Will’s face, after clearing up for a few days, is now as bad as it has ever been.

As you can see, he’s got red, inflamed patches all over his face and forehead. What you can’t see are the patches under and above both ears, and on the back of one leg. Some of the patches get yellow, scabby and crusty, leading me to believe they’re still infected even after two weeks of both oral and topical antibiotics.

Our latest theory is a food allergy (Yes, Dad!). We’re going to eliminate things one at a time to see if that helps. This seems to have started around the time that Will starting eating oatmeal cereal, so we’re going to eliminate that starting today.

Other theories:

• Allergic to cats?
• Allergic to formula? Then why did this only start six weeks ago, when he’s been on the same formula since birth?
• Is this hereditary and related to my skin conditions?
• Are we overwashing and overtreating it?

We’re trying to get an appointment with a new dermatologist, and we’re also calling in the big guns - the allergy/immunologists from Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis who treated Will for his e.coli infection through the winter.

At this point, though, everything we’re trying seems to be making it worse, and this is really making me feel like a shitty parent.

Written by Gordy | Tags: allergy, cardinal glennon, dermatology, eczema, will hulten