Progress

so in a nutshell...the pediatric asthma/allergist specialist and her posse said that
* grant may very well NOT have asthma
* grant may very well NOT have allergies
* grant may very well "just" have a weakened immune system
* they didnt recommend a blood allergy test based on the fact that he recently had the scratch test and that allergy testing is full of errors including false positives.

they still gave us an asthma action planned with green, yellow and red levels. each level has a myriad of medications to administer. they also gave us 8 prescriptions! we didnt fill them yet...sittin on them.

it was great to hear all the things that i really wanted to hear. they were the first to NOT label him with asthma which is WONDERFUL.

now im on the hunt for immunity boosting foods (too bad they didnt hand that out with their prescription template with 20 drugs on it that they give to everyone who walks through the door!) any suggestions would be appreciated!

Dave and i decided to try a control study...where we dont rush to meds when he comes down with a cough (even though that is on every level of the asthma plan). Lucky us...the chance came just days after the dr visit. See...after 10 months of breathing treatments using xopenex and then pulmicort if needed...we are not really sure they are helping. They certainly dont give the quick relief the drs expect with such medication. So in order to get a "normal" turn around time for old granto....we went cold turkey. Even though it was a bit scary at first...IM SO EXCITED to report that he is doing GREAT. Of course this was probably just a very slight cold...but as usual for grant it landed heavy in the lungs...but within 5 nights he had stopped coughing (at night)...and today he has barely coughed so i can see that he is healing on his own and in the same or maybe even shorter amount of time than it woudl have taken with LOTS and LOTS of drugs! Hallelujah! So this is very exciting for us. Might i also add that the 11.5 month old that had it first at day care...did get treated with xopenex and pulmicort (they prescribe these for upper respiratory stuff all the time anymore! its crazy)...and is at the same place grant is...getting better, barely coughing. He had it a couple days before grant too....so basically...grant is maybe even ahead of him healing wise. WHOA. Hows that for suppressed immuity?

So yes we will still fall back on drugs...but im thrilled to say its not a way of life anymore.

Elisa or Rast?

Oh my....i have yet to make the decision on which allergy testing method to have done on grant. if i was the kind of mom who just went to a traditional doc and let them make all the decisions....i wouldnt have to think twice. but fortunately...i have enough since not to treat doctors like they are gods...and realize that i need to be an active part in my and my families health care.

From what i understand to be true, i am leaning towards the ELISA test bc it is more comprehensive, testing for over 340 environmental and food allergies, as well as testing for delayed reaction! and that is key, bc grant doesnt seem to have immediate reactions to things. Rast on the other hand tests for immediate reactions of fewer things. Rast is however more covered on my insurance (pays half after deductible...which lucky me is already met. That will prolly cost us about $175 out of pocket. Elisa is not covered through insurance, as it is a newer test that doesnt have full mainstream credibility, and will cost around $400 out of pocket.I have to go through the naturopath dr to get this test (although there is one traditional dr in the kc area who does it)

if you are intrigued by the elisa please check out this short comparison article

Our appointment at Children's Mercy allergy/asthma clinic is set for next tuesday (8/28). we scheduled it over a month ago (it takes that long to get in!). I was hoping that the naturopath would have us heading in the right direction by now...but he wanted to investigate with the elisa first...and i havent returned bc i needed to figure out funding and make sure i agreed with the process (i dont automatically trust alternative medicine either). so long story short...i need to decide by tuesday if i want the rast (which is what they will do at children's mercy) or the elisa...or both? Is that so wrong? Thats alot of blood to take. Maybe we could do rast first and see if that gives us answers that improve grants quality of life. If it doesnt we can move in with 4 bills and go up a notch. UGH.

And the final juggernaut is that allergy testing if very full of errors and false positives etc. the whole thing is sorta of scam. it works for some...but most find it less than accurate. i know people who have done 3 different allergy tests...with different reactions in each. its crazy!even we had questionable results with the skin testing (remember bananas and beef?). which hasnt helped him overall. however...for parents who are desperate to help their kids....we will try most anything (within reason). maybe we will be one of those families that has luck with the rast! its worth a shot at least.

being a parent is soo tres grey - why cant things be black and white? grrrr