We decided to run our own patch test with both girls for melon. With no surface reaction after 15 mins we took the plunge and allowed then to munch a slice each. 15 mins later and neither have trebled in size so far … which is nice. We’
ll be keeping a close eye out for flares though.
Yummy! Yay for holiday food 
Off to Turkey again. We’ll avoid the peaches this time and hope for less flaring!
We’re under assault from cats and their dander, but a daily hit of piriton should keep that in check.
The monkeys are sharing a room
properly for the first time (only the
odd night before). ….should be interesting.
Both girls are cat mad, we’re just counting the minutes before one of
them gets too overzealous with the stroking and gets rewarded with a swipe.
I’ve mentioned a couple of times now that Jasmine’s hands are the worse for wear and unfortunately things have only gone downhill.
Jasmine couldn’t help but scratch her fingers exposing the water blisters associated with dyshidrotic eczema and exposing the raw skin a few layers down. She would be relentless and we were clearly fighting a loosing battle. Daytime was just about safe but nightime was a whole other story.
We tried to tackle the situation by strategically placing plasters on the particularly prone areas. However, when plasters seem to cover the majority of her hands every evening you have to question the approach. We also began to question whether of not she was reacting to the plasters which clearly goes against our aims.
It was time to get Jasmine back to the docs to prosper from her previous run-ins with paediatrics and get some dermasilk gloves prescribed. This was done without question though we only came away with 1 pair (at least for now). Jasmine wears the gloves at night. We put them on after the current regime of Modrosone, Aveeno and Hydromol. Once on we use some micropore tape on the wrists to make sure they’re more likely to stay on through the night.
We had to slice of one of the thumbs to allow her to suck her thumb at night and so far the gloves have performed admirably. She’s been wearing them for about 5 nights now and her hands have improved dramatically. It’s really quite encouraging to see how quickly her skin can recover, that is until her impulse gets the better of her and she goes at them again.
poorly fingers, a little greasy with Hydromol
I think so long as we can remain as vigilant as possible then hopefully we can nip this cycle of destruction before she has no fingers left.
Earlier on in the month we had Willow’s first skin prick test. In the week or 2 leading up to the appointment we introduced dairy, egg and potato to Willow in a highly processed form (biscuits/crisps). The notion is that the body will still interpret this trace of possible allergen and be able to react accordingly should there be a problem with it. If we had gone for a skin prick test with no exposure then the results can not really be trusted as a reflection of the bodies reaction. Incidently she showed next to no reaction to the test food that she was given which was quite refreshing.
Willow has essentially been following Jasmine’s dietary routine based on the fact that she had bad skin initially and there’s clearly some hereditary issue going on. Consequently we decided to opt for milk, egg white, egg yolk, potatoes, soya and kiwi. After waiting the obligatory 10 minutes Willow’s arm revealed that all IgE’s tested were negative which is fantastic news. This obviously doesn’t rule out any intolerance potential but from an allergy perspective removing these ‘big guns’ is amazing.
The suggestion that Willow can have a relatively normal relationship with food is a weight off but is does of course pave the way for more emotional stress for little Jasmine who will inevitably hear that ‘Willow’s body can cope with [insert food here] but yours can’t sweety, sorry’ 
We’ll continue to monitor Willow’s condition as we gradually introduce the tested foods (individually of course).
celebrating the first really nice weekend of the year 
…It feels like a toy shop exploded in the garden! Good times
My wish for you…
Mint Choc-Chip on a summer’s day
A roll in the grass and a play in hay
Cuddles with rabbits, hamsters and cats
A Pain au chocolat- fancy that!
To smell sweet flowers to your heart’s content
Make pancakes til’ the eggs are spent
Tuck in to some Key Lime Pie
Margherita Pizza- give it a try!
Warm hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream
Sit by a campfire, watch the smoke in the breeze
Ride a horse for as long as you want,
Sweeping your hair back so nonchalant
Go to a tea party and have whatever you want
Sausage rolls, quiche and fizzy pop
A bowl of fruit salad with kiwi and melon
Wash your hands with scented soap all sweet smellin’
Wibble wobble wibble wobble jelly on your plate
Hot cross buns, scrambled eggs and sleeping in late
Soft feather pillows, fluffy carpets too
So many things that I wish for you.
But just one thing you will never lack
For this I know you’ll be on track
No matter what comes our way
Love is abundant and will always remain.
By Steph – Jasmine & Willow’s Mummy. (c)
uh-oh
It seems we have a little escapee…
Thankfully Willow likes to handicap herself though
she likes a challenge
we made it to Jasmine’s 4th! Huzzah!
