Hey! Roxy Goth here. First of all, massive apology for not updating for like, two months. And a thank you to Imagonista for reminding me that the story does exist.
This chapter takes place about 4 months after the last one.
See chapter 1 for the disclaimer.
Gentle stared, slightly timidly as the bustling maternal figure of the paediatric allergy specialist ran around the doctors room gathering things she'd need. After Watchful insisted for the 20 thousandth time they take Sneezy to the hospital Gentle finally complied. At first she thought Watchful was just being a drama-king, but after two months of sneezing doubts began to enter her head. By the fourth month it had turned into full-out panic and they'd taken Sneezy to Doctor Caring Snow, who had announced they'd need to see a specialist of Allergies in children. A paediatrician. So here she was. Watchful was at home looking after the rest of the children.
"What's your son's name again?" The specialist's nasally voice pulled the mother-of-five from her thoughts.
"Sneezy. Sneezy Dwarf." Gentle told her, pulling her coat and bit together round her shoulders. The room was freezing.
"Right okay, first up, family History. Anything I need to know?"
"My oldest son Sleepy has narcolepsy, diagnosed with it when he was two. My next oldest, Doc, had a few issues at birth but's fine. His nursery gave him an IQ test actually. He's in the gifted section." Gentle said with a considerable amount of pride, "Dreamy, my next oldest, has no problems at all and neither does Happy, my second-youngest."
The specialist consulted her clipboard and then tapped her foot impatiently. "Mrs Dwarf. Although that information is useful, it's also detailed in your children's respective notes. What I MEANT was if anyone in your family has a history of allergies, seeing as that's what we appear to be looking at here."
Gentle flushed with embarrassment at that. "Oh. Of course, well. None of the children are allergic to anything, nor am I or Watchful. But my dad had Hay Fever."
The specialist started scribbling furiously. "When was this diagnosed?"
That threw Gentle a bit. "I-I don't know! Sometime in his childhood I think? Why are you asking me? I wasn't born then! Can't you look it up in the notes, Miss Alergin?"
Miss Alergin sighed from the apparent stupidity of the enquiry. "We don't keep patients records when they die, Mrs Dwarf. They're sent to a secure facility."
Gentle bristled. "Can I just point out that you, Miss Alergin, could actually be a bit politer and nicer? I am actually trying to help you here so if you could stop talking to me like I'm a two year old instead of a responsible mature adult that would be lovely."
The specialist paused to digest what Gentle said before plastering a smile on her face. "My apologies Mrs Dwarf. Thank you for your help. We're going to perform a skin prick test on your son now."
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"A skin prick test. It's where a tiny amount of the allergen to be tested is put on the skin, usually in liquid form. Each drop of liquid is then pricked with a tiny needle, which punctures just the top layers of skin. After 15 to 20 minutes I will check what reaction has happened on the skin. He'll be in no danger, but I will need you to turn him over onto his tummy for me."
"Why his stomach?" Gentle questioned, as she picked Sneezy up and turned him over onto his front.
"Normally with a test like this we'd use the forearm, however this doesn't tend to work with babies, they don't have enough skin for sufficient testing, so we've found that either the back or thigh works best."
Gentle nodded and allowed the specialist to do her work. Sneezy cried when he felt the needle enter his skin about 10 different times as the specialist tried different allergies on him.
After 20 minutes Miss Alergin was back with the results. Gentle looked up from comforting Sneezy, her face screwed up in worry.
"Well you'll be glad to know he isn't allergic to things like nuts or generally food. The specialist announced.
Gentle had been in enough hospitals to know the drill by now. "But he is allergic to something?"
"He's got Allergic rhinitis, that'sinflammation of the inside of the nose caused by an allergen, such as pollen, dust, mold or flakes of skin from certain animals." Miss Alergin admitted, smiling in sympathy when Gentle groaned.
"Alright, what are they?"
"Dogs, cats, guinae pigs, squirrels, rabbits and deer's."
"Oh, as long as it's only a few." Gentle said snarkily as she massaged her throbbing temple with one hand while cradling Sneezy with the other. "Wait, did you say dust. Are you kidding me?" Gentle gasped in anguish, looking up. "How can he be allergic to dust? I clean my house all day! Seriously, I don't work. Once the children leave I clean the house. That's what I do!"
"Which would have helped I'm sure." The specialist quickly said. "But what I actually meant specifically was house dust mites"
"House dust mites?"
"They're tiny insects that feed on the dead flakes of human skin. They can be found in mattresses, carpets, soft furniture, pillows and beds."
That settles it, I'm never going to sleep again, Gentle though as the specialist prattled on.
"The allergy isn't caused by the dust mites themselves, but by a chemical found in their excrement. Dust mites are present all year round, although their numbers do tend to peak during the winter."
"So he's got an allergy to dust mites that flare up during the winter?" Gentle said in disbelief.
"And an allergy to animals that are around all year long." The specialist said helpfully.
"Right. So how do we treat it? Or at least keep it at bay?"
"How old is he?"
"4 months, nearly 5.'
"Ah. We can't give him Saline Nasal Spray till he's six months.. This'll help clear out his nose so it's easier for him to breath. One into each nostril when required. Some tablets may be required when he's older, but we'll see. We'll need to…"
"Monitor his condition? Yeah, I guessed. How long for?"
The specialist gave another smile. "However long the allergies persist. We'll need to monitor him up till 2 at least, then we can see about giving him the tablets. From then it depends on how well they work. There's also a strong chance he'll have hay fever as well. But that doesn't develop till the child's around 2 or 3. So come in if anything happens around then."
"Is that it?" Gentle asked. The specialist nodded.
She got up. "Well thank you Miss Alergin. How soon can you get the spray?"
"Within the next two-three weeks."
"Lovely, thank you." And with that Gentle walked out the surgery, Sneezy still sniffling in her arms.
