Not Again!

Today, Zachary and I headed back to the pediatrician's office because Zachary still looks like this...


Even though I have been on a milk-free diet for ten days, my poor little guy still has rashes on his scalp, face, and torso. Since he is not getting dramatically better, I decided I wanted Dr. Broadbent to take a look.


In addition to looking at his skin, Dr. Broadbent checked Zachary's weight...a whopping 15 pounds 12.5 ounces. What a little chub! Also, Zachary has been sneezing and has sounded "stuffy" since yesterday, so Dr. Broadbent checked into that to look for signs of a ear or sinus infection. For now Zachary is just congested. I am so glad that it is not more serious. For being sick and covered with rashes, Zachary sure is one happy little guy. He is such a good baby!


After examining Zachary's skin, Dr. Broadbent isn't convinced that Zachary's rashes are due to a food allergy. Instead, he feels that it could be a severe case of Seborrhoeic Dermatitis (common name: Cradle Cap). Cradle Cap is easily treated and is something that Zachary should outgrow. In order to lessen the symptoms, Dr. Broadbent gave me a few suggestions to try.

First, we need to bathe Zachary no more than twice a week.
Second, we need to use 1% Hydrocortisone twice a day on the affected areas.
Third, we need to use Eucerin Creme on Zachary as often as necessary to prevent itching.

In addition to the above suggestions, Dr. Broadbent prescribed Fluconazole which is used to treat fungal infections. Dr. Broadbent mentioned that there is a yeast-based infection that looks similar to Seborrhoeic Dermatitis. This medicine will treat the yeast-based infection...should that be what Zachary has. We are suppose to give Zachary this medicine for the next ten days to see if it makes a difference.

Lastly, Dr. Broadbent ordered a blood test for Zachary so that they can test for food allergies. He is testing for Milk, Soy, Eggs, and Nuts...which make-up over 90% of all food allergies. I really like how aggressive Dr. Broadbent is with my concerns. I am so glad that there are additional suggestions to try and additional tests that can be done.

On the way home from our appointment, I stopped at the new Intermountain Medical Center to have Zachary's blood drawn. I hated the idea of it and really wished that I could have endured the needle prick instead of him. Zachary was so happy and was smiling at everyone he came in contact with. Even the nurses mentioned how hard it was going to be to prick him with that huge grin on his face. I was so nervous to hold him down and really wished there was another way...but the nurses did great and got exactly what they needed with only one prick. Although there were some tears...it was nothing that a binkie and some lovies from mommy couldn't fix. I am so proud of my little man. He did great!


Hopefully, one of the Dr. Broadbent's suggestions...or a combination of all of them...will finally cure Zachary of all of these nasty rashes. If not...my next appointment will be with a pediatric dermatologist.

"Whoa!"

This afternoon, as I undressed Zachary so I could change his diaper, I noticed a red rash all over his arms, legs, back and torso. Zachary has been known to get rashes, but this was a rash that I had never seen before. This one looked angry and painful. It was made up of dark red, raised dots. As soon as his torso was undressed, Zachary reached up and started rubbing his hands around on his tummy...as if he was trying to scratch it. I immediately called his pediatrician to see if I could talk to the doctor, or a nurse, about what I could do to treat this rash.

The pediatrician's assistant mentioned that it would be best to see the rash so that they would be able to try and identify what was causing it. I headed right in so that they could take a look. Dr. Broadbent was not available so we met with one of his associates, Dr. Sandvig. As she walked in the exam room and glanced at Zachary, her eyes bulged out of her head and she exclaimed "Whoa!"

After a lengthy discussion, and an examination, Dr. Sandvig thinks that my little Zachary may be allergic to milk. She says that his rash is typical of a food allergy. I just recently started to drink a glass of milk in the morning and in the evening, as a way of increasing my calcium intake. Needless to say, I will not be doing that anymore!

Dr. Sandvig has placed me on a strict milk-free diet. I was given a list of ingredients to avoid and must now read each and every label on everything that I plan to eat. I was told to follow the milk-free diet for the next two weeks; if Zachary improves then I will need to continue this diet for the entire time I nurse. However, if he does not improve, the doctor would like to see him again so we can reassess the situation.

I hope we can get this figured out once and for all so that my little man doesn't have to endure anymore of these nasty rashes!