Look who is coming for dinner?

...and lunch and breakfast....

In about a month,  we will have a new family member. We are going to be joined by an Airedale boy who will be just a little younger than what you see in this picture here. We chose the airedale breed because of Missy's allergies, after considering a number of other breeds as well. What we like about this breed is that it is relatively rare and therefore has not quite as many breed specific health issues as some of the other candidates.  We also wanted something larger than a yorkie. One of our neighbors has an airedale, so we had Missy rub her hands into the dog's fur and then rub her face and eyes. There was no reaction!  IT man and I love the mastiff breeds but Missy is terribly allergic to them and with all the over breeding, they do have a lot of issues unless you go with some of the rarer breeds. Due to the allergy issues we were not going to go with a rescue dog, although I visited the local sites frequently and even inquired about one young dog who was an funny and adorable mix of two low allergen breeds. But he had already been adopted. We hadn't planned on getting another dog but the kids wanted one so badly and IT man and I like the security of having another set of ears in the home at night.  Our dogs' barking chased away a burglar once so we know it works.  The kids' age is ideal for adding a dog to the family right now, with Bear going to be six in August and Missy 11½. Airedales are very energetic and smart  (unfortunately also stubborn) and so our life is about to take on another level of crazy :)

Joy

Saturday and Sunday blessed us with amazing spring weather. It was sunny and quite warm with temps going into the low eighties even. We cleaned our screened-in porch and yard and enjoyed the outdoors all day long. All the while our doors and windows were wide open and the kids ran around outside all day long playing in the yard. Even the neighbors commented on that.
Now, why would a neighbor comment on that? Because they haven't seen Missy outside in spring for years. Until last year they didn't see her in summer and fall or winter either.  In prior years we had the house bolted shut. Open windows? Not a chance. Playing outside? Are you insane? Bear is so attached to his sister that he never wanted to play outside if she didn't come too.  So, he too, once he left daycare, didn't get much outside time in.
Yes, she'll probably be a tad itchy for the next few days. And it wouldn't surprise me if the inhaler got used a bit more, but it's worth it. The joy of seeing my children play outside is so great I wiped a secret tear of joy here and there. Even now as I see these words take shape on my digital paper.  They replace tears (equally secret) of sorrow when I'd see my little girl stand by the window watching the children of the neighborhood play outside. Or when I'd see her thin, bony, scratched bloody shoulders slump in defeat when I refused to listen to her entreaties of 'Mom, I promise I'll stay on the concrete, I won't touch the grass, please, just one minute, just one minute.' It broke her spirit and my heart.
I guess the treatment is working. She is getting allergy shots. And I firmly believe that removing her from school made a huge difference. Her body no longer had to constantly combat all those  allergens everbody brought to class on their clothing. Her immune system was allowed to calm down. But all that is technical. Meanwhile, I'll gladly have tissue boxes in strategic locations all over the house for my sneezy kids if it means they can play outside like normal kids.

No, he didn't escape...the curse is upon my son as well

Allergies. My daughter has suffered terribly with allergies and they were the reason for us starting to homeschool. Now, for the past few months I am watching my son get more and more allergic. He doesn't have eczema like his sister, and he doesn't have asthma (yet), but he is clearly allergic. We'll have to allergy proof his room. He has nasal symptoms in the mornings and lately his little cheeks look bumpy with little hives. His sister is quite upset about this as she is terrified he'll go through what she endured. And that was a nightmare. Missy's eczema is mostly gone now. She has a patch of KP (Keratosis Pilaris on her belly) and some eczema rash that comes and goes on her upper thighs (precipitated by underwear I think). Bear has KP on his upper arms and knees, nothing to be concerned about, but since KP is a form of eczema I am worried he might still develop it. After all, he has a 25% chance of getting eczema too.  I put on a brave face but inwardly I am afraid too. Non- lethal allergies may not take your life but they can certainly take the quality out of it and they are certainly life altering.

Great Visit with Allergist!

We had a fabulous visit with Missy's allergist on Friday.  He was thrilled to see how well she is doing now. He's been taking care of her since June or July 2007 when she came into the hospital as a desperately ill little girl. I'll have to post some pictures to show you guys what I mean. She still has all her prescriptions (just in case) and per my request we added generic Flonase for when growing season starts. For anyone who knew my little girl when she was so very sick, her improvement is astounding. She went from a child who was too skinny and short from a lack of appetite to one who is now in the 50th percentile for growth. From a child who couldn't play outside in winter because of her asthma to one who doesn't want to come inside. From a child who was covered in raw, weeping, crusty, eczema from her scalp to her toes to smooth, soft, healthy skin. How grateful we are!
Her current amazing improvement has a lot of parents wondering why she is still being homeschooled. Aside from the fact that we like homeschooling we still see plenty of evidence that her allergies aren't gone. Both Missy and Bear horsed around yesterday with blanket which needed a wash and both were varying degrees rashy after that. Missy can go somewhere and get a reaction within minutes. The dragon is merely asleep it seems and we aim to keep it that way.  Now it would appear that her little brother is getting increasingly sensitive and breaks out in allergic rashes more and more often. But then he had a 25% chance of getting some allergies. He has keratosis pilaris. How that fares as he gets older we'll have to see.

Way lower in this post I have some pictures of some of Missy's limbs during her flare-ups. I must warn you though, these pictures are disturbing.  Thankfully she doesn't suffer through this anymore. Her skin is a silky as can be. These aren't the worst either. The worst was in 2007 and  2008 but the pictures taken then aren't digital. 

Covered in hives and Eczema

This is what her bed would look like in the morning before I had a chance to vacuum.



This is the inside of her favorite pair of black jeans. They look grey because her skin came off.



This was taken two days after she visited a pool. Many E sufferers find relief in chlorinated pools as it reduces infections and the overgrowth of staph found so often associated with this disorder. However, Missy, is one of those few unlucky people who are overly sensitive to chlorine.

This was taken two days after she visited a pool. Many E sufferers find relief in chlorinated pools as it reduces infections and the overgrowth of staph found so often associated with this disorder. However, Missy, is one of those few unlucky people who are overly sensitive to chlorine.

Nature, I miss it so...

Here I sit in  my sealed home. The weather outside is fabulous at a sunny 75F. And we? We are sitting inside. In the days before I never closed a window and the chirps of birds and chattering of squirrels were my background noise.   When I grew up I mostly lived in the country. The hills, dales, forest and orchards of southern Germany were my playground as a child. And later on my parents had a small hobby farm with about 6 cows, sheep, goats, pigs, all kind of fowl and a dog. And through all of this I grew atuned to nature. I understood her. I could feel the changes in the wind, the angle of the sunlight streaming through the trees. I knew every tree and shrub in my surroundings.  Every summer my parents and I spent countless bugbitten hours plucking all manner of berries and in the fall we harvested mushrooms and apples. What wonderful times these were.  Now this has all changed in my life and I feel so sad for my children for this. A connection to nature is priceless indeed and it's one my children don't have. My daughter's allergies to countless trees, grasses etc confine her to a life spent indoors. She is getting better and we were able to spend some time outside this year compared to the previous years where her time outside was usually the amount of time it took her to get from a building to the car and again in reverse.  I firmly believe that her improvement is primarily due to the fact that she is homeschooled and the shots which she's been getting for a year now.  We know she'll always have allergies but she was able to go outside in the garden this year.
I love reading blogs like 'BuntBlume' formerly 'BuntGlass' and  'Untrodden Paths'. The connection to Nature which these mothers forge would have been similar to mine. Maybe I should simply take a leap of faith and try a bit more now that Sissy reacts less and recovers faster.  How can my children become good stewards of a world they have no connection to.

Product Review and No ! I am not getting paid for it.

My daughter has a severly defective skin barrier. Her skin was always dry to the point of me vaccuuming her bed in the morning because of the 'snow'.  We used to go through about a 1 lb container of Vanicream every 3 weeks in addition to other lotions, potions, oils, creams, medications etc. And then about 2 months ago we found Aveeno Intense Relief Repair Cream. Since it cost as much as the Vanicream and we had a basket full of all kinds of creams etc we decided to try it. Her skin since then improved by about 90%. It is fragrance free and unscented which is a must for us due to allergies to that as well.  This stuff is UNBELIEVABLE.  I have to write them about it because we are absolutely terrified they'll stop manufacturing it. That stuff has truly helped to change the quality of her life. The skin remains well moisturized even hours after application. It doesn't burn her sensitive skin and absorbs cleanly.  I told the nurse at the Pediatric Pulmonary and Allergy Clinic of Iowa University Hospital about it too. My washing machine is happy as well. Before starting this cream I had to clean the crud off the top of the bucket every few weeks because of the scum that adhered to it. No more! For us this cream is nothing short of a miracle. Since we've started using it we've been able to stop her topical medications since she doesn't need them. The topical stuff included Protopic which has  been endowed with a black box warning and tons of topical steroids. One note of caution... this cream does contain Shae butter so avoid using on tree nut allergic individuals.