Our (Neurodiverse) Family

I finally got around to picking up the two-pack of Epi Pens for Kate. The pharmacy was out of the generic brand and only had the name brand, which made them even more expensive. It's a good thing Kate's allergist gave me a $0 co-pay card, but it only brought the price down from $360 to $260. That's more than I pay for a week's worth of groceries! Why two? One for the diaper bag and one to leave at home. I have mixed feelings about spending so much money for something I hope to never need to use, such as: Well! I had better get my money's worth out of these! There are a couple of problems with that line of thinking. For one thing, the only reason I would have to use one is if Kate is having a severe allergic reaction, and well, that's traumatizing for everyone involved. That, and if I use one Epi Pen, it means I'm going to have to pay for another one because we need to have two Epi Pens (one in the house and one in the diaper bag), which means more m...

Today was allergy testing day! It was supposed to be last Wednesday, but they had a scheduling mix-up. Yeah, didn't find out about the mix-up until I got there...never mind that I had to drive in the rain and get lost a few times finding the place, but they were apologetic about the whole thing and scheduled Kate for this morning. Waiting, waiting Luckily we didn't have to wait very long at all for Kate to be seen. Kate did not like getting her weight and height checked--it was different than how it's done at her pediatrician's office. After getting checked in, again, we didn't have to wait long for the allergist to see Kate. The nice thing was I know the allergist--he was in one of my old wards in Houston when he was in medical school, and then we were in the same ward as his parents. He was on the referral list from Kate's pediatrician, and since I already knew he trained at one of the best medical schools around and that he's very nice, why no...

Taken on her second birthday Kate had her two-year visit a few days ago. Basically, we found out that she's ridiculously tall, is in the 75th percentile for her weight, and she once again wowed her pediatrician with her vocabulary and how clearly she speaks. All in all, Kate is very healthy. However... You know how Kate is allergic to peanuts? Image Credit Good grief! Well, she could be allergic to cashews too, although the one time she had cashews, they were roasted in peanut oil (I didn't know this until AFTER she had some). Her reaction to them was bad--vomiting, hives ALL OVER her body, and the worst diaper rash ever. The pediatrician said that the vomiting is a potential sign of an anaphylactic reaction, which means I now have to carry an epi-pen around just in case. I also got a referral to an allergist, so we can see if she is allergic to any other nuts and confirm whether or not she is actually allergic to cashews. We already know she isn't all...