Flu Shots Really Are a Big Deal…

….If you’re an allergy family! Mason did a great job last week when we went in for his flu shot. Since he’s allergic to eggs, that makes getting a flu shot very dangerous. After collaborating with his allergist, we determined that with his asthma and this being his first year in school, that the risk of him getting complications from the flu were much greater than the risks from the shot itself. So I made the appointment and was a nervous wreck.

The day went smoothly though. We had a room reserved at Children’s Hospital where he’d be with his doctors and 3 nurses during the shot. They did several skin tests and his egg test was three times the size of the positive control (if I just lost you, all that means is that it’s still bad!). The did a skin test with a drop of the flu vaccine itself and he didn’t have a reaction, so we all took a deep breath and he got the shot. Then we waited…and waited. For over an hour we all sat and just stared at him, looking for any possible reaction. Luckily, he had none and we were sent on our way! This was a huge relief, especially after having seen him suffer an anaphylactic reaction to a different allergen challenge in the past. Putting my son in a room with lots of medical professionals, a crash cart and heart monitor is enough to send me to near hysteria. However, I remained composed and we made it out only 2.5 hours later without any concern!

We got a new allergist and this one is phenomenal. I could not have asked for a better doctor. The third one is the charm! He reviewed Mason’s asthma history and we got him set on a new steroid inhaler, we have an action plan in writing and he went ahead and prescribed meds for us for when he gets sick this winter so that we can avoid any trips to the ER. I love that he’s a proactive doc. The previous two were “wait and see” type docs and that only caused us to wind up in the ER in the middle of the night requesting meds we already knew our son needed- only for them to say “you’re right he does need them”. Now we don’t have to worry about it since we’ve got them on hand and after all, we know our son best and know how to treat his recurring illnesses. Finally a doc that we trust and one that trusts us and doesn’t have that “I’m the doctor and you’re the moron parent” complex.

So last week was a productive and reassuring week. We have to go back for flu shot #2 for Mason on December 1st and hopefully he’ll receive his H1N1 then too. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to CCHMC- Liberty Campus. AWESOME!!!