Kevin is allergic to peanuts. As I write that I'm having a hard time not crying, I've been trying not to cry all day. I never thought about him having the possibility of a food allergy. Ken and I don't have food allergies so I just assumed he wouldn't, it never crossed my mind. At his one year well baby check I asked the Doctor when we could introduce peanut butter and he gave us the go ahead. We did about 2 weeks later, just a small amount on a cracker. He developed a small rash around his lips. We didn't call the Doctor, we just decided maybe it was introduced too soon and we decided to wait a couple of more months and try again. So about a month ago, right after he turned 15 months, I tried again. It was just Kevin and I at home and he was eating lunch; mandarin oranges, a peas and carrots veggie mix and some peanut butter spread very thin on wheat crackers. At first he didn't want to eat the peanut butter crackers so I would give him bites with peas and carrots. Eventually he started coughing, then as he continued eating his coughing became worse. He started gagging and acted like he was having a hard time breathing. Then he stopped coughing and just acted like he couldn't breathe. My heart stopped and I immediately yanked him out of his chair and threw him over my legs and started doing palm thrusts on his back to get whatever was causing his choking to come up. He threw up everything he had just ate, took in a deep breath and starting screaming. The whole thing lasted about a minute but it was the scariest minute of my life. As soon as he started screaming I started crying. I couldn't believe that had just happened. I called his Doctor and set up an appointment for an allergy consult. My mommy instincts almost knew that's what it was that caused his reaction. Kevin is really great at being able to clear his airway if something is stuck, we have never had to intervene and help him. He almost immediately gags and is able to bring whatever is stuck back up. At the appointment his Doctor said it sounded more like a case of choking but because of the earlier lip rash decided it would be best to put in a consult to the allergist at the hospital. We had our appointment with the allergist today and I explained the same things I did with the Doctor, how Kevin has never had problems choking, the earlier rash and the horrible scary incident. He too thought the scary incident sounded like choking but decided it would be better to be safe and do some skin testing. He let me know that even if it was negative we could do blood testing to further make sure (I think he was convinced it would be negative). The skin testing was a little scary but the nurse was so nice. She turned on the t.v to Elmo and had a toy to keep Kevin distracted. I held him in my lap facing the t.v, his back facing the nurse, while she administered the scratch test. Kevin was a champ, even though he was pricked three times, a control, a histamine, and the peanut. I told myself I wasn't going to look until the required 15 minutes had passed, I didn't want to know until it was for sure. The nurse walked by and peeked at his back after about 5 minutes and said "Wow, that's a positive". I looked at Kevin's back and even though it confirmed my suspicions my heart still sank. Kevin's back was red and swollen. I wish my phone hadn't died and I could have snapped a picture. Where she had done the peanut prick there was a bump the size of a dime and the redness was about the radius of a dollar coin. Kevin started getting fussy and squirmy, and kept trying to rub his back against me. You could just tell his back was itching him. After the 15 minutes had passed the allergist came back in and asked how it was going, I turned Kevin's back toward him and he looked very surprised to see how bad the reaction was. He ordered some more testing of actual nuts (a peanut is actually a legume not a nut, guess who didn't know that?...me). The almond, walnut and pecan all came back negative thankfully. However, after the consultant with him we both decided that staying away from all nuts will be in Kevin's best interest. He also said that with Kevin's previous episode and with the way his skin reacted we should start carrying around epipens. He prescribed us two and showed me how to use it. Kevin is going to be that little boy, the one who can't have brownies made with nuts, will never be able to try peanut M & M's (my favorite), and will be the one who's allergy is the cause of the "peanut free room" signs in school and daycare at church. I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does. I guess it's knowing that such a small thing can harm my baby so much. It's knowing that from this point on it's constantly monitoring food wrappers and restaurant menus. Making sure everyone who watches him knows how to use the epipen, and knows not to give him peanuts or anything with them in it. It's knowing that his life is that much more precious and special.
I'm sorry for you guys! My brother is {severely} allergic to peanuts. So, I grew up reading labels and knowing how to use an epipen. My mom was devastated (she loves m&ms too!). For the first few years she didn't let anything with peanuts into the house. But with time it became habit to read everything and got easier as he got older. He also wore a medical bracelet, that's something you can look into when he goes to school.
ReplyDeleteMy mom even had to warn my brother's girlfriends that if they eat peanuts/peanut butter they can't kiss him because he could have a reaction! Haha, he was mortified!
On a positive note, now there are a lot of stores with peanut free products by the dozen (whole foods, trader joes, etc)! And there's a chance he could grow out of the allergy, although my brother did not. Also, my brother can have Nutella since it's hazelnut, maybe Kevin can have that on his sandwiches, too!
I am Roxanne's mom. I had to write to you because I know what you're going through. It is a big deal, and of course you're going to be the one to protect him until he can do that for himself. Dallas took a road trip with friends when he was 18, and I made sure his friend knew the signs and how to treat a reaction!! I'm sure Dallas had it covered, but ....
ReplyDeleteI did use the phrase "potentially fatal peanut allergy" at times because some people thought he'd get hives, not understanding the anaphalactic reaction. We kept Dallas nut free his entire childhood. We just didn't want to confuse him, and his allergy doctor advised us to do that. When Dallas got old enough ( he was diagnosed as a one year old- he had a reaction the very first time!) we told him peanuts to him were like kryptonite to Superman. It does get easier each year after they start school, because you get used to being his advocate. I became friends with another mother whose son had incrediably bad allergies to most foods, and we teamed up and took turns going on field trips. I understand your feelings totally!