Not in the Clear Yet

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Well yesterday, was Hope's last day on the Prednisone. And up to this morning, things had been going well. I was really beginning to think that we were going to get her off the Prednisone all together and manage whatever this is, with the Allegra in the morning, and the Atarax at bedtime. So I called her doctor before lunch time to give an update as he had requested. He somewhat reluctantly consented to letting her go back to P.E. and cheerleading (practices start next week) only if she did so gradually. I told him I didn't feel this would be a problem, as her teachers have been more than caring and concerned throughout all of this. In fact, Hope mentioned the other day that she had a mosquito bite on her leg and when she leaned over to scratch it, her science teacher immediately came over to ask her if she was OK. She admitted to being a bit embarrassed about all of the special attention she has been receiving and a desire to just be 'normal' again.

Well about an hour after I called her allergist, I received a call from the school; Hope was in the office and had broken out in hives again. *sigh* I went down to the school to talk with her and the school nurse (who is a former co-worker...ER/ICU nurse). By the time I got there, they were subsiding. This time, she was sitting in band. She said she didn't feel any itching or anything, that a friend of hers noticed a 'heat rash' under her eyes and questioned her about it. A minute later, her friend told her she now had this rash all the way around her eye. Hope said she still didn't feel any itching, but asked to go to the office. When the secretaries confirmed the rash (the nurse wasn't present at that time), Hope gave herself the epi. And I, had to call her doctor back and explained that things weren't as peachy as I had thought they were an hour ago.

So they want to see us tomorrow. I really have no idea what to expect now. The doctor did tell me on the phone earlier that all of her lab work and chest xrays came back clear (looking for an autoimmune origin or a physiological cause). So I'll let you know what I find out about her, tomorrow. :-S