I Hate Eczema (and allergies)

Marino started having a bad skin reaction to pollen a few weeks ago. I am *almost* ashamed to complain about it, since I realize we are so fortunate he is not having a respiratory reaction. But this skin problem...it's brutal. His skin is already so sensitive because of the atopic dermatitis, and he is incapable of not scratching right now. We started him on Zyrtec a few weeks ago and that seemed to help but Monday it flared up terribly (maybe something new bloomed?). I bought Eucerin Calming Creme *, but that only helps for a few minutes. I started giving him Atarax to help with the itching, but he's still woken up at 4 or 5am every day this week complaining of "itching."

I took him to the doctor today to try and get a better handle on this. She recommended adding 1/2 a cup of bleach to one of his baths a week to prevent infection (bleach kills the bacteria...a pool would have the same effect), using the Aveeno Oatmeal Bath packets, alternating his medicines (Zyrtec in the morning, Atarax in the evening), and keeping him in long sleeves and pants (I highly recommend American Apparel leggings and karate pants and long sleeve tees for this purpose - they are amazing quality and lightweight). While we were talking, Marino scratched open his knee and started bleeding, so, experiencing first hand his discomfort, she recommended using an oral steroid for a few days to try and get ahead of the inflammation.

If anyone is curious, here's what we use to treat Marino's (severe) eczema daily:
Evening Primrose Oil (1.25ml liquid in his morning bottle) - homeopathic remedy for skin inflammation
EpiCeram twice a day (non-steroidal)
Prescription hydrocortisone for a flare-up, no more than 4 days a month
Fragrance free bath products and lotion: Aquaphor*, Aveeno (fragrance-free) and Cetaphil
Fragrance-free wipes: Pampers Sensitive

and here's what we're doing for this flare-up/allergic reaction:
Zyrtec - 4ml once a day
Atarax - 4ml once a day
Eucerin Calming Creme for temporary relief of itching*
once or twice a week bleach bath
oatmeal baths when possible
keeping his arms and legs covered

* added bonus - these lotions are covered under Flexible Spending Accounts, if you have a healthcare FSA

Pictures! Video!

You know what the last few posts have been missing? PICTURES! and VIDEOS!

Here are a few....this picture my Aunt Sally took the weekend before last at the family picnic.

Favorite cousins...
Um, do you see this hug around the neck? Too much cuteness!!

These pictures my friend Gina took at her twins' 4th birthday party on Saturday. Since I am usually the one taking the pictures, it's rare I have pictures of me doing my favorite thing...

being a mama:)

Did you notice I am wearing the same shirt one week apart? I swear, I am such a creature of habit. I probably put that shirt on every Saturday without even realizing it.

My mom and Ray came fron NY this weekend to visit us (ok, let's get serious, they came to visit Marino). On Sunday, Evan and I spent the whole day tubing in West Virginia with friends, so Marino hung with Grandma and Grandpa Ray all day.

And here is a tiny video of some zombie steps.


He took many more coordinated steps today, but none of them while I was holding the camera. He even took 5 steps over to Max, grabbed his tail, and then took 2 more steps holding his tail! It was pretty awesome!

Now, that I showed you some happy stuff, here's the bad news...the boy has ANOTHER SKIN INFECTION. Remember he had one last month? Well, it's back and it's ugly. Luckily, I knew right away what it was this time, so I just showed up on our pediatrician's door step Saturday morning and begged her to see me. He's back on antibiotics (oral and topical). We also have an arsenal of new products to try and we are also going to try Evening Primrose Oil (orally). I really hate eczema!

Another Busy Weekend and Skin Update

This weekend was another busy one with the boy. I'm not looking forward to summer ending - I love having my weekends free to hang with my favorite little man!

After the Fair on Saturday, Evan, Marino and I went to a family picnic at Great Seneca Park. My grandfather and his wife, Joanne, were visiting from Florida and it was great to be able to see them.

Marino's favorite cousin Pacey was there. She decided she wanted to sit in Marino's stroller with him:)

Marino got a chance to visit with some of his other cousins, too. Doesn't he look a lot like Erica (on the right)? They have a very similar complexion and hair color/texture. She is the sweetest girl in the world, so hopefully he will take after her in that regard as well.

L to R: my Aunt Kerry, Evan, Marino, Pacey, Miranda and Sigrid.
Marino and his great grand Pap.
On Sunday, Evan, Marino and I went to visit with The Western's (all of them). It was great to see everyone and meet the newest additions: dogs Coco and Ruby. Marino really enjoyed swimming with everyone (including the dogs!).

