Allergist Appointment with Dr. Irani...

We went to see Dr. Irani, an allergist who specializes in EE, this morning. We loved her! Unfortunately, we weren't able to to the allergy testing because of the cough medicine, Hydroxyz, that Nathan has been on over the last week prescribed by his pediatrician is an antihistamine. I was upset about this at first, but after speaking with Dr. Irani about the treatment of EE, it seems that allergy testing although always done, isn't very useful at times. She took some cells from way up high in his nose to determine if his constant congestion was due to chronic sinusitis or the eosinophils. Thankfully, there were no eosinophils, pointing to chronic sinusitis. She prescribed a 3 week course of antibiotics to try and get rid of it!

We will see her in 3 weeks to do the allergy testing. For now, she recommended that we keep Nathan on the EleCare and stay away from the 8 most common allergy related foods, dairy, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Dr. Irani wants us to start with fruits and veggies first since they are the least likely to cause an allergy. One at a time, for a week at a time. This is a very restricted diet for anyone to follow, but it's so much better than no food at all! We are going to start with broccoli this week! She also reduced the dose of his Pulmicort that he is on to 1mg once per day. This makes me happy because, the least amount in my mind, the better in the long run. The side effects of Pulmicort when being inhaled is well known, however, the side affects when swallowing it aren't so clear, since it isn't an approved use for the drug at this time. Our goal for Nathan is to get him off of the steroid and control his EE by diet alone, if his body will allow. Dr. Irani is very well educated of this disease, yet she was very honest about how little is known about it at the same time. Currently, there is no cure for Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and this will be a life-long battle for Nathan. He is a strong little boy and we know he will do well!

Fun with mommy while waiting for the doctor:

Being a patient, patient:

Peek-a-boo with daddy and Curious George while waiting:

Happy Nathan:

Nathan was zonked when we left: