Catching Up

Here we are, almost 2 months since my last blog post. Time really does fly and in true to form military life, the highs and lows come barreling at us even faster.

Shortly after I last published, Joel had his maturity test with the allergist and passed! He will be starting Peanut OIT (oral immunotherapy) THIS WEEK! I am an anxious Momma, but ultimately I know we are making the right choice. On Day 1 Joel will receive 12 doses, incrementally increasing, of peanut protein. We have been told these are typically tolerated well but there is always a chance a reaction is possible. We could be in the office anywhere from 4 to 8 hours depending on tolerance or reaction. After that we will bring daily doses home with us and then Joel will be seen weekly in office for up dosing. His up dose will then be given daily at home until the next weekly up dose and so on until he graduates to peanut flour capsules which we pick up from a pharmacy and give at home mixed into food. Not having to go into the office every week will be a huge milestone for his therapy. After he graduates from peanut flour capsules he moves on to actual peanuts, peanut butter, or peanut M&Ms, and the number he gets daily of those will vary on how he tolerates them.  The entire Peanut OIT process will take however long his body needs it to take but typically around 6-12 months. Successful desensitization means he will never have an anaphylaxis response to exposure as long as he maintains his maintenance doses of peanut which could be needed daily or even as few as 3 times per week. The year after therapy is complete will consist of quarterly office visits to check peanut IgE levels in his blood. ZERO would be an amazing number to see considering right now he is at 535.  If you have ever watched someone go into anaphylaxis, it’s one of the scariest things to witness. It doesn’t really look like anything they portray it to be on TV shows or in the movies. They don’t grab at their necks and gasp for air immediately. It’s almost like you’re watching in slow motion, except everything is happening at the speed of light, the life draining out of them. Their eyes get big and are open but it is like no one is behind those eyes. Then, in Joel’s case, the projectile vomiting starts which leads into the shortness of breath. If you work in healthcare and you have ever had a patient with a severe Pulmonary Embolism (PE), it looks very similar to how they present when they come into the Emergency Room. I’ve seen a number of allergic reaction patients working with Computed Tomography (CT) contrast and PE patients, but nothing can prepare you for when you see that look on your own child’s face. As worried as I am about how Day 1 is going to go, I know that while there is a risk, we are so lucky that this type of treatment is something he can take part in. The end goal is so wonderful for him. 

Mid-August we woke up to amazing news – our extension was approved! We no more than brought out the champagne glasses, celebrated and then shelved them again when we received the news that while the extension was granted, Andre would not be allowed to stay in his current position for longer than 4 years. This means that while we have bought ourselves a little more family time and the orders for him to move to Kentucky have been canceled, we are also certainly (unless a miracle falls out of the sky which I’ll never rule out) looking at GeoBaching starting this coming summer. It makes going into Joel’s treatment a little bittersweet but we were made to do hard things. We haven’t said anything to the kids as life, especially military life, is ever changing. Andre has submitted for his top 3 choices which are all within 6 hours from where we currently live but none of them are in Iowa.

Raina and Joel have both started school. Raina is so excited to be in Kindergarten! I feel like she has gotten so much older since starting just 2 weeks ago. She still lets me walk her up to the building and always reminds me that if I miss her she is right in my heart and that I’m in her heart. Joel is a little homebody, so he was not overly excited to start school but his preschool teacher, Miss Amy, is amazing and he really does love her. If you know Miss Amy then you understand how easy she is to love. Joel attends part-time and asked me the other day when he gets to go back so that right there tells me he is loving school. Our mammoth sunflowers bloomed just in time for back to school pictures as you can see below.

With the kids back to school, I have a tiny bit more downtime these days. My goal is to keep the updates a little more regular, especially since I have had grown interest in Joel’s Peanut OIT process. 2020 continues to force us to have grace and remain flexible which isn’t all bad.