Yep, that was me yesterday morning. Almost to the city on the way to daycare/work when I realized I didn't have the damned thing. Talk about instantaneous panic!
Rationally, I knew it wasn't that big of a deal because he'd be at daycare, where we've left an Epipen so I don't have to cart it back and forth. And daycare was the only place he'd be going (and eating) that morning.
The irrational, emotional part of me, however, was none too happy. And that nasty little internal critic kept up a running dialogue, all morning. How could I have been so stupid? I was definitely a failure in the allergy mommy department. And it went on and on until I literally was sitting in the truck on the way back to pick the boys up from daycare and had to yell "Shut up!" at the top of my lungs. Then it quit, thankfully ;-)
I'm used to carrying Ventolin and an aerochamber around with me, but they're not affected by temperature and so I just leave them in my rather large purse. The Epipen, being temperature-sensitive, sometimes gets taken out. And yesterday morning it didn't get put back in. In my hurry to get out the door on time, I forgot to grab it.
Now it, the Benadryl, the Ventolin, and the aerochamber have their very own home (much like this one) and I'll need to find something to put them in, as the whole container won't fit in my current purse ... and I should maybe find something to put it in, as I'm not sure my husband will be thrilled about carrying around a plastic container when it's just him and the boys.
Regardless, you can bet I'll be more vigilent about making sure I've got *everything* before I go out the door!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Tracking the cause
So, what caused William’s reaction?
William had a grilled cheese sandwich on multigrain bread, a few French fries, and some packaged, ready-to-eat grapes for lunch the day that he had his first serious reaction. Of these things, the only one that he hadn’t had before at that particular restaurant was the grapes, so that was where I suspected the problem lay.
The doctor whom we saw the day of the reaction said that his reaction indicated a food allergy and that, considering what he’d eaten, she strongly suspected a food preservative was the culprit.
The following morning I phoned the restaurant and talked to the manager. He was able to tell me who distributed the grapes and gave me that company’s contact information.
When I phoned the distributor, I discovered that the grapes were washed with potable tap water, then packaged. When I pushed a bit further, saying that I’d narrowed the source of the reaction down to the grapes, the representative with whom I spoke said, after a bit of thought, that all grapes were sprayed with sulphur dioxide prior to packaging and distribution.
A brief Internet search revealed that sulphites are one of the nine most common causes of serious food reactions in Canada. I was fairly certain, thus, that sulphur dioxide was the culprit, especially considering several cases of gastrointestinal distress that William had experienced earlier that month.
At the moment, William has only had one serious and three mild allergic reactions to food since the initial serious one. All have been to foods containing sulphites, particularly sulphur dioxide. We have an appointment to see a paediatric allergy specialist November 8, 2012, so we'll see whether we get a definitive diagnosis at that time. In the meantime, we're avoiding all sources of sulphites in an attempt to prevent further reactions.
William had a grilled cheese sandwich on multigrain bread, a few French fries, and some packaged, ready-to-eat grapes for lunch the day that he had his first serious reaction. Of these things, the only one that he hadn’t had before at that particular restaurant was the grapes, so that was where I suspected the problem lay.
The doctor whom we saw the day of the reaction said that his reaction indicated a food allergy and that, considering what he’d eaten, she strongly suspected a food preservative was the culprit.
The following morning I phoned the restaurant and talked to the manager. He was able to tell me who distributed the grapes and gave me that company’s contact information.
When I phoned the distributor, I discovered that the grapes were washed with potable tap water, then packaged. When I pushed a bit further, saying that I’d narrowed the source of the reaction down to the grapes, the representative with whom I spoke said, after a bit of thought, that all grapes were sprayed with sulphur dioxide prior to packaging and distribution.
A brief Internet search revealed that sulphites are one of the nine most common causes of serious food reactions in Canada. I was fairly certain, thus, that sulphur dioxide was the culprit, especially considering several cases of gastrointestinal distress that William had experienced earlier that month.
At the moment, William has only had one serious and three mild allergic reactions to food since the initial serious one. All have been to foods containing sulphites, particularly sulphur dioxide. We have an appointment to see a paediatric allergy specialist November 8, 2012, so we'll see whether we get a definitive diagnosis at that time. In the meantime, we're avoiding all sources of sulphites in an attempt to prevent further reactions.
Friday, September 21, 2012
First reaction
"This can't be happening," was the first thing that ran through my mind that afternoon.
We'd been out for lunch after going to the Vancouver Aquarium, when William said he had to go to the bathroom for the second time since starting lunch. He barely made it to the bathroom, where he had a serious case of diarrhoea. When I went to help him with his pants, I noticed that he had a huge scarlet splotch across his lower back. A closer inspection revealed more splotches and a growing number of hives.
Worried, I took William back to the table, where Grampa and William's older brother were still eating. I told them I suspected William was having a serious allergic reaction, and left them to quickly finish up and pay.
Once out at the truck, I dug out some Claritin (all that I had on hand) and gave him a dose of that. In the brief period of time between leaving the bathroom and giving him the antihistamine, he had more hives, and his face and neck had begun to swell.
His symptoms got worse--more diarrhoea, more hives, facial and neck swelling, tongue numbness--on the way to the medical clinic. We left the clinic with a prescription, clutched in my hand, for an Epipen Jr, in case of further anaphylactic reaction.
We lucked out with this first reaction, as the facial/neck swelling and tongue numbness had begun to subside by the time we saw the doctor. William had to have Benadryl every six hours for two days, but we didn't have to use the Epipen Jr.
We'd been out for lunch after going to the Vancouver Aquarium, when William said he had to go to the bathroom for the second time since starting lunch. He barely made it to the bathroom, where he had a serious case of diarrhoea. When I went to help him with his pants, I noticed that he had a huge scarlet splotch across his lower back. A closer inspection revealed more splotches and a growing number of hives.
Worried, I took William back to the table, where Grampa and William's older brother were still eating. I told them I suspected William was having a serious allergic reaction, and left them to quickly finish up and pay.
Once out at the truck, I dug out some Claritin (all that I had on hand) and gave him a dose of that. In the brief period of time between leaving the bathroom and giving him the antihistamine, he had more hives, and his face and neck had begun to swell.
His symptoms got worse--more diarrhoea, more hives, facial and neck swelling, tongue numbness--on the way to the medical clinic. We left the clinic with a prescription, clutched in my hand, for an Epipen Jr, in case of further anaphylactic reaction.
We lucked out with this first reaction, as the facial/neck swelling and tongue numbness had begun to subside by the time we saw the doctor. William had to have Benadryl every six hours for two days, but we didn't have to use the Epipen Jr.
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