I really enjoy reading the stories of other PA moms that live with the same fears that I do everyday. The thing that always amazes me is that everyone has a unique story about their child's diagnosis, yet we all end up in the same place.
Please welcome Nicole to "Peanut Allergy Kid" today as she shares her own story. I bet many of you can relate to how she found out about her son's peanut allergy: the first bite of peanut butter.
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When my son was 11 months old, I made him a snack. It was a piece of bread with a very thin layer of peanut butter on it. Very thin because, of course, I didn't want him to choke. The bread was then cut into nice baby sized pieces. I thought "What a nice healthy snack". I was watching him carefully because I know that peanut butter is sticky, but I wasn't worried. And he had no problem to any other food so far.
He ate it fine and I took him out of the high chair to give him some juice. It was then that I noticed this strange sort of redness on his chin. "That's weird", I thought. My husband had just called me on the phone and we were talking when Jack threw up. I had just finished cleaning him up when he threw up again. I threw him in the tub and still remember his poor sad face looking up at me as if saying, "Mommy, fix this." After that he would go on to throw up more (5 times in all) and he started turning bright red from head to toe.
I called the nurse who told me to give him some Benedryl and then she said something that I still can't believe. "Tomorrow you can try to give him some more peanut butter and if it happens again we'll know he's allergic." (What??!!??) As soon as I got off the phone I realized I never was told how much Benadryl to give him. I never could get back a hold of a nurse. I'd put in a call and it would take forever to get a call back. By this time the poor little guy was so miserable. Just laying his head on our shoulders, not really responding to our attempts to cheer him up.
We finally took him in to Urgent Care and by the time we were seen he seemed to be feeling better. The doctor promptly prescribed an epi pen and said don't give him peanuts. That was pretty much it. I hit the internet the next day and what I learned absolutely scared me to death: he could die from this. It took me a long time to get used to what life was going to be like now. Praise the Lord, he has not had one reaction since then. Not one!
don't live in constant fear anymore. He is so very careful and responsible about not eating things without checking with us first. Our families have been great about making things safe for him. Knowing what we know now though, we should have taken him to the hospital that night. Had I been a bolder person, I would have mentioned to the doctor the very dangerous advice the nurse had given me on the phone.
That's Jack's story about his allergy!! We take each situation as it comes now and continue to trust the Lord to guide us in each one.
You can catch up with Nicole on her family blog at http://increasinggrace.
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Did you shudder as much as I did at the nurse's medical advice? Try it one more time? There is no excuse for someone in the medical profession to not know the life-threatening potential of a peanut allergy.
Thanks so much for sharing with us Nicole!!
Thanks so much for sharing with us Nicole!!
3 comments:
Complaining about a nurses suggestion to the doctor will not resolve the issue. You will need to file a report with the medical board to get any attention on the issue.
Thanks for sharing your story Nicole! I had a similar experience with our family doctor. I told him I thought our son might be allergic to peanut butter and he told me to wait 6 months and try it again! I'm glad I followed my instincts and had him tested!
I shuddered, makes me remember my son's dr telling me there was no need to have my son tested (he was 4 at the time). I told her it needed to be done, I needed epipens if he was allergic, she still would not put in the referral. I complained to the people I needed to about her (my husband was army at the time and we were seen on post) and made an appt for a 2nd opinion. The next guy (I think a physician's assistant) said yes he needed to be tested and put in the referral, which was done off post and a town over. Oh the ER dr that treated us did give us epipens (2) but not a Rx for them and I knew that we'd really need to have more than 2 (as I like to keep 2 with ME even if he's not with me so I don't forget them and then some in the house in different locations/to take with me to give to caretakers). We were also eager to get him tested fast as my husband was getting out of the army and we were moving to who knows where shortly there after, it needed to be done asap. We were seen by a wonderful allergist and found out that he was a class 5 for peanuts (oh the day he had the reaction he also ate shrimp so we were unsure which actually caused it, his dr said avoid all nuts and fish, uh no! lol). He's since been tested again and came up class 6 this time. :( I'm still praying God will heal him of this. Thank you for this blog.
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