Dot to Dot

This is a special project Caleb did at school...he had to tell about 5 things that made him special! I can think of about 5000!!!

In my last entry I wrote about how much fun we had at the pumpkin patch. What I failed to mention was the not-so-much-fun consequences of our time in the great outdoors. Caleb wheezed and coughed the entire way home from the patch. He had another asthma attack before bedtime and again at two in the morning. Each time we had to give him a breathing treatment and we realized that it is time to take him to a specialist. We had gotten a vague diagnosis of asthma from his pediatrician, a breathing machine, drugs and very little direction or answers. The only directions we had from our pediatrician were, "When he's coughing a lot...give him a treatment." I have felt very uncomfortable with this approach as it seems to only be a very temporary fix and I haven't even been sure about dosaging and frequency of treatments, etc. I mean, he coughs all the time!!!

Today was Caleb's lucky day! Full of smiles, he went with me to see the pediatric allergy and asthma specialist. He was wonderful and quickly diagnosed Caleb with moderate to severe asthma. Caleb was so compliant with all of his tests that the doctor creatively made into games for our young patient... That all changed when he realized that the allergy testing involved 24 punctures on the back and having to be still for 20 minutes while his back flared up from allergic reactions! We could have easily played dot to dot on his back! He is allergic to 11 outdoor allergens...grasses, trees, and molds. Based upon studies and Caleb's particular reactions, it appears as if this will not be something he simply outgrows. Inhalers will be his friends for life!

The good news after 2 1/2 hours at the doctors office is that we now have a game plan. We have a plan of action depending upon his symptoms. He will always need to be on two separate drugs as preventative measures and hopefully we will then be able to minimize his number of breathing treatments and rescue meds. I was given clear instructions and dosages for every scenario and I feel hopeful that we can get his asthma under control. We are in the process of teaching him how to use these new forms of treatment and I fear we lost quite a bit of medicine on our first try this evening. Well, practice makes perfect.

The scariest news I received today was that the dosage that was prescribed to Caleb by his pediatrician (the one we've been giving him!) is the dosage that a full grown adult would take. Our specialist was not too thrilled by this realization. We should have come in months ago!!! Lesson to all parents...if your pediatrician assures you that you don't need to see a specialist and that they can do the same things from their office...RUN, don't walk to the nearest pediatric specialist!!!!

Caleb is such a trooper. We are so in love with this boy who is full of joy and radiates the fullness of life! Keep him in your prayers as we navigate the waters of asthma control!