RCH melb -allergy clinic

[jessgray]

i have done a bit of homework and found that my aera either has a very hard to find allergy clinic or there is none at all.not even ds's GP is sure one exists here so i am wondering would i be seen as too pushy if i said i wanted a referal to the one at the RCH in melb? and how long do you have to wait? whats it like there?

[jembelina]

Defrinately not too pushy. This is where my gp automatically refferred us. However, we are still waiting for contact from them - must be at least 2 months ago now - and apparently the waiting list is about 12 months. Is it for excema or something else, because my mchn said the wait for the excema clinic there isn't as long. Again though, we changed the referral to that when we found out (about a week after initial referral) adn still havn't heard. Thankfully, we have managed to get ds excema somewhat under control so I kind of forgot we were waiting till I read this post. Might give them a call this week though and see what's going on!

[PhAnToM]

My DD has an allergy assessment at RCH every year. This year was her 3rd one.
Their waiting lists are generally 8 months to 12 months.
We managed to get in (the first time) in 6 months (that was rushed! :rolleyes: ) because my DD was admitted to emergency by ambulance with an anaphylactic reaction to nuts and they had to "rush" an appointment for her.

We actually paid $280 to see the specialist at his private rooms (which are not NEARLY as difficult to book in) within days of being released from hospital, but we kept the RCH appointment also, so we could get her tested there also and continue the annual checks under bulk billing.

You basically go in, a nurse does the skin test of the common allergens and anything that you may be suspicious of. They then wait and measure which allergens show a reaction. You then go in and see the specialist who explains your results and your options in controlling the situation.

Hope this helps. Any more questions, feel free to ask either here or PM.

[MissBrightside]

I was referred there for my DS1 about 3 and a half years ago. I didn't have to wait long for the eczema clinic but had to wait a couple of months for the actual allergy test.

[jessgray]

my ds gets eczema and he has asthma and he reacts to food so would he need to be on both the allergy test list and the eczema one? coz we are still trying to figure out the triggers of his eczema, so far we only know a few food triggers.
12 months seems like a long time to wait :gloomy: when its driving us insane trying to figure out what ds can eat and cant eat already.
:( i am scared he will become anaphlaytic to something before he is tested.

[jessgray]

Lut- which dr did you go see?on the rch site there is list of dr's and contact details was it one of them?

[PhAnToM]

DD sees Dr Ian Humphrey.
He is fantastic. And even though we were referred there for her allergy, he also assesses her eczema and it's been fantastic.
Last week when we went, he reassessed her eczema and saw that DS (who is 10 months and was also with us) had very bad eczema on his legs.
We had been using a cream that was working and then it seemed to get worse again. :rolleyes:

Anyway, he looked at them both and told us what to do and prescribed creams and the QV for baths and how and when to use everything.
Both seem to be MUCH better.
DS is the smoothest i've seen him since birth.

He also had us book in for another assessment just for the eczema for the start of November, because he wants to make sure it's working.

He is great!:thumbsup:

[jessgray]

thanks he sounds great:) how long is the wait to see him :D

[PhAnToM]

If you see him privately in his rooms in woop woop.. i mean Clayton (:D ) you can generally get in quickly.
He suggested I do this for DS's allergy test (he wants to test him too cos DD has anaphylaxis) because he said it's much quicker to see him there.
If you are prepared to pay the private consultation fee (like I said, with DD the first time, we did, cos she had such a bad reaction and it was urgent for us to see what her allergies were and how to care for her... especially since we were set to travel overseas a fortnight later) we managed to see him in his private rooms the next week and paid the fee for it.

I'm in 2 minds about doing this for DS. He is still very young, and not exposed to too many possible allergens, so i'm ok to wait for RCH appointment.

DD will have her next assessment in 2 years September. We were told to send a referral September 2007 and call to make an appointment for September 2008. Does this give you a good indication of how long it takes to get an appointment at the allergy centre? :laughing:

[jessgray]

:laughing: wow allergy center must be popular lol

do you get the money back for the consult from medicare? do i need a referal from a Dr to make a appointment?

[PhAnToM]

We got some money back for the consult, but i'm not sure if it was medicare, because we also have (*cough* HAD) private health insurance.
You do need a referral but you can give them a call to make the appointment and they'll tell you you need a referral. Tell them to make the appointment and you'll get the referral for them and fax it or post.. whatever.
While calling for the appointment, I'd ask about whether you get medicare refund for it.

Yes, they do appear to be quite popular. :laughing:

[jessgray]

:thumbsup: thanks i will organise it all tomorow :)
it probably is medicare that gave you money back they give money back for most things but ussually onyl a portion of what you paid lol

[wattle]

We see Ian Humphries too, he's great. The waiting times are totally ridiculous though, especially as allergies can be potentially fatal, and there are more and more kids being diagnosed with allergies.

We just discovered that ds has a wheat allergy. So add that to his already diagnosed allergies to nuts, eggs, shellfish and sensitivity to tomatoes, citrus fruits and processed meats, I'm running out of foods to feed him. :rolleyes:

[PhAnToM]

We just discovered that ds has a wheat allergy. So add that to his already diagnosed allergies to nuts, eggs, shellfish and sensitivity to tomatoes, citrus fruits and processed meats, I'm running out of foods to feed him. :rolleyes:

:eek:
I thought we had it bad with shellfish and nuts (anaphylactic).
At the age of 3 she outgrew the shellfish allergy and last week she was retested, and at age 4, she appears to be outgrowing her nut allergy. We appear to be falling into that 25% chance of growing out of the nut allergy. :smiliedance:

:fingerscrossed: for your little man too Wattle!

[jessgray]

wattle- i know how you feel my ds seems to react to everything :( and we dotn know if he is allergic or if its a intolerance etc yet. i agree the waiting times are silly, a child could die from an allergy while waiting to be diagnosed:gloomy:
Lut- i hope your DD gorws out her allergies:fingerscrossed:

hugs to you both:hugs: and fingers crossed your children grow out their allergies