We completed Day 1 Dosing . . . . .5 months later
It's a marathon, not a sprint . . . .
Slow and steady wins the race . . . . .
The tortoise and the hare . . . . .
These may be common place or even trite phrases and analogies, but when you're living them, it's a whole different ballgame.
If you've been following our journey at all, you know that we are on the "slow track OIT" path . . . . I use that phrase as an actual phrase from our allergist too, not just one we've coined. 😉 While some are on the 'highway,' we are on the 'service road.' And those are all said in a bit of jest, but we've come to embrace it and own it. She doesn't say them to scold us at all . . . . in fact we all smile about it and know we're doing the right thing by going slow, so it's all good. 👍 So when we reach big milestones in OIT, we CELEBRATE!! 🎊
By our doctor's protocol, we would have been allowed to dose up to 10 doses on Day 1 of OIT . . . that would have put us at 2.5 mL of "Solution D" (which translates to 2.5 mg/mL of peanut flour in a Kool-aid solution, for those who are interested.) Brandon made it up to Dose 6 on Day 1 and then had to stop, due to how is body was processing the solution (he started having to constantly clear his throat, a sign that his body was working through it and needed some more time.) When we left her office on Day 1 (5/22/18), we thought we'd make it to Day 1 dosing levels (Dose 10) within about a month or so, maybe 6 weeks tops.
Wellllll... we quickly found out that wasn't going to be the case for us, and we slowly plodded along our OIT path. To say that the summer was long and very difficult for Brandon is an understatement, between slow and rocky updoses and an unexpected - but welcomed - surgery to put in a 3rd set of ear tubes. Once we hit the end of August, we finally came out of the 'fog' of challenging OIT updosing, and things started to click a bit more for him. Dosing was happening more regularly, at closer-to-standard intervals, and we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. 😲
So finally, on October 10th, he MADE IT to Dose 10!!! As I'm just now sitting down and writing that out, I'm seeing the 'poetic beauty' in that - Dose 10 on 10/10!! 😂 He hit the nail on the head and breezed right though the dose! 🔨 Seriously, alllll the praise hands on this dose! 🙌 Just like on any journey, when you hit a big milestone, it's a reason to celebrate!
Not only did we celebrate on reaching Dose 10, but the next official dose was a big one for him too. Back in the summer, 4.0 mL of his then-solution C caused his throat to start closing up. Dose 11 called for 4.0 mL of Solution D, so just knowing that he was about to attempt the same amount of solution - and at a higher concentration 😮- caused some big time butterflies for Brandon. At this point in our updosing (i.e. an office visit to increase his solution strength under doctor's supervision), we aren't necessarily taking 'full jumps' from dose to dose. Case in point.
I've gotten the question a lot about when he gets to go to 'real peanuts' 🥜 (Currently he takes a syringe of liquid every day that contains peanut flour.) It's coming, and at this point we can almost see the light on the horizon for it. . . . . we still have a ways to go to get there, but it's within reach! At Dose 17, he gets to move to fractions of peanuts. (I can only imagine the mental hurdle we will face that day, along with the physical!!! 😦) We won't get ahead of ourselves, but as we look forward on his dosing protocol, we have to take some 'half updose' steps between now (Dose 11) and dose 13, but then when we hit dose 14, we might be able to take whole steps in his updoses, which would make this go a whole lot faster for him! I'm tentatively predicting that we'll get to go to peanut fractions around March of 2019. We're guardedly optimistic as we look towards the future on his doses.
To 'pass' OIT, Brandon has to consume 24 peanuts on his final 'updose' appointment. That thought is truly unimaginable to all of us right now . . . . BUT . . . . that's why this is a gradual process. We continue trusting the process as his body slowly moves forward.
Y'all, celebrate the victories in your life - no matter how big or how small. They are ALL a reason to celebrate and be thankful. As this point in our journey, we surely are thankful. 💓
Until next time,
~Momma Knows Best
Slow and steady wins the race . . . . .
The tortoise and the hare . . . . .
These may be common place or even trite phrases and analogies, but when you're living them, it's a whole different ballgame.
