Annoyed (again)

I wasn't really expecting to get much out of Caleb's latest visit to yet another new clinic (asthma/allergy). We didn't really get any answers and I left being rather annoyed. I actually did like the doctor and loved the fact we didn't have to see a resident. And even though we were "squeezed" in for our appt, he spent a lot of time with us. He was extremely impressed with how Caleb looks (he's also an immunologist and know a lot about C's disorder) saying that he's never seen a CGD kid "look so good". On a side note, Caleb was 31 pounds, 4 oz (with jeans and a sweatshirt on). And he was 39 inches tall....he's grown over half an inch since May!

Anyway, after going through C's history and the history of his never ending cough, I felt like I should have had Isaac there as the patient instead of Caleb. Everything he was asking me was pretty much "no" for Caleb and "yes" for Isaac (watery eyes, especially outside..check!, dark circles under eyes...check!, eczema...check!, wheezing...sometimes!, hives..check!, etc.) Sometimes I think I overlook things with IZ because he's my "healthy" one. Maybe I'll have to bring him back for an appt!

After all the questioning, he wanted Caleb to do pulmonary function tests, even though I told him that he just had them done in May. After comparing them (with the 4 others he's done in the past) it was determined that they were all pretty much the same (no kidding!!). So then the doctor suggested that they give him a large dose of albuterol and then redo the test. Of course the test came back better and they were thrilled. They "found" the reason for his coughing....asthma. That really annoyed me that that was their conclusion because we did albuterol treatments twice a day for 2 weeks and then every 4 hours for 1 week, plus did the steroid inhalers for 2 weeks and those things did NOTHING for his cough. In my uneducated opinion, he did better the second time because the first test was sort of like a practice and then he remembered how to do it the second time. He's never done it twice in the pulmonology clinic, and by the time the test is over, he's just getting the hang of it.

When I brought up the fact that we already did all of those inhalers for a month, he kept going back to the "facts" and that C improved 86% after the albuterol. In my other uneducated opinion, maybe the albuterol DID help him a little bit with the test. Maybe it does help open up his airways so that he breathes better, but it clearly has not helped his cough. But what do I know. The plan is to give him his albuterol inhaler for another month and if he's still coughing, he will have a CT of his sinuses so see if there's something brewing in there. (Which apparently is common for kids with his disorder. He has sounded a bit nasally and has been snoring since all of this started, so who knows.) In the mean time, I will continue to pray that this is a virus and it will be gone before then.

And since he's an allergist he wanted to do allergy testing...which I also thought was ridiculous. C's never had an issue with allergies before and he admitted that if C did have allergies, we weren't going to treat them unless they were "out of this world." So they put C through yet another test and this one made him crazy. For a kid with sensory issues, having stuff jammed into his back that made him itch like crazy was about enough to put him over the edge. He was in pure misery for 30 minutes, tears in his eyes trying not to cry. It broke my heart. And to make it worse for him, Isaac kept saying "I can scratch my back Cay-yub, see? I can scratch my back and you can't do it." Stinker!

In the end, it was found that he has pretty bad allergies to some trees, grass, and mold/fungus. And this is likely due to the fact that we purposely try to keep him away from these things (as much as possible) because of his immune deficiency (fresh cut grass, grass clippings, leaves, and of course all types of mold/fungus). Apparently with "typical" children, the more they are exposed to these things, they become more tolerant to them and less allergic. And since he's not really exposed to them much, he's highly allergic?? I don't know. But what are we doing with this info anyway?? NOTHING.

After sitting in a little room with two very energetic boys for 2.5 hours (and not being able to allow them to eat in there due to some kids' severe allergies to food), we are no closer to finding out the cause of C's cough. ANNOYING!!