Monday, April 7, 2014

Allergies Shm-allergies

Great news, y'all!!!

Elayne does not have allergies. As in, she is definitely not allergic to milk, dogs, soy, mold, cats, etc. Isn't that some of the best news you've heard in a while???

We went to the allergist last week and he ran a test. It was a simply test that showed definitive results within 20 minutes. It was a relief to cross more things off our list. And while it didn't give us a definite answer to what is causing the cough, it gave us a list of things that are not causing it.

Plus, the allergist agrees with the ENT - which is awesome. Both are really starting to believe Elayne is aspirating of some kind. That means she is essentially swallowing "down the wrong tube" consistently. That is making her cough. If left untreated, it could cause some serious things like chronic pneumonia, bronchitis, etc. But if this is her problem, we can easily (and cheaply) find solutions that will give her a happy cough-free life.

I know I sound optomistic every time someone suggests a theory for why baby girl is coughing so much, but this time (since we've ruled out so many other things) I feel like we might have a solution. Two doctors agree this is a strong possibility for an explanation.

We go in for a swallow study Friday. Elayne will drink some glow-in-the-dark stuff and a radiologist will look at her with special cameras to see how she swallows. A Speech Pathologist (shoutout to Lauren!) will then evaluate the results on-site and tell us what to do next.

My understanding is, if this test comes back positive, that the Speech Pathologist might suggest formula alterations, exercises, feeding/sleeping positions, etc. to help Elayne stop aspirating.

Here's hoping again!

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