Allergy Testing-Part #2

OK - now to yesterday. Madison had literally been watching the date, counting down to her appointment. She KNEW too what the day & time was of her appointment!! She took her binkie with her (her favorite blanket) and her DS video game machine, and we actually arrived early (I really didn't want anything to get either of us hysterical!) They called us back into the exam room about 15 minutes later, got her vital info, and had the doctor come in just a little later. The doctor is a "woman", as Madison requested, and she was very personable and knowledgeable (more on that later!) Now the reason that a "woman" doctor is important is because Madison told her pediatrician that she wanted a woman doctor; then, they ended up referring her to a male doctor, so I had to call & correct that. I told Madison upfront that I would tell her everything I knew about the whole process if she acted like she could handle it. She did very well & I actually think for her, treating her "like an adult" in this case, helped take away the unknowns that scare her so much. So, we start talking to the doctor and she listens to everything. (I love a doctor that listens!) So, she tells Madison about the "caterpillar" that will actually have the food samples on it. It was an 8-prong little white square thing with jagged ends on the prongs. They will put liquid dots of different foods on the ends and then push them on the undersides of her arms. No needles, no piercing of the skin, nothing scary. I think this is what made it all go well for Madison, and she even let Madison push it down on her arms to see what it would feel like. No pain!! (Praise God!) So, we headed back to a "prep" type room, where several other people were getting either allergy shots or allergy testing. (In the middle of all this, they asked Madison to participate in a laptop questionnaire about asthma, where they are conducting a study to help underpriviledged children get diagnosed with asthma more efficiently-no, we're not the underpriviledged, we're the test group!) They sit her down, take out the food samples, and we begin the testing.