You may have heard --- and I know 100% this
could be way worse. Really. I know.
Since Leland was a baby, he has had some crazy
issues with ear infections, coughing (like legit sounds like a grown man
coughing up his lungs. I'm talking from 2+months on, he has had a MEAN cough. I
actually thought it was signs Cystic Fibrosis).
He's been tested for Asthma. He was put on an inhaler (I wouldn't wish that on my enemies. That steroid madness turns your child into the devil). He finally got tubes put in his ears at 20 months old. In most cases, this solves the problem.
In rare cases, it makes matters worse. That was our
case.
Leland's cough and constant runny nose was
getting WORSE. He had to get extensive allergy testing done. Can you imagine
holding your 2-year old down while they drew 8 vials of blood? We knew it was
for the best... but poor buddy.
GOOD NEWS (at the time): His allergy tests came back A-OKAY.
No allergies.
So a few X-Rays later, doctors told us his adenoids were too big and there we go with his 2nd surgery (again, my poor buddy).
THANKFULLY this time - his body was able to finally (for lack of a better work) funnel all that snottiness to the right areas. His ears cleared up better and he had less fevers, less cough. We were so delighted!
We went on our merry way and noticed Leland was started to stick out like a sore thumb in a classroom environment. He really struggled with impulsiveness & following directions. Sounds like a typical 3-year old? Yea, we tried that too. But when every teacher, babysitter, church nursery worker gives you a side smile and says, "well... he's... full of energy" ... moms, we know what that means.
I have "THAT" kid. And by golly, I love him. He indeed needed to improve his behavior though. We were never in denial. OOOOOO we struggled. We battled. We prayed. We fought. We sought council.
Then all of a sudden, his ENT issues started rising back up. This time is came in the form of a mean cyst on his neck. It became infected and landed us in the Emergency Room one night when his entire neck swelled up so much that he has NO NECK. NO CHIN. NO JAW LINE. Just swollen red sadness.
After many tests and about 4-months of intense antibiotics... Doctors scheduled ANOTHER surgery to remove this mean thing. Turns out it was a ThryoglossalDuct Cyst. Something not uncommon or detrimental to his health. It developed randomly from a piece of his Thyroid tissue that did not form properly during when he was 6-weeks gestation (it happened when I was 6-weeks pregnant! How crazy!).
They removed that sucker and now Leland has a gnarly scar across his entire neck. At this point, I know he is a superhero. What a tough kid.
Because of the struggles we've had trying to manage his impulsiveness and channel his energy, we decided to get him tested AGAIN for allergies. What the heck, right? We love this kid and never want to squash his amazing personality and spunk... but there is just something not clicking.
Guess what?? Yep. This time the test results told us he is HIGHLY HIGHLY allergic to EGGS. Both whites and yokes. This FLOORED my husband and I
because we literally made him eggs and toast
... every.single.morning. I mean... EVERY SINGLE MORNING. It was what he
requested. We thought it was good for him of course.
Thankfully, Leland does not have a reaction where he needs an EpiPen. His throat doesn't close up and he does not get external symptoms. BUT on his insides, his body was going nuts. Apparently, when Leland eats eggs... he has an extreme inflammatory response. His gut, stomach, digestive tract... they go nuts.
This is humorous... the doctor who ran his allergy tests asked us if Leland has any ENT issues.
We both laughed out loud. Um... yesThis can cause extreme "snottiness" and Leland's
body has been in pure panic mode for quite sometime. All the white blood cells
that coulda/shoulda/woulda helped fight off other illnesses were too occupied
trying to chill his gut out.
What a crazy journey!
PROUD TO UPDATE YOU --- He's been EGG FREE for 4 weeks. And I see a big difference. I love it. He is happier. He actually thinks its cool to have an allergy because it makes him difference (he loves dancing the the beat of his own drum!)
I've learned a lot... and made some silly mistakes at first as I learned what DID and DID NOT have eggs in them. His personality is still there (thankfully) but his ability to STOP & THINK has improved. He actually listens to me now when I count him. When I call his name and redirect his actions... 8/10 he really listens. The other times... he is still a terd. But I'll take it.
For those who have been so proactive in encouraging us through
this fiasco... you are so nice. Really. We appreciate your love!
Here's to another day. My boys are healthier. We are healthier. We are doing life still... but without eggs.
xoxo
