In the middle of March, out of nowhere in Sam's one afternoon, Samuel broke out in a rash on his face. I have always known that his skin is extremely sensitive, so I've made our own detergent for years now. However, while sitting at Sam's, his face continued to get welps all over his cheek. By the time we gave him Benadryl and got home, we had a full on rash, all over his body. It was on his chest and stomach, all over his face, and in the folds of his arms.
The next day, symptoms continued, but didn't seem to bother him at all. What really irritated him was all the attention this "rash" was getting him!
A few days and a doctor visit later, the welp rash subsided and these red spots came up all over his face.
... and they just kept spreading.
The next day, the red spots were more noticeable and a bit scary to him.
We saw the doctor again who wasn't really sure of the cause since it was essentially two separate rashes all together, maybe more. He referred us to an allergy specialist. While waiting for that appointment, we had another round of welps/welts.
Finally, we saw the allergist, and he refused to test Samuel because of his extremely sensitive skin. He even did a "test" to see how Samuel's skin would react to being touched. He took the tip of his pen (the pen was closed) and ran it down Samuel's arm. Within seconds, his arm was red and had a long, large welp where the pen had been. We were told to give Samuel two different medications daily to help this disorder, called dermatographism, and come back in two weeks to see if his skin improved. I took him to Dairy Queen after being poked on at the allergist's office, expecting he'd want ice cream. Instead, he chose a hot dog and was thrilled with his pick!
I also took him shopping with me, and let him choose one thing to take home with him. Of all the things he could have chosen, this sweet kiddo chose marshmallows. He fell asleep on the ride home.
We returned to the doctor after two weeks, and the skin was still easily irritated. We're on a nasal spray and two medications daily now, but hoping that the doctor's diagnosis and dermatographism and low-grade sinusitis will continue to get better with time!
