Delayed

Well, we made it to visit number 50.  It seemed to go well at first.  Dr. Silvers even raced Brendan to eat his hazelnut dose of a homemade Nutella sandwich.  Have I mentioned how much we love Dr. Silvers?  He's just amazing, and I can tell he really cares about Brendan.

Dr. Silvers won the race ;).

After Brendan ate his dose, we waited in the office the customary 45 minutes, and Brendan seemed fine.  We called an Uber to take us back to the airport.  The security line was long at the airport, and Brendan seemed tired.  I didn't think anything of it, because I was tired, too!  After we made it through the security line, we grabbed some dinner as usual.  Brendan loves the burrito place in the airport, so we ordered dinner there.  He complained that the rice in his burrito was a little crunchy, so instead of scarfing it down, he only ate about two thirds of it.  Thinking back, the tiredness and the lack of eating SHOULD have been a clue to me that he wasn't feeling well, but I didn't clue in.

We sat at the gate and Brendan worked on homework while waiting to board the flight.  Boarding kind of sneaked up on us, so when I heard the gate agent calling for pre-boarding (which is how we board the airplane due to Brendan's peanut allergy), I jumped up and encouraged Brendan to do so, also.  That was a fatal move.

This is an old picture of a pre-board pass.
We will lose our pre-board privileges once Brendan graduates from OIT.
It's pretty much the only perk of having a peanut allergy.

About 10 feet down the jetway, Brendan began to vomit.  We walked back toward the gate as he continued to vomit over pretty much every last inch of the jetway.  Apparently, he hadn't been feeling well since the Uber ride. He told me it was bumpy and made him motion sick.  We pre-medicate Brendan with meclizine before every trip because he is prone to motion sickness.  He usually doesn't get motion sickness if he has taken meclizine, but it has happened before.  I think his vomiting was a combination of motion sickness AND his dose.

We delayed the entire flight by 30 minutes so that they could clean up the vomit.  We were the only ones able to board on time (Sorry, flight 49!).  Thank goodness the flight was delayed so that I could speak with Dr. Silvers on the phone.  I could hear the sadness in his voice when I told him that Brendan had vomited on the jetway.  We were SO close to graduating OIT-- just one week away, and now Brendan had not tolerated his dose.  It was heartbreaking.  Dr. Silvers told me the new plan.  Brendan would take 10 peanuts and hazelnuts the next morning, and if he tolerated those, he'd go back up to 12 for the evening.

That time you get a text telling you that your flight is delayed,
and you know *exactly why* it's delayed :/.

The following morning arrived, and to complicate matters, I was leaving on a cruise with a group of girlfriends.  The morning dose of 10 went well, but I knew Brendan traditionally had more trouble with evening doses, and that night's dose would be all up to my hubby.  I left my hubby detailed instructions on the doses, as well as how to reach Dr. Silvers if he needed to.  It's a good thing I left all those instructions, because that evening's dose of 12 did not go well.  Brendan ate 20 peanut M&M's for his peanut dose (M&M peanuts are smaller than regular peanuts, so 12 peanuts = 20 peanut M&M's), but then as he was eating his homemade Nutella sandwich, he began to gag, and he vomited.  My hubby called Dr. Silvers immediately, and Dr. Silvers asked him to wait 30 minutes and try a half dose (6 of each nut).  If that went well, he was to try the full dose again the next morning.

This picture was taken just a few hours before Brendan vomited his evening dose.
Thank God for my hubby who was able to keep the ship at home running
while I went off and played on a ship of my own!

The half dose went well, so the next morning (it's Friday, 9/30, at this point), Brendan ate a full dose of 12 peanuts and 12 hazelnuts.  That dose went well!!!  My hubby was supposed to call Dr. Silvers on Friday after the morning dose for the new plan.  When he called, I told him to ask for once a day dosing, which Dr. Silvers had offered to us a few weeks before, but we declined.  It would take us two weeks to get to graduation instead of one, but it seems like Brendan tolerates the morning doses better than those in the evening . So, on Friday, Dr. Silvers allowed us to switch to once a day dosing!  Praise God!!

I might feel just a *little* bit guilty that this was my view
while my sweet hubby was at home figuring out the next steps for dosing.

Brendan has taken his 12 peanuts and 12 hazelnuts every morning since last Friday, and has been OK every single time.  I think we are back on track.  So despite a delayed flight and a delayed dosing schedule, we WILL arrive at our destination.  The new estimated time of arrival is next Wednesday, October 12th.  If all goes well between now and then, he will eat 24 peanuts and 24 hazelnuts that day, and he will GRADUATE from OIT.

He will be able to eat ANYTHING he wants.  We are SO excited for that day, and we are cautiously optimistic that despite our delays, we will conquer peanuts and hazelnuts once and for all.  We are MORE than ready for TAKE-OFF into our new life of FREEDOM!

This eclair may or may not have been sitting
directly next to a donut filled with peanut butter!
We are already experiencing new-found freedom!  #OITworks