The past week and a half we have seen a big improvement in Harry's skin. It's been awesome! I pray that he is slowly outgrowing his eczema. I am trying to pinpoint any changes in diet or environment that could be affecting Harry and causing things to improve.

Ironically, it seems like things started getting a little better 2 saturdays ago. It was the day I had a major mental breakdown (his skin looked SO bad after weeks of steroid) and I went on a quest to find answers from a higher power. I hiked up to a high rock at Zion and prayed and prayed. I felt almost at peace with things. I vowed to change my outlook from negative to optimistic. It's pretty awesome to think this could be the major "change" needed to help things heal.

The weather has been a bit more humid in the desert. All the drs we saw seemed to think things might improve a bit come summer. Now, if we go outside w/ Harry, he flares up (from the heat and sweat) but inside things are nice and cool and less itchy. Plus the pollen seems to be low now and we think he reacts very strongly to the pollen.

We recently started to give him a new babyfood from Beechnut w/ DHA in it. DHA is supposed to help eczema sufferers (this is a very new study). I find it ironic that he in fact does seem a bit improved.

We are giving Harry more water throughout the day. Maybe the hydration is helping.

We are still avoiding all potential allergens (ie: wheat, milk, soy, egg, nut) but I just got some soy yogurt and we might give it a try. he was tested negative for a soy allergy at 7 months. i'm still nervous to try.

Harry still has a few stubborn spots that even w/ treatment won't clear, mainly above his lip, his chin and behind the knees. I attribute the facial stuff to drooling. the behind the knees is classic eczema.

Let's see.. what else..

OH, a new moisturizer: Aquaphor. We saw drastic improvement after just one day switching out the vaseline for the aquaphor. good stuff!!!!

please pray for us that harry continues to improve. I know the positive vibes are definitely helping!!!

Add
Lentils
Carrots

Harry eats 3x per day of solids. His current schedule is:

breakfast (7 am)
1/4 - 1/2 cup of oats or rice (or mixed)
1/2 - 1 cup of fruit

mid morning (9am)
8 oz bottle

nap

lunch (2 pm)
1/2 cup protein and veggie mix
1/2 - 3/4 cup fruit

mid afternoon (4 pm)
8 oz bottle

dinner (5:30 pm)
1/2 cup protein and veggie mix
1/4 cup grain
1/4 cup fruit

bed (7 pm)
8 oz bottle

Harry's current menu (at almost 10 months old --- as you can see we're going very slow!)

Apples
Pears
Rice
Oats
Bananas
Turkey
Chicken
Apricots

Harry eats 3x per day of solids. His current schedule is:

breakfast (7 am)
1/4 - 1/2 cup of oats or rice (or mixed)
1/2 cup of fruit

mid morning (9am)
4 oz bottle

before nap (11 am)
8 oz bottle

lunch (2 pm)
1/2 cup protein and veggie mix
1/2 - 3/4 cup fruit

mid afternoon (4 pm)
4 oz bottle

dinner (5:30 pm)
1/2 cup protein and veggie mix
1/4 cup grain
1/4 cup fruit

bed (7 pm)
8 oz bottle

I'm going to start a list of all the food allergies that Harry has and add to it when a new one is discovered:

Known:
Cow's milk
Wheat

Possible: (eczema worsens after eating and some body rash as well)
Squash
Sweet potatoes
Peas

So, sadly we found out that Harry is allergic to our dogs and cats (and who knows what else, he was only tested for those two "environmental" allergens). It was crazy to watch the allergist do the skin prick test on him. As soon as they administered the dog and cat "serum"his back welted up immediately. I think I always knew he was allergic to our furkids, but didn't want to believe it. This sucks!!

Since getting the news, we started right in on all the changes that were 100% necessary for Harry's comfort (and to prevent future asthma). Since getting rid of our pets were not an option, we knew the alternative would be pricey. Oh well, what can you do? It was heartbreaking, we just paid off our credit cards and now they're maxed again.

We bought new floors for our ENTIRE home. We got this awesome laminate that looks like real wood and feels like it too! It's beautiful!

We bought a cool shed/greenhouse that we will convert into a cattery.

We bought new couches and barstools.

We got a doggie door for our pooches since they'll need to stay in the back three rooms of our home for a while ---- until Harry grows out of this (RIGHT??!! we gotta stay positive!)

Now we have a LOT of work ahead of us!!

We were able to go Friday, Saturday and Sunday without any treatment on Harry's face. I did have to use a bit of the Triamcinolone cream on his tummy once or twice, but his face stayed pretty good. It got a bit rough and rashy but I just tried to lotion it up with Vanicream.

this morning (monday) his neck is very bright red and sore and his face is very dry and rashy so I had to go back to the hydrocortizone. At least we were able to take a break which is the first time we could actually do that!

Another tip that seems to work on his FACE is to put Aveeno fragrance free DIAPER cream on his cheeks where he broke out from drool rash. Really made it clear up and didn't even make his other rashes worse!

Christmas eve, 2007.
Harry had 2 great days without any creams at all. Then yesterday he took a nap, woke up and was completely flared up. I'm at such a loss. I don't know what else I can do for him. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the flare ups. I can't connect anything with the timing of them.