You give me fever....

Well, we had to miss our first doses this week!  Because of his fever, we missed the Tuesday and Wednesday doses.  Boo!  However, his fever broke today, so we were able to get back on track today.  If we missed 3 doses, then we would have to head back to Duke to be monitored for his next dose.  So, luckily, his body kicked the infection or whatever was going on and he was fine today.  I was a little nervous doing the dose again, but he took it just fine and had no symptoms!  Yay...back on track! 

Fever...yuck!

Well, we made it to Duke yesterday and he was kind of warm, but not registering a temperature when we got  there for our visit, so we went ahead with his next dose and then got him ready for his blood draw.  After about an hour, he started to warm up and we checked his temperature again and it was 99.8.  Ugh.  Under the protocol, he is not to have a dose when he has a fever.  So, we kept a close eye on him.  He was just sleepy and tired, but no other symptoms.  He had no issues with that dose of peanut though, so that was a blessing.  They were able to draw his blood without too much issue and then they gave him some Tylenol so that he would be more comfy for the ride home. 
We came home and he was playing, but still feverish off and on the rest of the evening. 
Today, he was still feverish this morning, so I gave him some Motrin and took him in to the doctor to have his ears checked...they looked clear, so likely it is just a virus running through him.  He continued to be fevered this afternoon, so no peanut flour dose today.  He can skip two days of doses without issue, but if we miss three days, then we would go back to Duke to give him that dose and have him monitored to make sure he is still fine with it.   I am hoping that we just miss today's dose though.  He is doing well now and is playing and eating normally, so I hope it gets out of his system tonight. 
In other news, there are three kids in our trial whose IgE levels have dropped below 2 and they have been on maintenance over a year.....so, they are ready to food challenge!!!  They will start in October.  I am so excited and I cannot wait to hear how they do!!
Anyway, here's hoping that we kick this virus asap and can get back on our schedule!  :)

3 months already!

Wow...we just got back from our biweekly trip and I can't believe it has been 3 months already!  We started on May 9 and here it is August 9 already!  My son is doing great with his doses and luckily, he has been able to take all of them and we haven't had to miss any.  Typically, you only miss a dose is the child has a fever or a significant illness.  I am hoping that we can avoid all of that as much as we can! 
At our last visit, we had a chance to meet some other families and that is always fun.  I love to hear about their experiences and how their kids are doing.  One little boy that is in the same study as us is on his maintenance dose and his numbers have dropped below 2 already...so he will likely be food challenging this fall!  That is so awesome and so encouraging!  She also said that he hadn't had any reactions with any of his doses throughout the whole program...so, that is what we are aiming for!  :)  We also met another boy who is older and is in a different trial, but still on oral immunotherapy for peanut.  He has been on the maintenance dose for probably 6 months or so and then out of the blue, he had a reaction.  Well, not out of the blue actually....he has asthma and it seems that asthma kids seem to have more issues with the treatment (although that is just my own observation, not scientific).  Anyway, he has asthma and then on top of that he had his dose and then went on to participate in a particularly intense athletic class which was soon after his dose.  We are supposed to not have them participate in anything strenuous after a dose.  So, at the end of his class, he started having asthma symptoms and that is what they thought it was, then hives showed up...not asthma...peanut!  So, that was a gentle reminder to us all that we have to follow the protocol and not ever take for granted even if they have been great with no issues!  However, this kid is still doing great and his IgE has dropped significantly since he started...so his dad said that this was merely a blip and that they were going to keep on keeping on! 

So, we are still doing great and they are still seeing great results for kids in both the OIT and SLIT trials!  We still feel very blessed to participate and every other parent I talk to has said the same.