Is there a doctor in the house?

Exam 3 of 4 for my last class of the summer begins in ten hours.  I should be studying, but I'd rather indulge my inner procrastinator.  Lucky you!

To illustrate my recent post about Eily's obsession with doctors, here's a picture of her taking care of Timmy the Sheep.




 
Yesterday was our big trip to the allergist to discuss her peanut allergy.  In true Eily form, she made quite an impression at this new doctor's office.  When we arrived, she climbed into a chair in the waiting room directly across from the receptionist's window and sat there quietly surveying the room through her sunglasses.  Despite the efforts of the few other patients waiting there to get her attention, Eily sat stoically, her little hands in her lap.  Think diva.  That was her look.  After two or three minutes went by, she had warmed up and hopped down to check out the selection of reading material.  As inviting as Dr. Gupta's office was, I have to admit it wasn't nearly as kid-friendly as I had anticipated.  The only magazines to be found were Sports Illustrated and People.  Eily chose People, sat back down, and began to "read."  By this point, the mom and daughter sitting next to me were bursting with laughter.  When asked how old she was, I replied, "Two going on twenty."  That pretty much sums up her attitude.

Surprisingly, when we were called back to Dr. Gupta's office for our consult, Eily began squirming and whining.  She begged to go home and even pulled a great "I have to go potty!" to get herself out of there. I'm not sure why she got so upset.  As far as appointments go, this was the easy part where I sat and relayed the history of reactions Eily has had to peanuts over the past year.  Maybe she's smarter than I give her credit for and knew something else was bound to happen.

I've never been to an allergist myself.  I knew they did skin tests to check for reactions to allergens, but I've never witnessed the process myself.  After our consult, we went over into an exam room where I removed Eily's shirt.  Because she's never been exposed to other nuts (I know, I know, peanuts aren't "nuts", but I'm paranoid!), we had to test for all of the common culprits.  I was relieved at the thought of knowing for sure whether I had to ban nuts entirely from the house, so I went along with it.  That's when the hard part started.  For every type of nut tested, Dr. Gupta had to scratch Eily's back with a fine needle dipped in allergens.  It was my unfortunate task to hold her during this.  By the second one, she was screaming, "Ow, that hurts!" with tears streaming down her face.  My confidence plummeted as I held her and thought how silly I was being, that this whole "allergy thing" was just in my head and I was subjecting my child to unnecessary torture.

Once the scratches were done, we had to wait ten minutes before Dr. Gupta could read the results.  She left us in the exam room, where I tried in vain to calm Eily down.  She was inconsolable - shrieking, crying, trying to itch her back - all the while telling me "I hurt!"  At that point, I was pretty sure I was getting the Worst Mother Ever award.

Five minutes into our ten minute wait, Dr. Gupta came back to check on us and offered Eily a lollipop.  For the first time since they began, I suddenly had an appreciation for the two-year old mood swings.  The cries of "I hurt" were quickly replaced with an excited expression of "Ooooo!" as Eily plucked a lollipop from the basket in Dr. Gupta's hand.  I opened the candy for her, and she happily smiled at Dr. Gupta and said, "Thank you."  When the doctor returned at the end of our wait, Eily hopped up on the table and said, "Doctor make feel better!"  just as she had in Dr. Marcus's office last week.  Dr. Gupta was amazed at the transformation - not too many kids want to talk to her after that experience and I can't say I blame them, no matter how sweet she is.

In the end, I found that my mommy license would not be revoked due to hyper-paranoid behavior.  The scratch test was worthwhile, as it revealed that Eily does indeed have an extreme sensitivity to peanuts.  It also assuaged my fears of feeding her any other nut products, since there were no reactions for those.  (Looks like I'll be acquiring a taste for almond and cashew butter in the near future.)  My biggest fear as we left was that the whole experience had ruined her for doctor visits in the future.  However, as we drove by Dr. Marcus's office (right next door to Dr. Gupta's building), Eily shouted, "Go Doc Marcus!" and pointed.  (The kid seriously has an insane memory.  How she recognizes the building from outside is beyond me.)  While we didn't get a chance to stop in and see her buddy, Dr. M, I was relieved to see that she hadn't developed any lasting fear of doctor's offices from this one visit.

As you can see here, life was pretty much back to normal today.  She got to hang out with her friend Ava, and we even stuck around after I got out of class so the two could enjoy some more popsicle and pool time.

 She's one tough cookie, and I'm in awe of all the bravery bottled up in that little body of hers.