And here’s why.
Maile and Kainoa both have eczema. We’ve been dealing with eczema in this house for the last five years and I still don’t know how to spell it correctly. Isn’t there an ‘x’ in there somewhere.
Anyways it doesn’t affect either of their faces, mostly just behind their legs, the inside of their elbows, armpits…and then odd and ends places all over. Lots of patches of red irritated skin, and if they scratch too much they bleed and break out even more. It’s a vicious cycle.
We’ve tried everything. Lots of baths. No baths. No soap. Light detergent for sensitive skin. Extra rinse cycles. Vaseline. Aquafor. Aveeno. Oatmeal. Baking Soda. Jergens. Aloe Vera. Protopic. Eucerin. Lanolin. Benadryl spray. Shea butter. Baby oil. Drink more water. Don’t drink milk. Dust more often. Only wear cotton. Blah blah blah. Nothing really works and I feel like a crappy mom because my kids are itchy I can’t make it go away.
I’m an ass.
Maile: I don LIKE myself.
Me: Why would you say something like that?
Maile: Cause I’m itchy. Jesus made me itchy.
And in just five years of life my daughter has learned to blame Jesus for her shortcomings. Awesome. I guess when you tell your kids Jesus made the moon and sun and stars, it’s only natural for them to think Jesus is also responsible for your eczema. Don’t know quite what to do about that.
We’ve gotten to the point with Maile that we don’t even really do ANYTHING. The excema is still there, she still itches, but she doesn’t cry and complain so I don’t touch it. In the past I would put lotion on her and she would go into a screaming fit that sounded like she was being burned. It was awful. So I just gave up. Hoping it will go away on it’s own.
Kainoa is a little worse at this point. He’s a baby so he doesn’t realize he’s scratching the crap out of himself half the time. There are scratch marks all over his little hiney and on his shoulders and on his elbows. It’s sad.
The dermatologist was never very helpful with Maile. He told us excema is genetic and he taught us about the itch-scratch-break out cycle of excema, but he doesn’t have a cure. Maile was prescribed with a steroid cream called desonide that we use sparingly and only during an outbreak on the most painful spots. One bottle will last us about a year. I’ve never taken Kainoa in to the dermatologist. I just took the information I got when we were going with Maile and applied it to him. When he has horrible outbreaks we use the desonide on him and it goes away.
Last week we ran out of the good stuff and I called for a re-fill.
receptionist: Yeah…the doctor is denying your request for a re-fill.
Me: So what does that mean? I need to take them in???
receptionsist: Mmm-hmmm.
Me: Ok well I’m off during such-and-such week in November, can we fit them in at that time?
receptionist: Noooo. I’m afraid not. We’re looking at the next opening to beeeeeee……December 9th.
Sigh.
Why are they always so busy!?! I instantly flash back to a time two years ago when Maile was just three. I had put lotion on her after her bath and she started screaming as if she were burning alive. She was jumping up and down and scratching all over, red faced SHRIEKING.
I hurried and called her dermatologist for an appointment because I had NO idea what was going on. I needed an appointment THAT second, but they didn’t have an opening until the next month. What is that? I’m calling you with a baby who is being eaten alive by SOMETHING and you can’t get her in??
Why do they book themselves so solid that they can’t fit in a dying three year old? Tell that pimply teenager to throw some Proactiv on his face and call it a day. I was seriously irritated they were making me wait that long. I ended up being able to help Maile myself and by “help” her I mean I threw her in the bath and we both cried through it. The lotion I had put on her was basically like putting acid on an open sore.
I’m an ass.
The conversation I was having with the receptionist took me right back to that moment.
me: December 9th is just not going to work for me. My kids are breaking out and they need to be seen sooner than that if he’s not going to re-fill the prescription.
receptionist: I’m sorry maam that’s his next available appointment.
me: Well I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do. My kids need some relief, we’re just going to have to find a different doctor because that doesn’t work.
And at that we parted ways.
Our pediatrician recently gave us a new referral to a dermatologist who is a bit closer to our house. Aha! I thought…I’ll call HER! The sucky part about switching is that I have to do all the paperwork again and transfer Maile’s info from the one dr. to the other…but for a closer appointment I suppose it’s worth it.
I called the new doctor’s office.
me: Hi, I’m hoping to make an appointment for my kids, they’ve never visited this dr. before.
receptionist: ok well let’s get them in!
me: Great…such-and-such week in November works best for me since I won’t be working.
receptionist: Hmmmm…..it looks like the soonest we can get them in is….December 15th.
December 15th.
A week LATER than the original doctor.
Awesome.
I’m an ass.