Pulmonary Follow-Up

Yesterday afternoon we took Caleb back to Bethesda for a follow-up appointment at the pediatric pulmonary. Back in September, we had our first appointment , which was the miraculous one where they called US to make the appointment! Nevery happens!

So we took Caleb off his Singulair the end of December, and he has been fine since. He did have some rough times in March and April, which is when he usually suffers, and he did have to have his inhaler for a few weeks. To be honest, however, Luke was the one who really suffered this spring allergy season. He was dramatically allergic to some tree or something, and after being outside for any length of time, his eyes would itch and swell up. In contrast, Caleb seemed just fine!

Caleb's lung function was checked again yesterday, and all his readings were greater than the predicted 100% value, so he is breathing really well. The doctor did say his nasal linings were still swollen a bit, even after using Flonase daily, so it's probably a good thing he's on it. He's stay on the Zyrtec, and when he has problems, like I'm predicting starting late August, he'll go on his Flovent inhaler twice a day.

The doctor asked when he had last seen an allergist. I told her I had tried to get a referral last June, but the doctor I saw then totally blew me off and said Caleb didn't need to see one. I was going to go back and try another doctor, but I never got around to it, LOL. I really think he is getting less sensitive to milk, but his pecan/walnut allergy is still the biggie. Not sure about peanuts. So I would like to see the allergist! This doctor wrote a referral, so I'll call about that on Monday. And she also wrote new prescriptions for all his meds, so we're set for awhile. Yay!

I was so proud of all the kids. When we were shown back into the exam room, I left Nathan, Luke, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace there, while Caleb, Faith and I went into the room for the lung capacity testing. When we got back into the room, the doctor was already in there, and she told me how impressed she was to walk in and see Nathan reading a book to the others, who were all sitting there quietly! So nice to hear and think back upon when everyone is running around, fussing and bickering, LOL.

Again, I have been so pleased with the pediatric clinic at Bethesda (well, not the one guy who wouldn't give me the allergy referral, but he was the only one! And he wasn't active duty!). And I am so pleased to hear how well Caleb is doing! I would say that there are still some emotional issues that haven't been completely resolved by being off the Singulair (although some of those might just have become habits), but all the physical stomach/muscle pain, shaking, etc. have gone away, praise the Lord.