Better Late than Never...

Bird (the nickname given to my youngest by his daddy) suffers from migraines that have sent us to the ER twice in the past year. There is not a more helpless feeling than seeing your child in excruciating pain and knowing there is nothing you can do to fix it.

The first migraine that sent us to the ER started with alarming symptoms. His hands and feet went numb and then the pain started. The second ER visit had the numbness but just to keep things exciting, visual disturbances were added. The only thing more frightening than seeing your child in such pain, is hearing him say that he's lost all peripheral vision.

Two ER visits for such pain, is, in my opinion, two too many. Fortunately, Dillon is seeing a new doctor who is not content to just call it a migraine and hope that the next one doesn't come too soon. He referred us to allergist and neurologist to see if we can get to the reasons behind the migraines and hopefully treat them before they even start.

We had our first appointment with the allergist yesterday. The nurse practitioner sat with us for literally hours taking Dillon's history and as she asked her questions and Bird and I answered, it began to slowly sink in. This child is a walking cauldron of allergies, and we have just let them stew for years and years. I began to realize that I had not been an effective advocate for my son. In fact, my advocacy could best be described as EPIC FAIL!

The nurse practitioner said sweetly, "It's a wonder you haven't been in to see us before now."

If the exam room floor could have opened up an swallowed me whole I would have felt more comfortable, but then that would be leaving my son and all his allergies on the exam table, once again without an advocate.

The Allergy Clinic was the most thorough doctor's office we have visited in a long time. They did more in this one visit than in 8 hours spent in the ER. Bird had a CAT scan, and a breathing function test. The breathing test showed that while he does have asthma is it well controlled with his inhaler. The CAT scan showed nothing remarkable, except that he has some infection lingering in one of his sinuses.

He started prednisone and we have discovered two things. One, prednisone makes him hungry and two, apparently you can breathe through your nose. Up till now, he was sure that was some myth.

He is playing me like a fiddle today. His hunger is controlling him and therefore controlling me. Everytime he wants more food, he inches up to me and in his sweetest, most childlike, and most guilt inducing voice, he says.. "I had a CAT scan yesterday". This drives home the seriousness of his stuffy nose that I let go for so long, and he gets anything he wants. At least for today.