Whack-a-mole, part 2

If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past 5 years it is to not underestimate Aviv. He’s like the sleeper cell that surprises you in ways you least expect. It turns out that he didn't have a cavity; his daily dose of nuts were getting caught up underneath his gums (where brushing and flossing weren't finding them), making every bite painful. A deep cleaning cleared up the pain, and we thought all was well. Whew! One crisis averted. (BTW: for those curious about the linkage between albuterol and tooth decay that I mentioned in my last post, there is a study that found such a linkage, but in it, patients were taking albuterol 2x/day or more, and the dry mouth that the albuterol causes was likely the main contributor to the tooth decay. Moral of the story: rinse your mouth after taking albuterol to clear it off your gums and wet your mouth.)

So with the tooth mystery solved, we packed for Disneyland… and then the sleeper cell awoke. And vomited. And vomited again. And again... Our minds swirled wondering what was happening with Aviv… reaction to the nuts? One of his other unusual medical issues? No. The good news is that he has an old fashioned, just-like-every-other-kid, stomach virus. Whew! My first reaction was that it feels good to have regular kid issues; my second reaction was wondering what to do about our next-day early morning flight to Disneyland; and my third reaction was to wonder about his dose. He couldn’t keep down water and toast, much less a big handful of nuts. We spent the past 24 hours calming a VERY disappointed Ari, nursing Aviv to a pretty stable place right now, pushing our flights to L.A. back (hopefully leaving tonight with a rehabilitated kid), and talking with the SAFAR staff. Aviv had to miss his dose yesterday, and due to fever and low appetite, he’ll have to miss his dose today as well. We were told that kids can miss three doses without too much of an impact, so we’re hoping he can have his dose tomorrow (maybe just a half, then move back to full the next day), so that his updosing schedule is not impacted. Being on the Xolair should give him some cushion in being able to ride this hiccup in the process, so we’re keeping fingers crossed. Boarding a plane together; dosing while traveling; and meeting Mickey – the three ‘firsts’ we hope to check off in the next 24 hours!