sickly mother and son :(

So, here is an update on what we have been up to. We did go to Long Island to visit Tyrone's mom, sisters, and nephew. It was a good visit, and a complete surprise to his mom, who about fell out when she saw us :) We had a nice time, and she made some of her very yummy fried chicken, which I have been looking forward to! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at our hotel both days we were there, so i have NO pics....maybe Zinammi can e-mail me some? (pretty please!?)

Anyway, while we were there, we ordered pizza at the hotel one night, and while Gabe was scarfing down slices, starving apparently, he suddenly started crying that his mouth hurt, his chin burned. He was having an allergic reaction. He had done this once before, also on a night that we were having pizza. Tyrone ran out to the closest drug store for benadryl, and we got him calmed down, with his poor, burning red face. (on a side note, we ended up having to take him to the hospital the next day with an asthma attack...he was already congested, and the allergic reaction didn't help matters any...it was a fairly painless visit, though. steroids, breathing treatments, and we were back out the door.)

After a quick consultation with my mom and Melissa (who is a nurse), I deduced that what we were probably dealing with was a tomato allergy. He does not like ketchup, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, or almost anything else that contains tomatoes, and he only eats pizza when he's REALLY hungry, otherwise refusing it. Well, it all made perfect sense...why would he eat those things if they make him feel yucky? I felt pretty confident in our diagnosis...until tonight.

We were having steak, green beans, and macaroni & cheese. He ate all of the green beans and mac & cheese, and was about to take his first bite of steak when he started crying. His lip was burning, he told me. I got a closer look and his lip was rapidly swelling and his chin was bright red. We quickly dosed him with benadryl and washed his face off, and got him fairly comfortable. But I feel like throwing my hands in the air! I didn't mean to feed him anything that would hurt him! Was it that the green beans were processed on equipment that had also handled tomatoes?! Is it preservatives that are actually causing the reaction?! Is it something we have yet to think of at all?! ARGH! I am calling his pediatrician tomorrow and making an appt. so that we can get a referral to an allergist, but good grief! My poor boy!

So, due to a bunch of factors beyond our control, we had to 86 the trip to Georgia. We are still in New York. I am really dissapointed to not get to see everybody, but we will make that trip as soon as possible.

On to the sick mother part of this post....I'm not so sick as I am broke down, lol. My TMJ has been acting up for months. I have recently been to the emergency room, and then my doctor, as it has gotten unbearable, and I am now unable to open my mouth more then a half inch or so. I finally got to the oral surgeon yesterday. He put me on steroids. I was really expecting some relief by now. But I have none....I still can't open my mouth, and now I'm crazy on the Methylprednisolone. Grrrr.... Let me explain. The meds are giving me headaches, making me dizzy, cold, my stomach hurts, and I'm starving....except for I can't open my mouth much and chewing hurts....so I've had lots of soup, grits, mashed potatoes, yogurt, ect. I've had enough!!!

The next step will be an MRI to get a better look at what's going on in the joint. I hope that something relatively simple will work, but my gut feeling is that it is going to take surgery to fix. Jeanie (my sister) had to have the surgery, and this whole thing is genetic, so....it is what it is, and we will see.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve tomorrow, and keep your fingers crossed for poor little Gabe Gabe and me!