It’s all my fault…

It’s hard to see your child in pain. It’s hard to see the trepidation and fear in his face and hear it in his voice when he asks, "is that it? Is there anymore?" after a shot in his arm. And you have to say, "yes… four more..." - which is only a disguise because there’s actually THIRTY TWO needles on four trays. One shot is bad enough. 4 x 8 shots is torture for a five year old boy with skinny little arms. In the case of allergy testing, it’s a set of FOUR trays with eight needles on each tray. A total of 32 shots per se.

And that's where we were for two hours yesterday afternoon. The allergist.

It started with a test on his arm - the normal area for a shot. It was one poke of two little needles. He cried in pain. I too had the same test yesterday. It felt like the sting of a bee. When the doctor saw that his skin reacted "correctly" to the shot they took a pen and drew four areas (or panels) on his forearms and labeled them ABC&D. Each area would be ‘poked’ with a panel of eight needles and the reaction would show different types of things he was allergic to.

They pressed the first two panels on his biceps and he cried in pain – Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow… Eight tiny needles poked into his left bicep and eight tiny needles into his right. All at the same time! It wasn’t a horrific cry of pain but it was horrific for me – a parent seeing his child in pain and unable to do anything to ease it.

Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow...

And then two more panels were pressed simultaneously onto his left and right forearms. Poor guy.

Bella watched with concern. Thankful she didn't have to. But she probably will when she's five.

And its ALL MY FAULT. I have the allergies. I have asthma. And those traits have been passed down to him and Bella.

All my life I’ve suffered.

And now we have to decide whether or not for Jake to have a weekly allergy shot. SIXTY THREE in one year. Then one a month for the next three to five years.

We have to weigh the pros – his ability to live a normal life without reaction to things he’s allergic to, and the cons – the risk of something happening during his treatment. They keep the kids in their office for thirty minutes after being given a shot to make sure they don’t have a bad reaction. It could result in something bad – but we were told only 5% chance. Why risk even that chance on your most prized and beloved possession???

These treatments will NOT cure the allergies – but they will control them. The shots actually are an injection of what you are allergic to. Low doses that your body gets use to. And eventually high doses – the ones you are around like dust, grass, pollen, food – will not do you harm.

I’ll be getting the same test done next Tuesday. I’m a bit nervous about getting poked like Jacob did… but he did it. And I’m so proud of him. Now its my turn.

He’s allergic to peanuts – as we found out in a very frightful night. Also he’s allergic to all the dusts and grass and even oranges! And he loves oranges!!!

In the end he asked – and this is enough to make his UNCLE JAMES CRY LIKE THE GIRL THAT HE IS… “Can I play with Maddie now?” (Uncle James and Jenny’s dog)

How sad, huh?

Hopefully… yes he can.

Here are a few pics of the very traumatic event.






If you are an Allergist you better be nice and cool, because what kids have to go through, you don’t want them to hate you even more because of your bedside manners.

And our doctor is totally cool. The nurses are great and the office is extremely kid-friendly. Even I like going there!