Oh my, oh my! Where do we even begin. Jack has had eczema since he was 4 months old. Our pediatrician recommended we get some help when he was 4 months because he said Jack was pretty "rashy". We were concerned so we set off to Texas Children's and went through their dermatology clinic. We went for an hour long meeting that taught us basic skin care for children with eczema and then saw a couple of their doctors. The doctors gave use several prescriptions for cortisone creams and we were on our merry way. We got all the info and decided we'd prefer to follow up with a dermatologist a little closer to home since it appeared we'd need to be seen often.
We rocked along for several months with just a few skin issues but, were faithful to bathe him nightly, lube him from head to toe with aquaphor and made a lot of changes elsewhere. We changed our detergent to all free and clear, started only buying Jack 100% cotton clothing, began to dress him in long sleeves/pants to prevent him from itching/scratching even in the middle of summer, used the creams/lotions/potions being giving to use by our doctors and prayed that things would get better.
As the summer went on, Jack seemed to get worse and worse. By August we were using bleach in the bathtub, using wet wraps several times a day, applying more and more lotion and seeing very minimal results. We were using our antihistamine around the clock and not getting much help or relief from him itching. He was beginning to scratch constantly and make himself bleed. We were seeing the doctors regularly and were being given more treatment options as he was getting older. We were told many times that there are things we could use but, that weren't safe for a little guy Jack's age. It was starting to really get difficult to see him itchy and we were growing more and more concerned.
Towards the end of August Jack was prescribed oral cortisone. I've taken that many times for allergies so I know a little of what side effects it can cause--insomnia, sweating, grouchiness, hunger and various other issues. Little did I know it would make Jack super hyper, uncomfortable and also not change his condition much! He improved for a couple days but, once the treatment ended his eczema was just as bad as before. We were sick!
A few weeks before his birthday we had Jack's blood tested for allergies. I was wanting to wean him and just had a gut feeling that we needed to have him allergy tested before putting him on milk. I don't have any food allergies but, I have extensive airborne allergies and something just told me to get him tested. We went for the blood draw and that proved to be traumatic for both Jack and Derek. I had to hold Jack down while they attempted to get blood and it wasn't pretty but, I felt it was necessary. Derek was the hero and brought Jack a cold towel and Spike for comfort. We all survived!
I was expecting the results to come in the next week or so but, got a phone call from Jack's pediatrician several days after the test was given at about 8:15 pm. He apologized for calling so late but, was concerned about Jack's results. I grabbed a pencil and began feverishly writing down all his allergies. Dog--off the charts, Peanut--off the charts, Cow Milk--dangerously high, Egg--high, Wheat--high, Corn, Soy and on and on. I was thinking what in the world do I feed my kid. I think I muttered that and the Dr. actually said, you need to get with an allergist, I'm not sure what milk or formula would work for him. GREAT! Just what you want to hear especially as you're looking through cook books to make your kid his first birthday cupcake! Change of plans. Big change of plans!
So, we jumped through hoops, got to an allergist, weaned Jack onto a crazy broken down WAY expensive formula and prayed that it would work. We saw little to no change for a while but, we stuck with it all. Continued all the eczema skin care routine, removed all suspicious foods and waited for his skin to clear. Were desperate to prevent him from itching so I began sewing his pajamas shut on the end. I know it sounds horrible but, he seemed relieved! We started that back in October and it has helped a lot. We also have big t-shirts that we've sewn the long sleeves shut in to throw on him while we're in the car etc. We've just been grasping at anything possible to keep him comfortable and use sane! Jack's skin did clear some but, we were still having trouble and more bad days than good. This continued on and on for several months....to be continued!
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