There's something about August. I feel like every year I find myself chasing a long to-do list of thinsg that need to be done before the kids get ready for school. And since I'm saying "kidS" (plural) my list is seemingly longer this year than it was last year since Lauren will start going to school daily instead of her 3 day nursery school schedule.
We've had a shopping trip, and I've filled in with some online purchases. We still have our school supply lists to fill and label. Our backpacks survived last year, so I'm going to make an attempt at getting another hard year out of them before we repurchase.
The most intense back to school preparations absolutely revolve around Joshua and his allergy issues. Each year I have a new teacher to work with in order to prepare them for what needs to be done. We also update our Auvi-Q prescriptions and update the anaphylaxis care plan that is on file with the school. I've learned to coordinate this back-to-school checklist with a trip to the allergist at the same time- they can help fill out forms and everything will be up to date for the beginning of the year. I've not been happy with Joshua's allergist for all the years that we've seen them-- but they were the only show in town, unfortunately. Most of what I've learned about managing his allergy has been learned on my own- as the doctor's office had been little to no help. When asked for suggestions at the very beginning of this road for us, the doctor's office advised us that we needed to avoid peanuts at all costs. And that was all they could offer. Clearly, it hasn't been that simple.
I was excited about this year's visit because the old doctor had since retired, and a new doctor had come to take over the practice. I went with a list of questions, and he answered them all with great care. What bowled me over, though, was his news about Joshua's lab work. He asked me if we had had labs drawn before we came for our appointment. I told him that the former doctor had suggested we not bother with them because the labs were showing no change. He looked at me strangely and said, "Really?"
Apparently Joshua's levels on his initial blood work were 40. 40 what I don't know. It could be 40 lollipops. But he said that last year when we had lab work done, his levels dropped dramatically to 10. He said that with a decreasing trend like that, he'd really like to see the labs this year to see if they moved again. He said not to get our hopes up, but that with a trend like that, there may be some hope that Joshua could be one of the small number of kids who outgrow their peanut allergies. I thought I might get up and do cartwheels. I restrained myself to just giving Joshua a squeeze and a high five, although he had no clue what any of it meant until we discussed it on the ride home.
We haven't yet been to the lab to have his blood drawn. As you can imagine, it isn't one of Josh's favorite things to do. But I'm more than a little anxious to see how things are going with his levels. The doctor said that anything under a 2 would mean that they would try a skin challenge. And anything under a 1 would indicate that an oral challenge might be a possibility. I didn't even know what to do!
Regardless of what happens and where the levels are this year, we'll proceed very cautiously. All school preparations will remain the same. All safety measures that we live with will continue. But there is some reassurance that perhaps, one of the 15 million prayers that I've said on behalf of this sweet little boy might have been answered in the way I have hoped. We'll take whatever the news is with faith and gratitude, but we sure are hoping that things are continuing to trend in the right direction.
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