Tonight as I was getting ready to dope Kyra up for the evening, Harvey walked in and saw this arsenal of medication on the counter and said, “Oh, my! Does she really need all of this.” The answer is yes. Yes she does.
Now, being the extremely mellow dramatic person that I can occasionally be, I photographed everything that she takes. Including vitamins so, it really isn’t quite as bad as it looks. Additionally, we don’t use all of the medications every day.
Asthma, allergies and eczema tend to come together as a package deal. We found out about her allergies very early on, about nine months old, with a reaction to penicillin. Later, we noticed her sneezing, itching and getting hives constantly. I have since taken her in for allergy testing and quite honestly, she is allergic to everything! Seriously. That doesn’t keep her home though. I just dope her up and let her run loose. She started allergy medication at age 2. She is currently two allergy pills, and benedryl when needed. Her allergies often lead to asthma attacks so, in my purse I ALWAYS carry benedryl and an inhaler.
Eczema started when she was 3. I noticed a sore on her leg when she was playing. It was about the size of a half dollar and I couldn’t get it to go away. We finally found out that it was eczema. The eczema has now spread to the majority of her body and leave large open sores and cracks in her skin. She itches terribly almost constantly and that has resulted in her contracting a staff infection. She now is lathered up in creams, lotions, and steroids three times a day. She bathes in epson salts and uses nipple cream on her lips. She is going on an oral steroid to help clear up her itchy dry skin. Poor kid, she wants to know if she will have soft skin by her birthday.
Asthma was a bit trickier. She was constantly being diagnosed with pneumonia. Finally after months of her cough not going away, she started to throw up when coughing. That was the final straw. She was diagnosed when she was 3 1/2. We came home from the doctors office with an asthma pill, a daily inhaler and a nebulizer. We use the nebulizer whenever we are home and she has an attack. The rescue inhaler (the one I carry with me) and chamber is for when we are in an inconvenient place to plug in the box.
The misc. stuff that I put in there for the shock value are her creams that I put on her three times a day, her vitamins (gummy fairy bites no less,) and melatonin (she has had a hard time sleeping from day one and this helps her sleep.)
We have since put all of her meds into a big box with a huge list of instructions. That way, if anyone is needing to take her overnight, they will know what to do. Anyway, poor girl. I am hoping that we can get this all under control and that she can get that darn soft skin!!!!
3 Comments
That poor baby. When my sister is in town in August, you should talk with her. Maddy sounds pretty much identical to Kyra…asthma, allergies and eczema. Now that she is 27 and lives where it is humid, she rarely has any eczema problems and I don't think she even carries an inhaler now. As for the allergies, they have ordered bubbles for her new baby because they assume she will need them, just like my sister should have had. Seriously though, as she got older, they got better. I think by the time she was 8 life was getting better for her. Give Kyra a hug for me!
95* and 100% humidity in Nebraska right now, I bet a trip out here would help her immensely…just saying…hint hint and all that rot.
My au pair girl had really terrible eczema and we had to go through the nightly ritual with her. She found that when she got out of the shower, the only thing that didn't hurt her skin was a sheet (instead of a towel) to dry herself off with…just a regular, old bed sheet. Hang in there, though, both of you.