Here's Marino playing with Aaron (can you believe he is 7 months older than Aaron? they are almost the same size!).

Ruby decided she wanted to lay like the babies!

Daddy and Marino swim time!

Mama and Marino swim!!

Marino's eczema has gone from bad to worse over the past 10 days or so. I thought he had a heat rash, but I guess his eczema flairs up from heat (and it's been in the 90s for the better part of the past 10 days). Today was especially tough. I was groggily changing Marino's diaper at 6am when he showed me his hand and it was full of blood! He had ripped open a gash in the back of his knee. I cleaned it, put a Band-Aid on it and put cotton long pants on him, thinking we would be ok. Nope - he opened up the other knee on our commute! Ugh! Luckily, we have nurses at daycare, so they cleaned it an put a figure eight wrap over it so he couldn't get to it.

The silver lining is we had an existing dermatology appointment today, so the doctor got to see it at it's worst. The dermatologist said it's atopic dermatitis. When I read up on it, a lot of things clicked for me. I'm always saying "his skin is just so sensitive" (he gets hives from his own saliva, the dog's saliva, random things like water bottles, etc) which is typical for this condition. We have some prescriptions now and a plan for bad flare ups like our current one (wet wraps over night) but the doctor told us we should prepare for this to be an ongoing problem until somewhere between the ages of 5 and 10. Even then, he said it is likely he will have sensitive skin even as an adult. He also asked me a lot about asthma, as there is a strong correlation between the two conditions. Time will tell if asthma will be an issue (let's hope not).

To add insult to injury, when we arrived at the doctor's office, Marino had a very red eye. When I looked inside of it, he had some strange black thing in the very bottom of his eye. The nurse helped get it out (which did not make Marino very happy). Guess what it was? A fly! Poor Marino - not a good day. First an eczema flare up, a bloody knee and then a fly in the eye!

To end on a happier note, can I tell you how proud I am of my boy's palate? I try to make him lots of different kinds of foods, in the hope he doesn't end up one of these kids who refuses to eat anything but mac and cheese and chicken nuggets (I was one of those kids). Every week, I make him something new and outside of the stereotypical "toddler food." Last night I made rice pasta with pureed asparagus, artichoke hearts, summer squash, peas, dill and unsalted butter. Well, daycare reported he LOVED it! They let him pick it up and eat himself because he was so enthusiastic about it. I swear, this boy loves everything (not so much meat, but definately all fruits and vegetables). Hopefully that will continue as he gets older (although I'm sure he will go through an "only eats pizza" phase or something).

Another Tough "Working Mom" Day

This was a pretty tough week...with the allergic reaction and now Marino's latest ailment. I'm sure I have mentioned before that he has eczema. He's had it since he was a couple months old and it itches like crazy, from what I can tell. His only method of self-soothing involves scratching at it (sometimes until it bleeds). Well, last night I noticed the boy had some small red bumps on the back of his thighs. He was also REALLY cranky and wouldn't eat solids when we got home from work/daycare, not even his new fav - deli turkey. When he woke up this morning, the bumps were even worse and had spread to his knees and a little on his back. Luckily, we have nurses at daycare, so as soon as we arrived, I had them take a look.

The nurses said they couldn't figure out what it was, but that he needed to see the doctor today (in case it was contagious). Well, today was basically one of the least convenient days of the year for me to have to take him to the doctor, since it was our department picnic and I was one of the people coordinating it (and since my boss was the mc, I knew he would need me there). Every year, I let my employees leave after the picnic and I go cover the front desk at the office, so I couldn't even take him after the picnic. I got a 10:30 appointment and rushed him over there.

In a nutshell, the pediatrician said the bumps were a) a severe eczema flare up, likely caused by compromised immunity (vaccines and allergic reaction) and b) a secondary bacterial infection, likely introduced by him scratching and bacterial slipping under the skin. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and an oral anti-itch cream and told me to use hydrocortisone cream for a week. She also said I should see the allergist sooner rather than later, since we both think his skin issues may be related to an allergy we're unaware of.

After that, I rushed him back to daycare, went to the picnic, and then went back to work. Marino was NOT in a good mood when I picked him up, so for the second day in a row, 80% of the time I spent with him, he was either crying or whining. I know he is uncomfortable; I just wish I could spend the day snuggling with him and get to see him when he's not already worn out. Feeling sorry for myself today...thanks for indulging me if you made it this far.