This is long and probably terribly uninteresting to most. It's mainly for my records. A couple of weeks ago, I made an allergist appointment for Clara. I had put off getting her in for a follow-up of her allergy testing she had done last year because we hadn't met our deductible. The allergist had said to bring her in when she has illnesses that seem to start out as allergies. She's had plenty of infections this past year, but every time she's been sick, so has Robert, so it was always easier to take them in to their primary doctor at the same time than to make two separate appointments with two separate doctors.
So several weeks ago she started with a runny nose, like usual. Then a slight cough, then congestion, yada yada yada. It's always the same and it never goes away on its own. For once Robert wasn't sick at the same time so off to the allergist we went.
He quickly diagnosed her with a sinus infection which was no great surprise to me. He also wanted to do a CT scan and a breathing test. (Thank goodness we've met our deductible.) She did fine on the breathing test with no sign of wheezing. Again, no surprise. She's never had a bit of trouble with her lungs.
The CT scan on the other hand came back not so great. She actually went back to the room all by herself and did great. I was able to view the pictures on the computer with the doctor soon after the scan. One side of her sinuses was completely plugged. There was no black at all in the picture. He said she had a chronic sinus infection and when I questioned why she never mentions having pain, he said that chronic infections don't cause pain like acute infections do. Chronic infections cause the runny nose, nasal congestion and cough. It's probably the cause of her bad breath too. It was weird; when I took her in, her nose wasn't running, she could breathe fine through her nose, but she still sounded congested. The congestion is way up high in her sinuses.
He wants to try to get control of her allergies and started off by increasing the dose of antihistamine she's on. He had prescribed it on an as needed basis, but now wants her to take it every day. He also mentioned the possibility of weekly allergy shots. I'm still hesitant to start them because I know that's not going to go over well. I'm hoping we can try the antihistamine for a while before deciding on the injections.
The CT scan also showed her adenoids being severely infected and swollen and he mentioned having them removed in the future. That was the first time a doctor has ever mentioned anything about her adenoids, so I don't think I'm quite ready to have them removed. She was prescribed a week of oral steroids and 20 days of antibiotic. She doesn't seem to have much improvement 11 days later from what I can tell. She also ran a fever from Friday night through Saturday night. I'm not sure if it was from the infection or something unrelated. We go back next week for a follow up and to do another scan.
And now for Robert. His runny nose started up a few days after Clara's appointment. That Saturday night he coughed once or twice and again Sunday morning so I immediately started his breathing treatments during the day on Sunday. He woke fussy from his nap on Sunday and his nose was worse. On Tuesday, his birthday, he started running a fever. This was also the day Dan and Linda got here.
He was still running a fever on Thanksgiving Day, so we called and cancelled his birthday party that was scheduled for the next morning. The one nice thing about his sickness is he slept really well. He was sleeping through the night and taking long naps, waking happy and playing for a short while each time. He woke fever free on Friday, but aside from that he still didn't seem any better, so I got him in for an appointment that morning. He has a severe infection in his right ear. The doctor said it was close to rupturing. The other ear was slightly infected and he was also wheezing though not really bad. He said at this point it's pretty clear that he has asthma.
So he got a shot, an oral steroid, an antibiotic and is still on breathing treatments. These kids are wearing me out! I had Robert on a probiotic before this trying to get his gut back in shape (material for another post) and his diapers were just starting to be manageable. Now he's blowing out his diapers something awful despite still being on the probiotics. That and the steroid has turned him into a crazy baby. Oy. He's not sleeping as long now and is just beside himself when he gets upset. I'll be happy when he's done with them. Oh, I forgot to mention I have a little cold myself. Nothing too severe, but an annoying little addition to our holiday week nonetheless.
