The Bumpy-Faced Alien

I picked The Ninja up from school yesterday afternoon. My handsome boy’s face was covered with hives – red and blotchy – he looked like Mystique from the X-Men, only not blue. I gave him another Benadryl and called the doctor’s office when we got home. The office was able to fit us in right away, and we went over to see the nurse practitioner who works with his doctor.

She felt that it’s definitely an environmental allergic reaction. This makes sense, since several years ago tests indicated environmental allergies – even though he’s never had anything like this before. She recommended that I give Ninja Zyrtec once daily, and continue with Benadryl as needed. He is also to take Nasonex nasal spray. She mentioned Singulair, which he took for asthma some years ago. We’re not going to do that, though, as Singulair gave him terrible nightmares from which he would wake up screaming.

He had hives on his legs this morning; at least they were no longer covering his face. They were itchy, but bearable. This morning’s paper ran an article on this spring’s allergy season, commenting on how the warm winter is contributing to early and heavy pollen in the air. Great. The article recommended keeping the windows closed (Lew won’t like this, but we’ll do it), plus showering and changing clothes after coming in from outside.

Things should be OK eventually, as long as his throat doesn’t close up or start to itch. I told him again to go to the nursing office if that happens.