We suspect that this:



caused this:



Thta last picture was taken yesterday, just before Elijah went back to the doctor, his fourth day on Zyrtec. He woke up Thursday morning with a bad rash on the side of his face, just below his temples where his mask was most tightly fixed, and across his left cheek. By Friday, it had spread across his face and ears, and was starting on his neck. We took him to the doctor, and he was given the prescription. After talking about all the possibilities, the obvious seemed to be it, a latex allergy. We were told that we could only give him a half dose of benedryl in between his once a day zyrtec, because otherwise he might overdose. As the weekend moved on, his face got puffier and redder, and we were not seeing any improvement, so we took him back in yesterday. They gave him a steroid prescription, which seems to be helping. The puffiness was reduced quite a bit this morning. We've also been using a triple anti-biotic cream on his face, to avoid any infection from his scratching the rash and dry skin, and slathering on cetaphil any time we remember.

So, please be in prayer for Elijah. Rich and I are not entirely convinced this is a latex allergy, rather than an allergy to something specific in his poisonous Chinese plastic mask, since he's been exposed to latex during surgery, in the NICU and at every post surgical check up (and in rather a sensitive spot, too). In any case, he's doing better, and we want him to recover and heal quickly,

Labels: Family, Prayer Requests