And that's why...

Monday we took our 6yo to the allergist.  It wasn't my first choice but she has been fighting with a cough since December.  She had the virus we all had but hers triggered an asthmatic response that wouldn't go away no matter how we treated it.  She has coughed constantly for the last nine months and we were all tired of it. 

So, our family doc sent us off to the allergist to get checked out.  They did some breathing tests and then did skin testing.  I wasn't too hip on the skin testing because this child has never had any allergy symptoms before so I thought it was a waste of time and money.  (and we don't have a lot of money after the last medical outgoings)

But, we let them do it in hopes of finding out how to help our Bean.  When they started drawing the grid on her back,, I knew we were in for it.  Her skin is so fair that the marker caused red welts.  Then they started the tests.  They were testing for 38 allergens.  I am not even kidding.  So, I had to hold my baby girl while she cried so they could stick her 38 times. 

So not cool.  She was so brave and didn't even move.  She just laid there and cried quietly.  Half-way through she asked for a break but then let them finish and and  just cried softly.  It was heart breaking.

Not too long after they were finished her back looked awful.  The nurses were clicking their tongues and saying that she was reacting to all them wildly.  ALL OF THEM.

Seriously?  Oh please.  When they finally started 'reading' the test they were saying that she was highly allergic to all 38 things they tested for.  Whatever.  The totally lost me right then and there.  I didn't believe another word they said. 

They ended up saying that she was allergic to the dog and grass and trees.  Um, hello!  We have always had a dog and she has never exhibited ANY symptoms of being allergic to her.  The dog even sleeps with her sometimes.  NO reaction.  This child also regularly rolls around in the grass and climbs trees of every kind-NO reaction.  Ever.  So how can she be so highly allergic to all these things?

They couldn't answer my questions.  But they wanted us to set her up with shots.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  I have to admit that some not so nice things went through my head and Steven had to talk me back from the ledge by this point. 

No, we aren't going to do shots for our healthy child.  Thank you very much.  We left with some inhalers, prescriptions, and a whole lot of confusion.  I immediately called our family doctor and set up an appt to talk about everything.

Short story-don't worry about the so-called allergies.  If she isn't exhibiting any symptoms, don't treat it.  We are however treating the asthma.  Yes, she has a mild obstruction in her airways but nothing big.  She has an inhaler to use every day and one for emergencies(which we don't think will ever happen).  We don't have to go back to the allergist, which is a good thing because I wasn't going to anyway!  We will watch her and re-evaluate in a few months to see how her cough is doing.  If it is better we will taper the meds off to try and eventually stop them altogether.

I am completely comfortable with our family docs determination and am so glad we checked with him before deciding on anything. 

Now the rest of the week can just slow down and go back to normal.  Actually, not normal...I want downright boring!!  ;-)