Maryland Babies

Don't know what to think ... input? (long)

Luke has had many health issues. Too many to list.

 

We also have allergy issues with him. We know he is allergic to eggs (he can eat them again in products like cake but no concentrated egg white or yolk)

He is also allergic to rabbits and cats. 

 

We have a rabbit and his daycare has two cats and a rabbit. When we first found out I was devastated. His daycare mom has become our family that we don't have here. We have nobody here and she really is the closest person we have. Luke loves her, she loves him, we love her ... we treat her like family and so does she. I could not bear the thought of removing him from her care for his, her and our sake. 

 

Anyway, she had her playroom carpet professionally cleaned after we found out about the allergy, keeps the cats out of that room and vacuums the other room every day before he gets there. She is really trying hard to keep him away from the cats as much as possible.

 

Her rabbit and our rabbit are both in rooms that we can keep him out of so that's not an issue. 

 

Anyway ... he is on two allergy meds every day (singulair and zyrtec). 

 Since this year we have had issues with him and croup. He had croup 4 times this year that landed us in the ER and one more recently that I was able to control without having to go to the hospital. Since then he has had a cough. An odd "clearing his throat" kind of cough. We have been to the pediatrician several times, his lungs sound clear.. his blood tests were good, he is on an inhaler and he has taken two different types of antibiotics. 

 

We also went to the allergist who said he does not think it is allergy related. 

 

So today we went to a lung specialist (after a 6 week wait to get in) and he said it sounds like an irritation of the vocal cords and put him on steroids. But he said if it does not get better then we might consider taking him out of daycare.. the cat allergy might be triggering it. 

 

I am devastated and am really unsure of what to do. 

On one hand he has been there for over 2 years and didn't have this issue before. On the other... what if that is really the cause... ? I know in my head that if that would fix it, that is what I would need to do but I don't know for sure. I am also really scared of what that would do to him. He loves her. She is as close to him as other kids feel to their grandmom. My husband travels all the time so he already has to deal with that "loss" over and over again.  Removing him from her care would be devastating for all of us.

 

I am really worried and sad. I guess I should try not to freak out until I have to make a decision for sure but I can't help but worry. What would you all do if you were in our situation? Would you continue trying to work with medication to control it as much as possible.. or would you remove him from the situation and with that from what he knows as family?

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Re: Don't know what to think ... input? (long)

  • Could you do a test run of a week or two to see if he improves any?
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  • imageweezie825:
    Could you do a test run of a week or two to see if he improves any?

    This is what I was thinking.  Maybe a trial run to see if it helps, and then a week or two back on to see if it comes back - then if it really does look like it's the trigger you can make a decision about how best to deal with it.  With the baseline, you can also see how much of a difference meds would make if he stayed there.

    There really are some amazing things that they can do for allergies these days.

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  • imageweezie825:
    Could you do a test run of a week or two to see if he improves any?

     

    This is what I'd recommend.

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  • He has been away from there for a week or two at a time before due to vacation and nothing really changed but that cough also wasn't there until about two month ago. I guess I might have to do it again
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  • Honestly, I think it would take more than 2 weeks for you to notice any change. It's not just the carpet and keeping the cat in the other room. The dander is in the air; on the clothes of the caregiver; etc. I grew up with a cat and had horrible health issues until they finally diagnosis me with a severe cat allergy when I was 8. We had to get rid of our cat and it took me a while before I could notice any change (and thats after professional cleaning and all that).

    I understand that the daycare is like family... but you need to figure out what is going to work best for your LO. Can you try a different option for longer than 2 weeks (i.e. couple months) and see if there is any difference?

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  • I would probably look for another FT daycare for him. You can still continue your/his relationship with her and visit, etc. but having him there all day/every day isn't good for his health. He's going to start preschool and K soon enough anyway he wouldn't stay there forever anyway.
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  • Thank you guys. I think I will wait through this course of steroids that he was just put on to see if that helps and if not I might have to take him out of daycare.

     

    I guess the thing that keeps me hoping is that the allergist said it sounds like we are controlling the exposure well and he doesn't think it's allergy related

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  • I know a ton of people who can't get rid of the annoying lingering clearing throat (sometimes chesty sounding) cough.  Maybe it's just the strain of virus that he had picked up that is lingering and lingering.  I may have misunderstood but this cough is lingering since his multiple bouts of croup, right?

     

  • Jenni, I feel so bad for you and Luke.  I agree with others though, just cut his exposure totally for a trial period.  I might not be allergy related, but it's possible that even a tiny bit of exposure to allergens over and over again are irritating his system.  So at the very least I would keep him totally away from anything for at least 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference.  And you can still maintain a relationship with your DC provider, you will just have to set up time to get together with her and make sure he take his meds before he visits.  I really hope he is feeling better soon, nothing is worse than a sick kid and not really knowing why he's sick.
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  • imageCooper81:
    Jenni, I feel so bad for you and Luke.  I agree with others though, just cut his exposure totally for a trial period.  I might not be allergy related, but it's possible that even a tiny bit of exposure to allergens over and over again are irritating his system.  So at the very least I would keep him totally away from anything for at least 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference.  And you can still maintain a relationship with your DC provider, you will just have to set up time to get together with her and make sure he take his meds before he visits.  I really hope he is feeling better soon, nothing is worse than a sick kid and not really knowing why he's sick.

    I agree with Cooper. I know how much you love your DCP, but you should also think about the long-term health effect of putting Luke on steroids every day.

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  • imageLoveLossHopeRepeat:

    But this is his health you're talking about. If he wasn't in a home with cats every day, his allergies may be mild enough that he wouldn't need the medication anymore, or at least not all of it. I, personally, wouldn't be comfortable medicating DD so that she could stay in a childcare situation.

    Exactly this. I would do whatever I had to do in order to avoid additional medication. 

    As emotionally difficult as you think it might be, he will get over it. Kids are a lot more resilient to stuff like this at a young age than we give them credit for, and I think as adults we project a lot of stuff onto children. Also as Kathryn pointed out he will be in preschool soon and then have a whole new world of friends, etc. 

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  • :hugs: that would be difficult but I wouldn't want my son to be on steroids for an extended period of time.  If you need somewhere to bring him on Fri and Mondays while you are testing things out I work at a great place (in Glen Burnie) that has openings for drop-ins on those days.  (We actually have a 2+ yr old spot open but only have drop-in openings on M/F).
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  • Thanks guys. I do not like him being on so many medications and that is what worries me a lot. The steroids are only for 5 days so at least it's not a ongoing thing.

     

    I will do what the doctor said that try this and if it doesn't go away then I will have to take him out of daycare at least for a while as you guys said. Once Christmas comes around I won't be as busy work wise so that might actually be the best time to do it. 

     

    It breaks my heart on so many levels though. 

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