Our luck ran out

[hedgehog]

   I love the comment about the bracelets.  That kid has got her priorities right! 

[momma2boys]

Ugh, sorry you're adding another allergy to your already extensive list. Glad she is ok.

[YouKnowWho]

Emily woke up this morning and looks perfect.  Has been sharing details with everyone about the hospital and how "they didn't have fancy bandaids for her shot but it's okay because it didn't hurt as much as the shot in her toe".  Guessing she wasn't traumatized as much as I was    (And she handled the shot much better than last time - the one in the toe caused her to scream loud enough to drown out two incoming ambulances, this time she felt the relief so fast that I think she welcomed it).

When we arrived in the pediatric ER, the room was stuffed to the gills, standing room only with many complaining how long they had been there.  Pretty sure some daggers were shot in my direction when we were called back ASAP.  Others complain about this ER but in all the times we have been going, my experience has always been top notch.  We stayed three hours only, not four but the waiting room was still plumb full. 

Looking at the jar - it has a warning list for a long list of shared peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soy.  So while in my gut, I am thinking macadamia, I wonder if it was another nut.  And then I worry about how common macadamias are and do I have to change label reading for her (ie cookies).  Guess we need to visit the allergist...

Having some PTSD, could of, would of, should of moments today.  Like why didn't I call the ambulance and why did this happen to her.  No answers there, I guess I just need to move on.

[CMdeux]

  YKW-- take a little mommy time for yourself in the days to come.  This is a hard, hard few weeks for you.  I'm so sorry.  But very glad for your little one that she was given to YOU and that you knew exactly what to do.  She is one lucky little mini-you.   

[Mookie86]

Bummer that she also is dealing with food allergies. It sounds like you and she both did a great job handling the situation. I am glad she's feeling so well today.

[PurpleCat]

You are an allergy expert under too much stress!!!!

So sorry this happened.  Em sounds like she was a total trooper and took things in stride.

[maeve]

I'm glad that Em is OK. I hope the two of you are getting some rest today.

I know you're sad that Em now has a food allergy. Look on the bright side though: She can eat peanuts and many tree nuts, just not macadamia. Thankfully, macadamia isn't as prevalent as other tree nuts.

I'm so impressed at Em demonstrating how to use the EpiPen. She's a smart girl.


I can attest that shots in the toe hurt much worse than elsewhere on the body. I had to have a couple at the podiatrist, and honestly going without the numbing shot would probably have been less painful than the shot itself.

[YouKnowWho]

I think mainly I am mourning the loss of what her life was vs what her life will be, kwim?

She told me she is happy that I have to read labels for her now (and FWIW - I read labels for her because food allergies also made me look into cleaning up how we eat and some of the stuff on labels is disturbing). 

But it's just macadamia nuts - it's not that big of a deal.  But it is.

Can you tell my brain is arguing with itself?

[maeve]

I think mainly I am mourning the loss of what her life was vs what her life will be, kwim?

I know exactly what you mean. I often mourn how different DD's life is, and I find myself doing it quite a bit lately as she has entered her teens. I'll even cop to having envy of people whose children do not have food allergies. Oh to be able to give your child anything to eat and not even think about it.

It's perfectly normal to have this swirl of emotions after what you went through last night. That's why we're here to lend an ear and send good thoughts.

[CMdeux]

    I find that those moments of angst and grief for normative lifestyle tend to come in waves.  I've been in a bit of a funk there lately, myself.

[LinksEtc]

So sorry YKW.   

[Jessica]

sorry to hear this.

[spacecanada]

So sorry to hear you and and your daughter had to go through this.  Thankfully, Em has an awesome Mum and family who will support her.  She has confidence in you and looks up to you and her siblings with allergies and knows she will be okay because of that.  We're here for you, YKW.  You are an awesome Mum no matter what you may think now.  Take care of yourself, don't beat yourself up too much, and borrow some hope and happiness from Em. 

[YouKnowWho]

And now we can add hazelnuts to Em's list.  I guess we can just call all tree nuts (though she tolerates coconut still) to the list.  Or we will until I can get to the allergist.  She used to be a huge fan of Nutella but yesterday was hives on chin, scratching of the tongue and ears.  Yes, two or more systems and should have epi'd.  I had four adults telling me it was overkill.  Lots of eagle eye watching (and will have to talk to my MIL about her comments because I have been doing this for nearly 10 years and I wasn't putting words in her mouth or thoughts in her head). 

I have been trying to figure out what has changed in the last year after thinking we hit "safe zone".  But as I read more about gut bacteria it makes me wonder.  In July she was on high powered antibiotics after the splinter under the toe nail debacle (her foot started changing color which made me take her straight the ER).  And then sulfa based drugs for the UTI for 10 days in October.

Regardless, it stinks.

[momma2boys]

Maybe the hazelnuts were cross contaminated with the other tree nut she is allergic to. Same reason they tell us to avoid all tree nuts because of peanut c.c.