Poor little sausage links

If you could think of the most uncomfortable situation you could be in I'm sure this would be one of them. Think of your self doused in Vaseline or some kind of sticky ointment to relieve a persistent itch, then forced to wear cotton clothing firmly mushing against your moist skin, repeated three times a day just so you can stop from scratching yourself inside out. My poor unfortunate little Elliott has to go through this ritual, fighting it to all ends. The culprit, eczema. From the time he was two weeks old I have not only been struggling to fit the puzzle pieces of an extremely arduous puzzle together, but also came to the conclusion that doctors are indeed idiots especially those with inordinately large fingers. It turns out nurses are in fact the smarter and more nurturing species. Traditionally not being one to generalize I would normally follow this sentence with "Not all doctors of coarse," but I just don't feel like it. I have reason for my doubts in the higher spectrum of the medical world, clearly pertaining to my own personal experiences. I am sorry if you are reading this and are either a doctor or know someone who is, but I'm sure whomever you are or whomever you know are quite splendid and are not in any way what I am about to describe.
I will tell you the facts and you can take from it what you will, but it's almost certain that many mothers in my situation would feel or have felt the exact same way.

It was his six week birthday and Elliott's morbid looking umbilical cord had finally fallen off after much anticipation, and catching Christoph pulling a tad bit too strong on the unyielding piece of mom that just did not want to come off. Christoph enjoys pulling scabs off, and this was I'm sure the biggest one he had ever encountered. Given the okay to give him his first fully emerged bath and use soap, I reached for my Johnson and Johnson baby hair and body wash. On most children this is of coarse would have been fine, but Elliott is allergic to everything. As I was not yet aware of this information I generously and joyously lathered his little sausage links making sure I cleaned every tiny fold of his perfect skin. Shortly following his bath I observed swollen red bumps covering his entire body and I was forced to make an appointment with his pediatrician. Our original pediatrician was not available for such a short notice visit, which I was happy about. I did not trust her for reasons I will not say, but I was excited to see what our other options were. To my dismay it seems as though there are no other options other than an array of dismal doctors who would rather be eating. When he walked through the door he did not even look at us before he said, "It's blah blah blah blah blah," as if I new the rash he was referring to in his complicated doctors choice of words. Apparently he had talked to the nurse beforehand and knew just from talking to her exactly what he was dealing with. Annoyed with his know it all dominating tone and fat fingers I of coarse had questions, but found myself forgetting them as fast as he disproved them. I could have used the restroom, left without washing my hands and still would have taken a considerably longer time than our doctors visit that day. Left with no answers and a tube of trimilicone, a potent steroid I was left to believe that the rash would eventually just "go away." So I hoped for just that, trusting he knew what he was talking about. Wanting to relieve my poor son of such an uncomfortable situation and being naive of what exactly steroids can do, I later found out from none other than google, and not our pediatrician, that for such a little baby this can be harmful. Not lethal of coarse, but only that his skin could resemble a cow hide, permanently, among other strange things. You can understand my frustration at this point, I'm sure.

Following this event, and noticing that nothing helped his skin during the two weeks off of steroid cream, I sought out to find another pediatrician. I had by this point on my own persistent research, while also asking friends with similar situations, revealed that he indeed had eczema and that it is very likely the cause of an allergic reaction to food, detergents, soap, etc. I guess that out ruled our first pediatricians suggestion that this rash was normal and it was just a coincidence that it had appeared first after his soapy bath. I changed everything. Detergents, soaps, watched what I ate, did not wear perfume. I was dedicated. Still I was at a loss. Getting a recommendation for yet another pediatrician, I felt as though this would be it. Thinking he would at least listen to my suggestions as a mother, I was yet again utterly disappointed. He told me that eczema is nothing more than a cause and effect of the weather here in Colorado. I almost punched him in the face. Not only did I know more on the subject than this doctor, but I found it exceedingly rude how sure he was about his facts, and bypassed my knowledge as a mother. He was a nice person, but you could also be the worst hairstylist in the world and still be a nice person. That wouldn't get you a nice haircut.

Five months later I have finally found some things that keep Elliott's eczema at bay. Unfortunately these findings did not come from our list of pediatricians, but from other mothers, nurses and google. So, thank you for that. I am dreading our next pediatrician visit, knowing that the duration of the stay I will not take one word as truth. Regrettably it is that way.

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