COMPLACENCY

Emma has been an allergy kid for 9 years, although we have only known about them since she was 2.  She had her first registered  anaphylactic reaction to peanuts then.  For the last 7 years we have carried around her emergency kit .  Occasionally we go into it to administer anti-histimine and ventolin for mild reactions but never have we had to use her Epi-pen  We have dutifully bought new epi-pens as the old ones expired and often thought "Do we really need this?", "The cost is so exorbitant to just throw away in a year or so's time."  We were complacent.

Do you note I wrote were.  Last night our lovely Emma came home from Girls Brigade with a tub of baking.  All safe for her - we provided ingredients and her lovely leader checked everything else they used.  Everything.  Nothing was on her banned list.  She hungrily gobbled them up when she got home.  I am so grateful that she ate them at home.  We had visitors, she chatted for a few minutes and I sent her off to bed.

"Mum" she called, "I'm itchy, can I have a shower?"

"Sure" I said "I'll be up in a minute"

"MUM I am so itchy, and I cant breathe"  She was starting to get really agitated and something was obviously wrong.

I get her out of the shower, give her Ventolin and her preventer Seretide and smother her in Fatty cream. She scratches constantly and her breathing is laboured.  "I am so ITCHY!" She cries.

I bring her downstairs and give her anti-histimine.  Then the welts start forming on her forehead.  I rang for the ambulance. The operator takes forever to find our address - I have to say it 3 times.  "It is an EMERGENCY!" I yell.  Hubby tells me to calm down.  Eventually they find out what is wrong.  The tell me to administer the Epi-pen.

For 7 years we have carried it and never needed it, now I actually have to use it.

The ambulance arrives a few minutes later.  They take her vitals and it all looks okay.  The welts are coming down.  Yay, we got it in time.  They take her to hospital.

By the time we get there I notice her body is red from head to toe and she is still so itchy.  The ambulance driver tells us it is just starting to come up.  It really makes me think this might not be as routine as I think it is.  Luckily half an hour later and the itch has subsided and her skin is starting to look less red.

They keep us in for 4 hours incase she reacts again.  Luckily all is good and we go home by taxi at 1.30am.

We still dont know what she reacted to, a trace of nuts maybe, some dairy that was mixed in with her food by mistake, or is it a new allergy to something she has eaten regularly before?

Complacency is bad.  And in a food allergic kids life, it can be fatal.  If we hadn't had the Epi-Pen and had to wait for the ambulance driver to administer it would we have had the same good result?  Probably is the answer, but not definitely.  And is that something I ever want to find out? No?

This really can be a life saver

We don't have an Epi-Pen now.  She didn't go to school today.  We have to be extremely careful with what she comes into contact with until we get her a new one. But what if it is a new allergy to something she eats regularly?  It is quite an unsettling feeling.  One of us will head off to Quay Park Pharmacy tonight to get one.

I don't think we will ever feel complacent about things with Emma again.  It was a real wake up call.

You can never know what is around the corner with allergies.

You need to be prepared.  ALL.  THE.  TIME.