A little book about red, itchy, dry, sore skin....Eczema explained for little readers..YAY!

 On a recent visit to the op shop, I took a peek at the children's books as I often do to see if there was anything worth while.

I was very surprised when I noticed this small book with Eczema in the title!!!

After getting over the shock of finding this type of book in a op shop of all places, plus reading the price at 50 cents, I had a quick flick and claimed it :)

It's not very often you see educational books for children on subjects such as Eczema!!!

 At flipping over the book to the back cover I was happy to see that this book was one of a series published about different medical conditions, educating children about health, illness and the role of the Doctor.

The book are written by a Melbourne Doctor, many of his patients were children at the time the books were published.
He has three children of his own and felt the need to educate children about their health and how to keep safe and happy.
The Doctor Toby books aim to make a visit to the Doctor less worrying for the child.

I am very thankful that this little book made it's way to our local op shop, I'm hoping the previous owners used it and had success with it helping their child/ren with the hard times of eczema.

The book deals with all the emotions, embarrassment, social awkwardness and pain that comes with eczema from a child's point of view. More importantly it gives reassurance, positive thoughts, hope, confidence and power to the affected child through the story that unfolds.

The book follows the journey of a young girl (Kim) who didn't want to attend swimming lessons and wear bathers because she was embarrassed about her skin.
Kim's Mum explains that she had had eczema when she was a baby and it might be a good time to go back and see the Doctor about what they could do to help her skin.
After a visit to the Doctor, queries about foods that might affect Kim's skin, ointments, bath oil, creams and a few weeks Kim's skin improves.
By the end of school term Kim is beginning to swim very well and is confident about who she is.

I like the fact that the book mentions that "lots of people have eczema" (making the child feel not so isolated and alone), "Eczema is not something that a doctor can just fix up right away" (not giving false hope) and that the book ends with "her skin looks very clear now. Just occasionally she uses some milder ointment if her eczema gets a little itchy again" (leaving the child knowing that Eczema doesn't have a quick fix but can be managed and make for a much happier life).

I'm hoping that my Munchkins like this book as much as me and find hope in it's pages.

I'll leave you with some of the illustrations from the book...

 

 

 

If anyone has any good children's books about Eczema please share the details :)

Allergies suck!!!!

Most of my readers will probably already now that Declan deals with his life threatening egg and nut allergies in day to day life, as well as his asthma and Eczema.

Friday was his follow up allergy prick test and check up to see how he is doing, also to test Thalia for allergies now that she is old enough for the prick test to be accurate.

D day (Friday) soon turned into dooms day as the results started to unravel :(

Declan's prick test soon showed that his egg and peanut allergy numbers had doubled since June last year and as we thought his dust mite stayed the same at 13. Peanut being the more severe jumping from a 11 grading to a whopping 25 and egg nearly as severe jumping from 11 to 22!!!

Both the allergist, Andy and I were surprised to see the numbers rise and everyone expected a decrease if anything, according to the allergy specialist Declan's home life and food are very safe and what we have been actively doing for him the past year is all good.

The rise in numbers is apparently due to the exposure he gets though other people ......simple things like hugging, kissing, playing and spending time with people who have recently consumed egg and or nuts, who may not realise that even 6 hrs after eating these foods they can pass on egg and/or nut particles to Declan and in turn boost his vulnerability to a very bad reaction.
If his number's continue to rise the epi pen may not work on him in the situation where he needs it to overcome a bad reaction, this is the hardest thing to stomach and it's so hard to even type it.

For the prick test alone he needed more than the usual 'magic spray' to stop the reaction and itching....it wasn't until they had given his oral medicine (equivalent to an epi pen) and a tablet that he started to look like himself again.
It was very scary to see him that way.

To help the situation I am currently trying to find a anaphylaxis playgroup where Declan can have a safe environment to play and socialise, as well as having the bonus of meeting other families who are living a life similar to ours.
We are brainstorming all different ways to possibly lower his numbers....prayer is a big one!

On a positive Thalia's prick test was all clear...YAY!!!!!!
No food allergies, dust mite, animal allergies or grass/tree/mould allergy's :)

Thalia is at risk of getting a dust mite allergy due to her very dry skin gene and bad eczema.
The specialist after seeing Thalia let us know that Thalia and Declan's eczema were both diet related.....grrr more food issues!

So my little munchkins have now been put on the moderate elimination diet (thank goodness it not a strict one). This means that they can have no preservatives, colour's, flavour's, most processed foods, a well as a whole chunk of veggies and fruits and a selection of meats!
They are not allergic to all these foods but are simply intolerant so it's nothing compared to the severe allergy's Declan faces.
There are also not items we have to make flee from our house and Andy and I are welcome to eat them.

it's actually easier to list the items that they can have because the list is soooo much shorter :0

Saturday after the tests proved to be a interesting challenge, doing all the food shopping with the new diet commencing almost took me the whole day...Mrs flanery's, health food shops, coles, Aldi, Woolies and the butcher, thankfuly mum and dad came for the ride and made things a little easier.

I'm also very blessed to have a lovely friend who is the encyclopedia of the elimination diet due to her son's intolerance's, who is helping me get started....THANK YOU!!! you know who you are ox

Both the kids were weighed as part of the check up and are healthy weights, Declan at 14kg and Thalia at 10kg. The allergist always checks Declan's height due to the risk of stinted growth for the steroids in his medication and creams, they don't seem to be affecting his height at all though and he is currently 96.5cm.

So there you have it our D day in a nutshell (for lack of a better word)

Here I am again trying to get a shopping list together and plan menu's ready for the week ahead but I'm feeling much more confident this week about it all and I know we can do it.

God never gives us more than we can deal with!!! I just have to keep reminding myself.