Thursday, October 21, 2010

Saying Good Bye to Tank/Ashton's Allergies

This last month we had to say goodbye to our wonderful dog Tank. A few months ago I told the doctor that I was concerned about Ashton's speech. He told us about the Child Find program which is an early intervention program for any learning delays or disabilities. I took him for the initial screening and she wanted to do a full set of tests called the DIAL assessment. Through this process I was told that Ashton had fluid in both of his ears and since I was concerned about his speech, I should have his hearing checked. Of course I went right away and was told that he had fluid in his ears which was causing hearing loss. I then took him to the pediatrician to see what we could do. We talked for a while and a thought came to mind. I told the doctor he had been sniffing a lot, but I thought it was a nervous tick because there was nothing behind the sniffing. She said that she bet he had allergies. So for a month we put him on allergy medicine and sure enough he got better. Once we realized it was allergies, I had him tested for the most common allergies. It turns out that he was a category 2 allergy to dogs and a category 1 allergy to Bermuda grass and cats. Knowing this information we made the decision to find a new home for Tank. It was really sad letting him go, we loved him and Ashton was crazy about him. I told Ashton that I found him a bigger yard to play in. HE asked me everyday for weeks where his dog Tank was. It was hard, but Ashton's health comes first. Hopefully he will grow out of it someday, but for now we are just dog free.

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