August 7, 2008

So Elliot has an allergy. Don't know to what, but there are several big possibilities: the cats, the layers of dust in the house, and the mold on our bathroom ceiling (and potentially all through our attic) are the most likely.

He's been itchy.

For the past 2 months or so, he's been rubbing at his eyes. At first we thought he was just tired or that the humidity we'd been having was preventing him from getting a good night's sleep. Then he added scratching at his ears. Then the back of his head (again, I thought since his hair was getting so long and it was so hot that he was just sweaty).

Then the hives showed up when he ate strawberries.

So we took him to the dr last week. He checked him over and said he could tell by looking in his eyes and nose that he has a mild inhaled allergy. It's likely separate from the strawberry thing. It's mild enough that we don't have to treat it unless it's causing Elliot discomfort - there's been no redness or swelling or watering in his eyes... but he obviously itches.

We need to have our roof repaired. There were pinhole leaks around the chimney last fall and I'm positive our attic is full of mold right now. Jay is hesitating having someone out to repair it because he's scared it's going to turn into a $20K job that we just can't afford. But I say we need to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later because then it will be a $20K job, guaranteed. The bathroom ceiling needs to be replaced now, instead of simply scraped and repainted with proper paint because the mold started. Yuck. (The previous owners didn't properly vent the bathroom and we've never gotten around to repairing it.)

Bah.


I'm hoping that it's a simple pollen allergy that will clear up in the fall. We've noticed it's worse at home and outside in our yard. Or when he's been outside a lot....