Medical Update

A couple months ago Wesley's regular dermatologist was booked up so we were scheduled to see one of her partners. This ended up being a BIG blessing in disguise. The "new" doctor said if the squaric acid wasn't making a difference by now we should try something else. So she decided to apply "beetle juice" (aka cantharidin) to his warts and we also increased his oral medication (Tagament-the antacid) to three times a day.

The cantharidin goes on just like the squaric acid. And needs to be washed off several hours later just like the SA too. It also blisters quite a bit, but since it is not causing an allergic reaction like the SA it is more localized to just the actual warts and not itchy or painful at all. No more tears in the night and dose after dose of Benedryl! The skin around the warts is not affected, which was a big problem with the SA. Overall, a much better treatment to deal with for Wesley.

The best part? I don't know if it was the increased Tagament or the beetle juice or a combination of the two, but his warts improved dramatically... even more than all the previous squaric acid treatments combined! He has since had another treatment and goes again next Friday for another.

The bummer is that it costs more, a lot more. But if it works it will be worth it! I have taken pictures along the way but Wesley has asked me not to post them. Maybe when it is all said and done I will post some before and after pictures. Who knew there were so many strange "natural juices" out there to treat warts!? It has definitely been a learning experience for all of us.

If things keep going as well as they have been I am hoping a few more treatments will do the trick and Wesley will be rid of these warts for good! Then we can move on to the next medical issue... JD has his first eye exam with the pediatric ophthalmologist scheduled for next Friday. Unfortunately, we noticed his eyes are starting to cross a bit here and there. I'm guessing it's accommodative esotropia... we'll see if I'm right next week.

Speaking of eyes, Eli had a re-check this week and his "bad" eye slid back a few notches without the patch therapy so we are back to the eye patch 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. So the good 'ol blue eye patch came out of storage and is again in use. Eli seemed to take the news well and, thankfully, hasn't complained about wearing it. Yet.