We took Bennett to an asthma and allergy doctor yesterday. He came highly recommended by several people and we thought it would be a good step to take to see if the reason Bennett is getting sick so frequently is due to allergies. He ruled out food allergies without even doing a test since Bennett has never had an immediate, bad reaction to food (hives, closed throat, etc). After asking us several questions about Bennett, he did an environmental allergy test where he scraped his skin. Poor baby. Bennett didn't care for that. But the good news is it all came back negative which means Bennett doesn't have any allergies.
He does, however, feel that Bennett has asthma which is why he struggles to breath whenever he gets sick. Our ped has said the same thing but it's always good for another doctor to have the same thoughts and opinions. Both the asthma & allergy doctor and our ped said that they believe Bennett will grow out of it and it's nothing to be too terribly concerned with. He prescribed Bennett an inhaler (which we were planning on doing anyway) and wants us to use it on him every morning and night for several months....years even. He said we won't notice a difference in Bennett instantly, but over time it will help and hopefully prevent him from getting really sick, like he does now, in the future.
As far as why he's getting SO sick, so frequently, he thinks Bennett is just one of those kids who has a hard time dealing with being sick. He said his body over reacts and his lungs become inflamed. He called it chronic bronchitis. A person with chronic bronchitis often takes longer than usual to recover from common colds and viruses and people who have repeated bouts of bronchitis usually have asthma. If you google chronic bronchitis, it's usually caused by smoking or being exposed to second hand smoke so I just want to throw it out there that we do not smoke ever and aren't ever around anyone who does! So don't think we're smokers please!!
I feel better about everything now. I just wanted to get some answers and I feel pretty good about what all we were told. Both this doctor and our pediatricians have all said the exact same things which I think is great. I do have one more thing I would like to do for Bennett and that is to take him to the chiropractor. He went frequently when he was little bitty and it was so great. I believe in chiropractic care, and the girl we see is wonderful, so I just want to see if maybe she could help us. We're friends on facebook so she has seen my posts about Bennett being sick and I think she may have some ideas for us. We're going tomorrow so I'm looking forward to hearing her thoughts!
So that's where we are. Hopefully the inhaler helps Bennett and as he gets older he will be able to tolerate his sickness better. He is so pitiful when he gets sick and it's just so crazy how often he gets sick. Campbell has been sick a total of 3 times in his entire 3 years of life. I'm already dreading fall and winter but I'm crossing my fingers that these few things we're going to do for Bennett will help him stay healthy and that we won't struggle like we do now.