One Tasty Boy

I always tell Big A how much I love to nibble on him and how tasty he is... Seems I'm not the only one!

I got the strangest text from Grandma the other day... "Big A's left ear is red and hot and floppier than the other one."

Um... Okay.... Not really sure how to take that...

"It also looks like he's got bug bites on his neck."

Still not really sure what to think about the 'floppy ear', she sent me some pictures which show that the left ear sticks out a little further than the right and is quite red.

Fast forward three hours to when Molly picks the kids up... "You need to look at Big A's ear when you get home. The left ear is really swollen and he says it moves when he walks." Oh, yes... Sounds like I'd definitely better check that out! Yikes!

I arrive home to find a grumpy and uncomfortable Big A laying on the floor playing Legos and I start my 'examination'. I find two or three bites on his neck, I'm assuming that's what's wrong with the ear, and one on his arm. Poor kid just reacts NASTY to spider/bug/mosquito bites!

I place a call to Kaiser and speak with an advice nurse who tells me to use cold compresses, Benadryl, and Cortisone cream and to bring him in the next morning to have the ear checked. I know the poor guy is miserable, but he's SUCH a trooper. He eats his dinner, takes his medicine, and requests a trip to town for frozen yogurt. With a day like he's had, how can I turn him down?

Two hours later his arm looks like this. We've been through this before and I know it won't get worse, but it still makes me nervous. I begin to worry about the future... Will it get worse as he gets older? If he reacts this badly to spider bites, will he be allergic to bee stings?

The next morning when he wakes up he's looking quite a bit better but we still make the trip to Kaiser. I want to get answers to my questions to hopefully put my mind at ease.

I'm told that there hasn't been any evidence that shows that the reactions will get worse as the child gets older and that there doesn't appear to be any correlation between this kind of reactions and bee sting allergies, but to DEFINITELY watch him. I certainly will!

But for now, I'll just go apply some more cortisone cream...