep the histamine in his system to help with the other symptoms, but the Nasonex seems to really do well for him, so I am happy to have it and he takes it like a champ.  :) 
So, in our little allergy corner of the world, all is well right now!  We will head back to Duke next Monday for another dose increase and then later this month, I think they will do bloodwork again...has it really been 3 months already since we started?  I don't pay attention to the calendar much with his doses, we just do it each day and when the bag of doses starts looking low, then I know it is time to head back again soon!  I really like that feeling because it means we are making progress!  :) 
I also really like going to Duke!  It sounds silly, but the drive is simple and boring...just like I like it.  It is long, but not unbearable.  Then it is nice to chat with the other parents and hear their stories and to see how the others kids and other trials are doing.  It is also nice to discuss my son with the doctors and nurses and just discuss allergy research in general.  All-in-all, not a bad way to spend a day and I leave knowing that my son is in good hands there!