Frosted Mini-Whats: Not for the faint of heart (or weak of stomach)

For those of you that know me, I suffer from quite severe allergies. You name it, I'm allergic to it. If I come into contact with anything that grows or anything with fur and four legs, I'm off on a trip to Allergy Land with an uncertain return date. Fortunately, I function pretty well over all. I avoid triggers whenever possible. I married a man who has no desire for pets. And I avail myself of all the medical miracles at my disposal.

I have watched my children for years, hoping and praying they inherited their father's genes in the allergy department, rather than mine. For the most part, that seems to be the case. Calvin had some trouble with asthma as a toddler, but seemed to outgrow it by the time he was six. The girls have occasional sniffly noses in spring, but some simple over-the-counter antihistamines take care of that. I was just beginning to breathe easier (pun intended), thinking we dodged a bullet. But . . .

A year ago, Calvin started getting sick quite frequently. Every three to four weeks, he would catch another cold/virus. At first, I told myself it was a bad flu season. I was getting sick frequently also. We just had bad luck. But then in the spring, every time he got sick, he ended up with an asthma attack. I started thinking perhaps there was more to this than just bad luck in the cold department. I was just about ready to call the allergist, but then Calvin started to feel better in late spring. That combined with our move pushed it all to the back burner.

We hadn't even settled in yet, were still living in a hotel, and Calvin got sick once again. His breathing never really recovered. Medication didn't seem to be helping much, and any and everything (virus, exercise, being outdoors) triggered an asthma attack. The poor boy was panting his life away. But we were in a new area. I didn't know who to call. We don't have any doctors yet. What to do?I started to research. I found an allergist that had rave reviews and, luckily, was not too far away from our new location. I called, and they got us in within a week. Yesterday was Calvin's first appointment.

They started out with a breath test. He wasn't wheezing. His lungs didn't crackle. But the breath test showed that his lungs were inflamed. What this means is that he doesn't show any symptoms normally, but as soon as he comes into contact with a trigger, he goes from fine to in trouble with alarming speed. Next up was a nebulizer treatment for both the lungs and the nose to try to clear up his breathing. Next, we had to find out what he was allergic to.

I knew what was coming, having suffered through it many times in my life: allergy testing. This is something that is not too horrible if you are mildly allergic to things, but excruciating if you're on the other end of the spectrum. Calvin asked the nurse, "What is going to happen? Will it hurt? Are there needles involved?" The nurse gently informed him there would be no pain, no needles, just some itching. Calvin looked relieved. I didn't have the heart to tell him that "just some itching" takes on a whole new meaning with these tests.

They tested him on 96 (that's right, you heard me, 96!!) different items.

Right after they administered the test

Five minutes in

10 minutes in

15 minutes in

20 minutes in


25 minutes in

Poor baby. He's allergic to everything, just like me -- grasses, trees, mold, mildew, dust, dogs, cats. It's amazing he's been breathing at all. He almost cried when they told him he'd have to come back in two weeks for more testing (foods this time). I am just extremely grateful we live in an age where he can get effective treatment.

He got to choose what he wanted for dinner, but he barely made it through.