If you've been following our journey at all, you know that we are on the "slow track OIT" path . . . . I use that phrase as an actual phrase from our allergist too, not just one we've coined. 😉 While some are on the 'highway,' we are on the 'service road.' And those are all said in a bit of jest, but we've come to embrace it and own it. She doesn't say them to scold us at all . . . . in fact we all smile about it and know we're doing the right thing by going slow, so it's all good. 👍 So when we reach big milestones in OIT, we CELEBRATE!! 🎊
By our doctor's protocol, we would have been allowed to dose up to 10 doses on Day 1 of OIT . . . that would have put us at 2.5 mL of "Solution D" (which translates to 2.5 mg/mL of peanut flour in a Kool-aid solution, for those who are interested.) Brandon made it up to Dose 6 on Day 1 and then had to stop, due to how is body was processing the solution (he started having to constantly clear his throat, a sign that his body was working through it and needed some more time.) When we left her office on Day 1 (5/22/18), we thought we'd make it to Day 1 dosing levels (Dose 10) within about a month or so, maybe 6 weeks tops.
Wellllll... we quickly found out that wasn't going to be the case for us, and we slowly plodded along our OIT path. To say that the summer was long and very difficult for Brandon is an understatement, between slow and rocky updoses and an unexpected - but welcomed - surgery to put in a 3rd set of ear tubes. Once we hit the end of August, we finally came out of the 'fog' of challenging OIT updosing, and things started to click a bit more for him. Dosing was happening more regularly, at closer-to-standard intervals, and we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. 😲
So finally, on October 10th, he MADE IT to Dose 10!!! As I'm just now sitting down and writing that out, I'm seeing the 'poetic beauty' in that - Dose 10 on 10/10!! 😂 He hit the nail on the head and breezed right though the dose! 🔨 Seriously, alllll the praise hands on this dose! 🙌 Just like on any journey, when you hit a big milestone, it's a reason to celebrate!
Not only did we celebrate on reaching Dose 10, but the next official dose was a big one for him too. Back in the summer, 4.0 mL of his then-solution C caused his throat to start closing up. Dose 11 called for 4.0 mL of Solution D, so just knowing that he was about to attempt the same amount of solution - and at a higher concentration 😮- caused some big time butterflies for Brandon. At this point in our updosing (i.e. an office visit to increase his solution strength under doctor's supervision), we aren't necessarily taking 'full jumps' from dose to dose. Case in point.
- Dose 10 is 2.0 mL of Solution D and Dose 11 is 4.0 mL of Solution D
- Because it didn't go well for him jumping straight from 2.0 mL to 4.0 mL back in the summer, we still slow-roll our increases in dosing.
- So he had an updose that essentially got him to Dose '10.5' (i.e. 3.0 mL of Solution D) towards the end of October. That updose went well for him, and so he attempted 4.0 of Solution D just recently, on 11/13.
I've gotten the question a lot about when he gets to go to 'real peanuts' 🥜 (Currently he takes a syringe of liquid every day that contains peanut flour.) It's coming, and at this point we can almost see the light on the horizon for it. . . . . we still have a ways to go to get there, but it's within reach! At Dose 17, he gets to move to fractions of peanuts. (I can only imagine the mental hurdle we will face that day, along with the physical!!! 😦) We won't get ahead of ourselves, but as we look forward on his dosing protocol, we have to take some 'half updose' steps between now (Dose 11) and dose 13, but then when we hit dose 14, we might be able to take whole steps in his updoses, which would make this go a whole lot faster for him! I'm tentatively predicting that we'll get to go to peanut fractions around March of 2019. We're guardedly optimistic as we look towards the future on his doses.
To 'pass' OIT, Brandon has to consume 24 peanuts on his final 'updose' appointment. That thought is truly unimaginable to all of us right now . . . . BUT . . . . that's why this is a gradual process. We continue trusting the process as his body slowly moves forward.
Y'all, celebrate the victories in your life - no matter how big or how small. They are ALL a reason to celebrate and be thankful. As this point in our journey, we surely are thankful. 💓
Until next time,
~Momma Knows Best
Comments
Post a Comment