I haven't blogged in some time-- and no that doesn't mean we've been eating take out for the last couple of months! HA! We don't "do" take out for a lot of reasons. I've just been so caught up in every day life... work, kids, cloth diapering (yup, cloth diapering), home-made baby food making, and the hustle and bustle of every day life. But yesterday we had a scare. A pretty good scare and it has made me hit the pause button and reflect. I wasn't sure if I was going to post this at first, but since it's a blog for food allergy recipes, I think it is appropriate.
Here is what happened from my point of view:
7:45am morning rush after April Vacation-- (it was raining cats n dogs and we all just wanted to stay in bed)
I was getting the kids lunches ready while they ate breakfast (a usual routine for us). I hadn't had the chance to hit the grocery store and didn't have any lunch meat in the house. Hannah doesn't really like just jelly sandwiches, so I decided to make her pbj and made a mental note to really not do that any more because I know the school is trying to go peanut free-- and I of all people should be honoring that! Pushing my guilty thoughts aside, I told Hannah to sit away from the peanut free area b/c she has a pbj for lunch. I packed up their lunches, finished off the morning routine stuff and headed out the door for drop off. I grabbed my grocery bags to grab groceries right after drop off.
9:30am
I got home from the grocery store, put them away and fed Sarah. About a half hour later I put her down for a nap and busied myself making banana bread and put a roast in the crockpot for dinner. I started cleaning, organizing and doing some laundry. Sarah woke up about 11ish and I fed her a bottle.
About 12noon
The phone rang and I saw that it was from the town. When I see this on caller ID it always makes me nervous that the school nurse is calling about Noah. Tensely, I answered the phone and sure enough it was her asking if I gave Noah a peanut butter sandwich? WHAT? NO! She then clarified to make sure that I hadn't given him soynut butter (he doesn't like soynut butter). I immediately knew what had happened. I must have switched their sandwiches and put them in the wrong lunch boxes! Damn it! She said he said his mouth and throat felt funny and she was probably going to give him his epipen. I told her I was on my way there. I collected Sarah, grabbed her diaper bag, strapped her in the car and raced off toward the school. Along the way I called hubby and told him what had happened and the nurse might give him his epi and I would keep him posted. I hit a red light along the way. It really must have been the longest red light in the history of traffic lights, I almost blew it.
About 12:15ish
I pulled into the school parking lot. For an instant I considered parking in the firelane and just running in the school, but then dismissed that as a bad idea because if the ambulance came, I'd be in the way and would have to move my car. I found a close parking spot; as I was pulling in, I saw the principal of the school waiting at the door. When I got out of the car I could hear the sirens. It put a sick, twisted feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing those sirens were heading for us, knowing they were for my son. I grabbed Sarah and ran to the entrance of the school. The principal held the door open and assured me Noah was okay and that she had given him his epipen. I absolutely HATE crying in front of people, but when something happens to your child, there is no way to control those emotions and I started to cry. I walked into the nurses office and there he was, just sitting there. He looked a little pale, but okay. He saw me crying and he started to cry. I willed myself to stop so that he wouldn't feel more upset and scared than he already felt. I called hubby and told him they gave him epi, EMT's are on their way and we were going to the hospital. The nurse said she gave him his epi and then a dose of benedryl because she saw some hives around his neck. I hugged him as best as I could with Sarah on my hip and told him what a good job he did getting himself to the nurse!
Not sure about time frames from this point on...
When the EMT's got there, I had calmed down a bit. Seeing him helped. He seemed okay and said he was feeling okay. They put him on the stretcher and wheeled him outside and into the ambulance. I was so thankful they let both Sarah and I ride in the ambulance with Noah. Just before we pulled away, hubby showed up and he followed us to the hospital. Along the way the EMT's kept asking to make sure he still felt okay and checked his vitals. On a side note, they had a built in car seat for Sarah-- something they didn't have when Noah was about her age and had his first ambulance trip-- a welcomed upgrade!
At the hospital they monitored his vitals and kept a good watch on him. We were there about 3 1/2 hours total before discharged. The doctor gave him a steroid to take for a few days to keep swelling at bay. Thankfully, he didn't have any relapse reactions!
My dad came to get Sarah and then later picked up Hannah from school (who had seen the stretcher at school and worried it was for Noah, but never knew for sure until dismissal).
We gave him another dose of benedryl and the steroid last night before bed. He woke up feeling good and I sent him off to school in good spirits. I did make sure to open his sandwich and show him just jelly before packing it in his lunchbox this morning. I feel like I owe him that much. It puts a knot in my stomach thinking that he relies on me to provide him safe food and yesterday I probably put a long lasting doubt in him. I hope that I haven't made him question every single piece of food that goes in his mouth-- but think that I probably have done, just that.
I am so incredibly proud of him for doing the exact right thing!! I am so relieved that even though he is very shy, he didn't hesitate to tell a teacher what he needed. I am so grateful to our school nurse and the school staff who understand the severity of food allergies and didn't hesitate to help him.
I know that, as much as we would like to, we can't keep him in a bubble! I am so glad that when an emergency arose, everyone did what they should have done and that because of those actions, Noah was able to off to school happy today.
~ Pam
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