Allergies and Other Stuff

Well, I made it through my appointment at the allergist on Thursday. I got my skin testing done and then had to do the intradermal (ID) testing. That's really not fun. The nurse came in with a brief case full of needles and gave me like 20 or more shots in the arm. It was really unfair of them to do that to me in front of Paisley. When they did it to her, I had been telling her that she needed to be brave because those tests were needed to fix her allergies and asthma. She was screaming in a most unnatural way (right in the ear of the nurse) and kicking. I told her it was OK to cry, but that it was not OK to make the nurse go deaf. Paisley, bless her heart is a mean one. I know she enjoyed watching me go through all those same tests just weeks after she went through them. She actually told me in the car on the way to the allergist, "I'm taking you to let them torture you like they did me...revenge is SWEET!" I don't know when she turned against me, but it was ugly. She had this little gleam in her eye--pure enjoyment--the whole time I was getting poked with all those needles. She kept saying, "Ha! Does that hurt? Let me do it!" She's mean.
I tested allergic to grass, mold, dust mites, dogs, cats, cockroaches, trees, all stinging insects, fire ants, strawberries, and shellfish. There were several other things too, but those are the ones that bother me the most. I've had several anaphalactic reactions over the years that have required immediate treatment. I will now carry an epi-pen and chewable benadryl at all times. I also get to go have allergy shots (3 shots, twice a week) with Paisley. Great mother/daughter bonding, don't ya think? Not!

On a more serious note, my Laney has me pretty worried. She's been having really bad diarrhea, for the last few days. It's so bad that her little bottom is raw. She's also really restless, like her stomach is in pain. She's not dehydrated too bad...yet. Her doctor wants us to keep a close watch on her and bring her in to the hospital if it gets much worse. It really scares me because she's almost always constipated. I mean, seriously. She never has a bowel movement more than once a week, and that's after some sort of intervention. I've not even been able to give her most of her meds because of the diarrhea. The last time she had diarrhea this bad she had slick-gut and was in the hospital for a very long time. She was so sick that we thought we were going to lose her. I'm so worried about her and I feel so awful that her little bottom looks like it does. She's so raw that her whole little area "down there" is bleeding. She went through a whole pack of diapers in just a few days. I've put away the wipes and am using sterile water and soft gauze to clean her. That seems to make it easier on her. Will you all please pray that Laney feels better soon and that it doesn't turn into something bad? She goes to Chattanooga on Wednesday. I hope the GI doc can still do everything that needs to be done to get her ready for her surgery. I know we've had to reschedule twice already because of fever, but this time she's not running a high temp.

I'm going to say I'm sorry again for not posting more often. I've tried to step away from my computer a little more here lately. I was getting to the point where I felt like I was neglecting other things in favor of the Internet. One day I was messing with my laptop and Laney climbed into my lap and shut my laptop. She then climbed up and sat on top of it. I think that was baby girl's way of trying to get my attention! I will try to do my computer stuff when Laney is napping. Hope everyone had a great weekend!