It’s been a tough year for her with the dilution of attention as a result of Willow, big changes socially with starting pre-school and emotionally with the onset of her need to push boundaries and challenge seemingly everything she faces. In light of all of that she’s done bloody well, borne witness by the fact that her skin, though ragged in places, is for the most part holding it’s own. Her hands seem to have suffered most, fuelled by a habit of sucking on them combined with the constant exposure to the almost obsessive cleaning routine of the nursery/childcare environment.
A recent skin-prick test maintains that dairy and egg should be excluded from the diet (along with our usual suspects). Egg dropped from an 8/9 to 7 on both accounts (white and yolk). Potato weighed in at 5, kiwi 6, dairy up to 5. We tried both of them on some white kidney beans (spot testing on cheek and forehead) and both flared within 10 minutes of application essentially writing off those beans for the forseeable future. We’re unable to get a skin-prick for white beans, only green, helpfully. I’d hoped we could get them on some semblance of a ‘normal’ diet and allow the humble baked bean (haricot bean [white]), alas not.
Despite the recent tests Daddy still managed to fail somewhat spectacularly by using the wrong mayonnaise in one of Jasmine’s sandwiches (1 of 3 different types of mayonnaise in our fridge I might add [auto pilot fail!]). I timed it perfectly for the meal just before her birthday party… A rush to get piriton and a scramble to get the epipens ready and we’re back on track. She thankfully only flared a little around the mouth (what drew Mummy’s attention to the faux pas) and there was no hint of flakiness/listlessness and throwing up. I can only presume we jumped on it quickly enough with the piriton and that the egg was ‘processed’ within the mayonaise as opposed to the direct allergen which caused us the issues before. Despite the panic at least it show’s that she tolerated the exposure pretty well with no ‘OMG …A&E GO!’ moments, she did only have half the sandwich though.
The day continued well and her party was a roaring success (despite forgetting to bring the cake with us on the 1st pass…). The general theme of the party was butterfly-fairy-princess-superhero. Which I think nicely sums up Jasmine’s mindset 16 kids makes for a looooong pass-the-parcel but the kids made up for it with their entaining ‘freestyle’ dancing for musical statues, sleeping lions wasn’t quite so popular. The bouncy castle weathered the onslaught well (we’re still not sure how many are ‘meant’ to be on the castle at any one time) and the face paints were a hit from the outset. Steph as usual did a sterling job of creating the foodstuffs with an assortment of free-from goodies that were devoured with relish. It really takes the stress out knowing for the most part that the food is safe, particularly considering Willow is literally a hoover and rarely seems to stop putting anything in her mouth regardless of where she finds it! Be warned if you’re innocently holding that last bite of cake within reach of a ravenous Willow…
Jasmine’s room has undergone a facelift to usher in the new era sporting a butterfly theme that is altogether more girly. Ultimately our plan is to put both girls in together and though I think Willow would like the room covered floor to ceiling in cat related paraphernalia I’m sure she’ll appreciate this fluttery touch. Tomorrow is Jasmine’s real big day and we’re off on safari for the day which should be a blast. Good times!
![and more cake =]](http://littlelifetrials.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/dsc02192-600x800.jpg?w=112&h=150 "DSC02192 (600x800)")
![cleanup crew =]](http://littlelifetrials.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/dsc02314-800x532.jpg?w=150&h=99 "S")
Hmm, it seems we’re in for a period of eczema following our run in with chickenpox. I’ve no idea if it’s related but I’d hoped the anecdotal news I’d heard about chickenpox improving eczema sufferers skin was going to come to fruition. Sadly, I don’t think that is to be the case and if anything the eczema is worse now than it has been for some time.
Jasmine’s hands are teetering on the brink of being scratched into oblivion, not helped of course by the fact that she sucks her thumbs leaving them uncomforatably raw. The join of her right ear lobe is a recurrent bad spot but thankfully the extent of her troubles seem to abate there.
Willow’s little patch on her left cheek has returned and she’s added to that with a couple of patches just above her buttocks and a couple spotted across the rest of her back. She also showed the first signs of any real scratching of her thighs (though nothing to see there yet) which is saddening to see. It brings the memories of Jasmine’s torment crashing back home.
I’m hoping that this is just a minor blip, some part of the recovery of chickenpox. I expect we’ve another couple of weeks of this at least yet. Then again, it could just be the journey into Winter, something Jasmine’s skin has never coped overly well with.
On the plus side, the girls are for the most part a bubbly as ever (bar Jasmine’s boundary testing). Willow is turning into a real little character and it’s so nice to see Jasmine interact (well) with her. Jasmine is becoming more and more grown up by the minute with her 4th birthday fast approaching. It’s going to be a very busy 2012 methinks! Good times! =]
