Caleb Has a Rough Morning

About a week ago Caleb had a small rash in his right armpit. By the time the weekend was over the rash had spread to his stomach and down his leg. Monday morning I took him straight to the pediatrician to have it looked at. She informed us that it was indeed a rash and she didn't know what could have caused it. (She had to go to med school to tell me that?) She did feel that it was an allergic reaction, however. In light of that she gave him a referral to an allergist.

This morning he had his appointment. This doctor said it could be an allergy or just a sensitivity or possibly eczema. We still do not have an answer. He was given allergy tests. To do this they marked his back with purple marker to know where each test was to be given. They then poked his back with littl plastic sticks. The sticks had the allergen on them. We had to wait 15 minutes for the test. He didn't react to anything (except the histamine which he was suppose to react to). He was given 17 tests and they all came out negative. He was a trooper through the first 10 pokes. It was the last 7 that sent him over the top.

The doctor then sent us over to the lab to get a blood test taken. Apparently the blood test is more sensitive than the skin tests. To say the least, Caleb was not at all thrilled with this test. He announced "Not I like doctor drink my blood". Apparently he thought she was a vampire. We had to assure him over and over again that she was not drinking her blood; that they were putting it in a machine. The girl then put a bandaid on the site. He didn't want her to do this so she told him she had to so his arm wouldn't spring a leak. It worked, but it took me forever to convice him that it was ok to remove it. He instisted that his arm would spring a leak if I took the bandaid off.

We are now waiting for those results to come back. They should be in on Monday. Until then, we have to give him a daily oatmeal bath. We were also given a prescription cream to apply twice daily. If the test comes back negative for allergies we will be on our way to a dermatologist to make sure we are properly treating eczema.