On Tuesday, Mr. Funny and I went to see the allergist to find out what might be causing his eczema. We went to see
them. They happen to have a location right down the street so it was very
convenient. They share an office with another practice and are only in the area once a week. When I finally found the building, we went inside and not sure we were in the right place I said, "Hi, we're looking for the allergist?" Mr. Funny did one of those looks he commonly does where he scrunches up one side of his lip along with squinting one eye as if his eyebrow and lip were magnetically attracted to each other. Ya' know, like the Elvis look. He did the look and said, "We're looking for the elevator?" Ignoring Mr.
Funny's question but laughing at his cuteness, the nurse said to me, "This is it." Then Mr. Funny animated his look even more so and asked, "This is the elevator??" If you know Mr. Funny, you know that he is not a quiet child. In fact, you would even be correct to say that this child yells when he talks. So, of course the whole waiting room is looking at him and they are all laughing and telling me how cute Mr. Funny is. I get this
a lot. And don't worry, I explained to him that we had found the allergist, not the elevator. We sat across from another mother and her daughter who had just gotten her arm pricked and was waiting 20 minutes before going back to see the results. Her mom was reading a story from one of the Highlights magazines. Mr. Funny wanted to see too! So, he went right over and stood next to them and listened to the story. At one part, the mother asked her daughter to count the worms in the story. After her daughter counted, Benny counted too. The mom said, "Good job! You're very smart!" Mr. Funny smiled big and shot that dimple at me. Then he came back over and sat with me. He noticed the girl had a lollipop on her lap. "She has a lollipop" he stated to the mom. "Yes, she does." "Do you have more in your purse?" Wow. I never know what to do in these situations. See, unlike my two oldest children who have no trouble talking to anyone (as you can see from this example), I DO have trouble. I'm just never sure of what to say. So, I said nothing. The mom went on to tell him no, she didn't have any in her purse and that her daughter got one from the nurse. I told Mr. Funny that he would probably get one too. They called us back and he got measured and weighed.
Sorry for the blurry picture. I didn't realize the flash was off and that causes the pictures to blur sometimes. I brought my camera to take pictures for Little Miss Chatterbox. She really wanted to come. When she found out she was staying home with Dad, she said, "But I've never been to an allergist before and I want to see what they do! Please let me come!
Pleeeeeeeease!" She's my future doctor. So, I brought the camera. But when it was time for the tests, I was holding Mr. Funny and couldn't take any pictures. Sorry Chatterbox! You'll have to wait 'til med school.
After talking to the doctor and showing him
Funnys eczema (which he stated wasn't "that bad") he explained to me that they were going to test him for common animal, mold, pollen, and food allergies. We went back to the room where the nurse was and she told Mr. Funny to hold out his arm. He was in my lap, and she held on to his hand. After she started, Mr. Funny was watching every move she made with his inquisitive eyes. Then she said, "Well, I guess I can let go of my death grip. He's doing a great job!" He asked her, "Am I being good?" She said, "Yes!" Then looked at me and said most kids try to yank their arm away and cry. She asked Funny if it hurt. He simply stated, "Nope." I told her he gets it
a lot worse at home from his older sister. "That explains it," she said. After 24 pricks, she gave us a timer which was set for 20 minutes and sent us back to the waiting room. But not before offering Funny a lollipop! He was so excited. He picked out a cherry pop and when I asked him if he wanted me to open it, he said he was going to save it for the ride home. Hearing this, the nurse said he could pick another one to eat now. So, he picked a cotton candy one too.
He did a great job waiting for those 20 minutes, being very careful not to touch his arm and blowing on it if it itched. At one point, he looked at me as he sucked on his lollipop, then looked at the other one in his hand that he was saving. Then he looked at me again and said, "Mom, you can have this other lollipop. I don't have to have one for the ride home."
I thanked him and gave him a hug but told him to go ahead and save it for later. After the 20 minutes was up, we went back to find that all the tests were negative. So, the doctor said, "Let's test for dust. That's pretty common." Why they didn't do it the first time, I'm not sure. But anyway, he got pricked one more time and we were told to wait another 20 minutes. After getting back to the waiting room Funny said, "I didn't get a lollipop this time." When the nurse came back out he ran over to her and said, "Could I have another one lollipop?" She asked me if it was alright and I said yes. He came running back over with a huge smile on his face saying, "Mom! This one's for you!" Is he sweet or what? I really enjoyed being able to spend some time alone with him. I got to give him lots of hugs and kisses and tell him how special he is and how proud of him I am. He really is a good kid.
After the second 20 minutes, we went back and that test was also negative. Mr.
Funny's not allergic to anything!! Hooray!! Turns out his eczema is just inherited and he has dry skin. The doctor gave us a prescription for a steroid cream to use when the eczema gets really bad and advice to use a daily moisturizer. I took Mr. Funny to the store and let him pick a movie out from the Red Box and he was as happy as could be! This doctors trip was a lot easier than I had dreaded it to be.
