L'hôpital St Vincent de Paul, encore...
peanut clinic day two, 8 months after day one
A brief recap for those getting confused with all these visits [YES I am one of them]...
August 2021: we started our OIT journey with Day One in Lille hospital to introduce a 'peanut protocol' [their words not mine; I am not a bot]
October 2021: we returned to Lille to introduce pistachio and, on a separate day, trial almond. [The latter was a successful mission: Abi now eats almonds most weeks.]
Oh. That's it.
Hmm: brief recap! Has it really only been two visits to Lille so far? Feels like twenty.
So, fast forward to this week - April, 2022. And here we are, yep, bossing it on the Eurostar like a pair of pros.*
[*We got off in France, not Belgium or Holland]
Has it really only been two visits to Lille so far? Feels like twenty.
Having followed the protocol uber strictly at home for the past 8 months since August, the time had come for us to return to see how much further Abi's tolerance could safely be extended. Typically, a trip back to clinic is meant to happen every 6 months, but we tied our return visit in with the 6 month timing for extending her pistachio tolerance, and so 8 months it was. I booked our tickets, found a gorgeous little apartment in La Madeleine... and, on y va!
when you should be finding it easier... but you're not
"It should be easier now, you've done it before" has been a recurring comment and sentiment from spectators and, frankly, I would like to clarify my position on this particular word right here, right now. In fact, I have bulleted my position, to make sure there are no traces of ambiguity.
It looks pretty on the outside, but this 'should' word is quite a B@$£ard and needs to stop
'Should' does not mean 'is'
'Should' can feel like social pressure which, in turn, can feed self-pressure [Note: my self-pressure already has an anabolic steroid-style physique; no such feeding required]
'Should' is my least favourite type of encouragement-slash-positivity-slash bolstering
Replacements such as 'may', 'might', are so much more gentle and 100% more favourable
To summarise: this 'should' word is quite a B@$£ard and needs to stop
To summarise: this 'should' word is quite a B@$£ard and needs to stop
To demonstrate pictorially, real-life selfies taken the night before treatment, the night of treatment, and the day after treatment.
Anxiety; Exhaustion; Relief
Right. Back to the hospital. Apologies [sorrynotsorry] for the tangent.
peanut clinic day two, 8 months after day one
Our sunny little room; the nut paste used for skin prick testing; Abi's various reactions
Once again we were shown to our sweet and functional room, Abi's vitals were jotted down, cannula in, bloods taken, and the skin prick test done. The fascinating part was seeing how much smaller Abi's peanut ['A' for arachide'] swelling was this time, 8 months after starting OIT. What was once her largest reaction by far at circa 14mm, now looked far less aggressive. And so, on to the apple puree avec l'arachide...
Back in August, during her first OIT session, every single micro dose provoked lumps in Abi's throat: manageable, but lumpy nonetheless. Back then, in total she consumed 365mg of peanut over 4 doses, representing approximately half a peanut. We stopped at the point of tummy ache, a feeling of 'not-rightness' and subsequent wheeziness. So how was she going to fare today???
I'll cut to the chase: 5 doses later and the delightful consultant announced that she had consumed a total of 2,335mg of peanut, the equivalent of 3 nuts! And with only a mild tummy ache and faintest feeling of something being amiss.
I've done the sums for you: that's 6.5 x what she tolerated 8 months ago!
And... guess what else? She could now move on to actual peanuts as her protocol! Namely, one peanut per day! After 8 months??? Suffice to say, I am still computing this, albeit with cautious utter delight.
How do you celebrate something so damn incredible while you're in Lille? The answer is quite obvious: with a few of our* favourite things, of course. :)
*Beer and coffee: mine
Now to regroup for our return to clinic tomorrow for pistachio clinic day two, 6 months after day one.
And so the nerves start to build again...
Comments