Off to Denver

Sally-Mom saved my sanity last week by flying into town, renting an SUV, and driving Shelton, Sasha, and me to Denver for a few days. I was incredibly nervous about this trip, and she was a great support to me. We weren't necessarily going for fun, but she made it more enjoyable with some fun shopping trips, and a 3 day stay at The Embassy Suites, one of my kids' favorite hotels to frequent. This trip was carefully planned to take Shelton & Sasha to some medical specialists in the Denver area.

Shelton's appointment was with Dr. Searing, an Allergist at National Jewish Hospital. We went to the Highlands Ranch location, a posh Denver suburb on the south side. First, he was tested for asthma, and just as I thought, he does not have asthma at all. Next, he underwent an allergy test after an interview to get an idea of what allergens have been affecting him. I explained how Shelton has been fighting seasonal allergy symptoms since he was 1, and he has taken Zyrtec nearly everyday since, then, as well. A few times, he has had major reactions to nuts, and has had symptoms such as, a swollen tongue and throat, hives on his body, and vomiting afterwards. Out of 32 allergens tested, he had a reaction to all but 6. It was awful to watch, and I get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it, now. They pricked his back with needles that had the allergens on them, and within a few minutes, he was exhibiting the anticipated hives.

Shelton's back, after about 3 minutes.

Poor guy! This is after 8 minutes, and he was miserable at this point.

They washed off his back after they measured each hive at 15 minutes.

We learned that Shelton is allergic to all of the grasses we tested, all of the trees we tested, as well as all tree nuts, sunflower seeds, dust mites, household dust, cockroaches (thank goodness we don't have those), molds (including penicillin, just like Daddy), and cats (major!). He is not allergic to almonds (they are actually more of a seed than a nut), and he is not allergic to peanuts (a legume). Just to be safe, we will tell people not to give him any nuts, and even products with traces of nuts. Pecans were one of the biggest allergens with a reaction, and that is what I think he ate on Thanksgiving 4 years ago when we spent most of that day in the ER with major allergy symptoms. Shelton's Dr. prescribed an epinephrine pen for emergencies, and we are going to try some new allergy medicine and nasal washes and sprays before we try allergy shots, etc. 

After the allergy test, they did another asthma test, but Shelton does not have allergy-induced asthma.

This is the nose-plug he wore during the tests, and he got to keep it.

He enjoyed the asthma testing, as it is on a computer in a game form. He thought it was great fun. 

During Shelton's appointment, Sally-Mom took Sasha to the American Girl store in Highlands Ranch, and spoiled her rotten. She got to pick out a doll, and after much deliberation, chose McKenna, the 2012 girl of the year doll. She loved her hair, and wants hers to be just as long someday. The fun thing is that McKenna's hair and eye color are very similar to Sasha's, and she also got to pick her out some glasses, so she is basically a mini version of Sasha. She thinks that she will call her, Mia.

Here is Sahsa and her doll, Mia, at P.F. Changs.