Wednesday, June 26, 2013

the allergy revealed

we did the barium swallow...we did the scope and biopsy... there was an official diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitus...we did the prick testing on tysen searching for food allergies. nothing turned up there, so we moved on to atopy patch testing. they used fresh foods and placed them on these tiny patches all over his back. he had to wear it for 2 days...then we pulled them off to see if there's any skin irritation. after 48 hours, there was an obvious spot...and then after 72 hours, we check again...and there were a few more. the worst allergen was MUSTARD. (good to know, but not a big deal, cuz nobody in our family eats mustard.) then not as bad, but definitely a reaction was pork, turkey, and pineapple. what?!? guess he's gonna be a chicken and beef kinda guy! there were very minor spots that indicated possible very minor allergies of corn, peas, and sunflower...so we will also avoid those. soooo thankful to be moving forward! we may try some natural methods to eliminate the allergies at some point...but for now, i'm going to cut them from his diet and get him off the reflux meds to make sure that his tummy problems have gone away. so grateful for answers!

these were the vials they placed the fresh food in...then used a syringe to put them on the tiny patches. we tested 80 different foods!!!
all taped up! he complained of it being itchy or burning at times...but we would just distract him, and he was fine. he wore this for two days...and quite honestly...the WORST part was removing all the tape and the patches. his skin is so sensitive...and after two days, it was really stuck on there good. he cried, but recovered quickly after we finally finished because i came armed with gummy worms!
this was the day after the patches were removed. the red irritations inside the little white boxes are where there's an allergy. (the purple dots were just a marker...the dr. marking where the patches would be placed) his poor back....so sensitive...but it did make it very easy to see where the patches and irritations were! the upper right hand corner was pineapple, and pork and turkey were on the upper left side. the lower right corner was mustard. it was the last thing he tested. now, 3 days after removing the patches, the pork, turkey, and pineapple areas are like little spots of eczema, but the mustard spot looks like a scab from a burn.
you can see a little better here how bad the mustard was....glad none of us like it!

rafting

the brotherhood guys have talked for a few years about taking a trip together...and they finally made it happen! they went to colorado to visit jeremy and go white water rafting. of course, they had a blast...
while andy was gone, i took the boys to keller for a couple days to keep busy! one day we went swimming with the brotherhood wives (minus candise)...and even got to have dinner without the kiddos!
logan and haley went to see ironman 3 with ana and papaw...special cousin bonding time!

Monday, June 17, 2013

summertime shakes

sonic shakes are 1/2 price at 8pm during the summer. with a family of five, you have to take advantage of these kind of sales....but it could really cost me in my waistline!
 just thought it was the cutest most real smile he had given me in awhile.
 went for a family walk the other morning...it was SO hot...so when we got home, we just turned on the sprinklers to cool off! 

date!

its kinda hard to believe that andy is 35...we just don't feel that old! :) youth ministry keeps us feeling young...ha! but we got to go out and celebrate his birthday with a movie...we saw star trek 2...awesome.
 this week the boys are participating in VBS...which means date night for mom and dad!!  its nice to get to just hang out...several nights in a row. we went walking in downtown bryan...shopping at SAMS club....last night we went for a 4 mile walk, then got shakes...its been some good quality time!
 

beginning of summer

summer has been in full force for a few weeks now. we love the pool...but also get tired of it if we go too much...the challenge is to keep everyone busy so they don't get bored and pick on each other. we go to the library, pool, gym, etc....
 
on one visit tysen and uncle thomas were twinkies!!
 also trying to start taking the boys on dates with me. andy takes them on mondays one at a time for donuts and i have them all day, but we do something special here and there just one on one. logan and i went out for shakes....our favorites are from jack in the box...the chocolate oreo cookie shake...
 we randomly ran into the lenards! we were in town for my family reunion and were at a park in plano...they were close by and happened to stop. small world!! but fun to get to visit with them a little!
 these are the 3 musketeers from 2nd grade. austin crump and tyler prince. these 3 are best buds....austin just moved, but hoping tyler sticks around for awhile...:) 
 beating the heat. its just so hot in the afternoon, so the boys find their own ways to stay active indoors. they have been pitching to each other across the living room with tennis balls. 

what's next

on a mission now to determine what food tysen is allergic to that is causing his esophagitus. the allergist said that typically with his condition, its a slower reacting allergy. not your typical hives or vomitting or worse. its a slowly induced allergy, so he was skeptical that we would find any results from skin testing...but that's the first step. this is the 3rd time we have undergone skin pricking...logan and ian have both done it as well. tysen  did great...the first few his face was just in shock, but as they continue, it slowly turns to tears. he didn't fight the dr at all...just laid there and cried. it was so strong...but it was so sad. as the dr. suspected, we got zero results. our next step that we will do in a few weeks is a different type of patch testing. we do that in a couple of weeks. we shall see!