A while ago MyItchyBoy showed signs of a reaction to fish. Since then, we have had a consultant appointment and agreed to go for another RAST test. This is mainly because I hold no faith in the scratch tests since the peanut experience. As the RAST test involves taking blood we agreed that it was sensible to add a few other possibles to the list so that putting MIB through the test would not be in vain.
Pretty much every day since he heard me book the appointment, he asked what it was about. I reassured him that he’d done it before and it was all fine, but he was still hesitant and was in a procrastinating mood in the morning.
I managed to get him dressed minutes before leaving which meant that his Epaderm Cream on his arm didn’t have too long to soak in before we arrived at the hospital. The first thing the nurse does is apply some numbing cream to the inner elbow. They do both arms in case they can’t find a good vein in one as the cream can take up to an hour to numb the area. Unfortunately, when the nurse tried to stick a plaster over the cream, it just slid off again as his arm was nicely emolliated from getting dressed. The next attempt was to wrap cling film around his elbows. The cream then leaked out when he bent his arm, so they covered it in bandages to keep it all in place. Poor mite. We then had a play and a wander around the hospital waiting for the cream to work.
Despite telling me he was going to scream all through the appointment, he was really good. There was a little wobble when he got called back into the room for the actual blood test, but he let me scoop him up and take him in as long as I promised lots of cuddles. He also had his favourite cuddly toy with him, for extra protection.
The nurses are fantastic there and are always so friendly and reassuring – which us parents need almost as much as the kids. They are so professional under such difficult circumstances and we are always so grateful for their help and understanding.
MIB was super chuffed with himself for enduring his appointment like a toddler-sized hero. As with many things put on his skin, the numbing cream made his arms go a bit red but that died down by the evening. He was curious about the pin prick sized mark on his arm after I removed the small plaster with a smiley face drawn on it but was happy with my vague explanation of it being the ‘test’ that the nurse did. He didn’t see what they did as they brilliantly block his view with an enormous book that I could read to him while it was happening.
Results hopefully in by the end of the month. Fingers crossed.
MyItchyBoy
My son has atopic eczema and he reacts badly to dairy, soya and we are slowly working towards him eating eggs again. He's had a mild anaphylactic reaction to peanuts and has regular flare-ups to random things that we rarely manage to pinpoint. I started the blog to share my experiences and frustrations of having an itchy boy.
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