Nailed it!!
Back on 6/19, I posted about our experience with our first larger updose appointment, which resulted in Brandon needing epinephrine in his doctor's office to control a throat-closing reaction. (You can read that post here if you'd like.) I mentioned that we were scheduled to try an updose again on 6/26. Wellllll, we're quickly learning that part of OIT is to expect the unexpected and to not write anything in stone, as it will likely change. 😉 Our string of next appointments went something like this . . .
- Went in on 6/26, expecting an updose. Got pushed out a week because Brandon had quite a bit of chest congestion. Updosing while the body is fighting off anything else is a no-no, so we had to wait.
- Went in on 7/3, cough was cleared up, but our doctor didn't want to jump all the way to 4.0 mL from 3.0, so we baby-stepped to 3.5 mL. No reactions - praise the Lord!
- Still anticipating that 4.0 mL updose!!!
- Brandon had ear tube surgery on 7/13, so we down dosed to 75% of his normal dose that day and went back to 3.5 mL on Saturday the 14th.
- Went in on 7/19, expecting our triumphant 4.0 mL updose . . . . were told he couldn't updose since he downdosed on the 13th due to surgery and we had to be 7 days at full dose before updosing again. 😞 Sigh. That one knocked the wind out of our sails for sure! You're going in, expecting to conquer something, and then you're told you can't. We completely understood the reasons for it, but we were still bummed.
- Went in on Monday, 7/23, expecting to try the 4.0 mL dose and this time - WE DID!! 🙌
Brandon took the 4.0 mL dose (pic below), and we watched and waited. Almost immediately, Brandon started clearing his throat, which is not uncommon for him on an updose and for the first few days of dosing it at home. Dr. George was in the room with us when he started clearing his throat, so she proactively gave him an Allegra to help mitigate the symptoms. We went to the waiting room for our hour of wait time, and within about 15 minutes, the throat clearing subsided. At the end of our one hour in office 'watch and wait' time, and he was given the go ahead to leave the office! 🎊
So in total, it took him 5 weeks and 4 days to updose one full dose on our doctor's official OIT Peanut Schedule. For most people, that takes one week, maybe two. 😋 I say that, not to complain, but to show how unique this process is for each and every person. Our doctor has a protocol that she goes by, but thankfully, and clearly, she customizes it for each and every patient. How awesome is that?!?! If he were forced to go faster, we'd likely be doing repeated epinephrine doses, which no one wants. So again, we're embracing our inner turtles and going nice and slow with this. 🐢
The protocol our doctor uses calls for 30 updose intervals to 'graduate' from OIT. Brandon made it through doses 1-6 on Day 1 of OIT. It's taken us most of the summer to make it through doses 7 and 8. So we have 22 updose intervals left to go. Slow and steady wins the race, so onward we crawl. 😉
It's truly amazing to see this working in front of our eyes, I must admit. In the matter of 5 weeks (and 4 days 😂), his body went from needing epinephrine to ingest a certain concentration of 'peanut water,' to only needing a dose of Allegra to handle it. Seriously, AMAZING. This whole OIT process amplifies and redefines the verse:
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14)
for our family. God created us so wonderfully and beautifully, and the fact that
1. Doctors have figured this out as a possible solution to the epidemic of food allergies, and
2. Brandon's body is slowly learning how to do this just astounds me, each and every day.
Thank you for the prayers over our sweet boy - we cherish each one!
Until next time (and successfully downing 4.0 mL daily!),
Momma Knows Best 💚🐢
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