Still Allergic

About two weeks ago I had quite the scare with Madison's peanut allergy. She had asked for the cereal Strawberry Bunches of Oats which we keep in one of our clear humidity proof containers. I then went in the other room to get ready for aerobics.

Not too much later Madison came in the room complaining that she needed a drink because her mouth and throat were really itchy. I looked at her face and she was red all around her mouth. I thought how strange, got her a drink of milk and then went to inspect her cereal. Oh oh, there were pieces of pecan mixed in with the cereal. I came to find out later that Jake had combined two of our cereals without me knowing. The other cereal had bits of pecan pieces in it. Madison is specifically allergic to peanuts and almonds however we avoid all nuts because they are usually manufactured on the same equipment.

It wasn't long before Madison's face started to swell and all of her membranes became full of mucus. I had actually given her some benadryl that morning for seasonal allergies and I wasn't sure how things would progress. I had always been afraid of using the EpiPen and was hoping not to get to that point. Madison was screaming and very irritated.

I called a friend who has used the EpiPen on her son before and asked at what point do I need to use it. She said to wait until after you have given the max amount of benadryl. So I gave Madison another dose and continued to watch her. Things continued to get worse and so I paged Jake at the hospital. He reminded me that you don't want to get to the point where she can't breath and gave me the courage to do it if I needed to.

I said a prayer and I was able to get Madison to stop crying long enough to realize that even without crying her breathing wasn't getting any better. She knew what the EpiPen was and I told her I was going to have to use it. She started screaming again, no epi, no epi, as I stuck her in the leg and counted to ten. I then called 911 and they sent the paramedics over to come and check her out. Not too long after Madison started to calm down and her breathing sounded a lot better. We went in the other room and turned on Tangled, her favorite movie while we waited for the paramedic (you always have to call 911 after using an EpiPen).

They arrived and Madison was really good while they checked her out. Typically they take kids to the hospital to be monitored after events like this however since Jake was going to be home that afternoon they let her stay at our house and rest. She was pretty swollen in the face the rest of the day and definitely crashed after her overdose of benadryl. I was so grateful everything went alright. Madison has finally stopped reminding me in the morning not to give her any cereal with nuts. Poor thing, I felt so bad. We are definitely more careful now and at least I know if I need to I have the courage to use the Epi.