Talk about crazy weeks! Darreck went back to work on Monday, but only for half a day so we could travel to Helena to see a new doctor for Luke. Darreck first. He's working a day shift all week to attend training meetings, so while we're sort of back in the swing of things, we're getting a schedule down just to change it up next week. It's my first time being home with all three boys since Jack's first week, and I think we're doing pretty well. Each morning we take a family walk and attempt to clean something up (easier said than done). Afternoons are quiet time/nap time and dinner prep. I like our little schedule, and it's been a relief after the summer chaos. I love having Darreck home with us all summer, but it's always nice getting our routine back each fall. I've even been able to set Jack down for short amounts of time. May I never take having the use of both hands for granted again! Life is so much easier with dual appendages.
Next week Darreck goes back to his normal afternoon-evening schedule, and Max starts kindergarten. I have one more week before I start teaching violin and piano lessons again. In other words, our schedule should ramp up again very, very shortly. While I'm looking forward to seeing my studio kids again, I'm also worried about the time my teaching takes away from my family and household duties. Getting dinner on the table is infinitely harder when I teach from 3:30 until 6:30 three days each week. Oh well. We've always found a way before, and I'm sure we will again this year.
Now Luke's turn. After seeing three local doctors, some good friends suggested we travel to Helena to see a pediatric allergist there. We hemmed and hawed for months about whether we wanted to routinely see a specialist 90 miles away, but I'm so glad we decided to go for it. For the first time since his initial diagnosis, we met with a doctor who decisively presented a plan. She also did skin-prick testing on his most likely allergens to confirm earlier results. The results of all that testing were mixed. On the plus side, the doctor encouraged us to add back in all of his level 0-1 allergens so that he will build up a resistance. It's opposite advice of what we've received before, but we feel really good about the direction she's taking. That group includes dairy, wheat, oat, egg, and banana. We also got further direction on what to do about his eczema and peanut allergies. I feel like we now have a solid plan to handle those chronic conditions. On the negative side, she confirmed that he has mild asthma, and we have to do further blood testing to see if he's allergic to avocado and hazelnut. We tried to do the tests that afternoon, but they poked him three times and failed all three times. He was so miserable!
It ended up being a three hour long day at the doctor's office, not counting the 2 hour and 15 minute drive, but it was worth every single second. We're going to need to be hyper vigilant about his peanut allergy and much more aggressive about his skin problems, but I feel that adding back in a whole slew of foods more than compensates. We can finally eat normally again! It's also just the beginning of the road. Somewhere in the future we'll have to address his environmental allergies and probably do allergy shots, but I'm choosing not to worry about it at this point. What will come will come, and this week I'm simply celebrating our victory.
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