After Dean’s original trip to the emergency room in January, we had to wait two weeks to go to the allergist for testing.  He was on prednisone for the next five days to eliminate the symptoms of the allergic reaction.  They want to make sure all of the medicine is out of his system before adding a possible allergen back “in.”  As a precautionary measure, his daycare doesn’t allow children who’ve had a severe allergic reaction to return without clearance from a doctor.  Since the reaction can be life-threatening, they need to know how to respond in the event of another emergency.  So the next morning, we saw his pediatrician.  There was a LOT of paperwork: allergen information, emergency response plan, 2 medicine authorizations, and 2 medicine administrations.  In the future, we were told to administer 5 mL of antihistamine (Benadryl) in the event of a minor allergic reaction, e.g. hives, flushing, etc.  We were given a prescription for an epi-pen.  She showed me how to use it (they give you a practice one) and was told that from now, we are to carry both with us at all times.  (We actually carry 2 epi-pens because you want a backup if one doesn’t work and you are supposed to administer a second dose if the response flairs up again or if the symptoms don’t subside after 5 minutes.)  She told us to use the epi-pen if Dean was having a severe reaction, e.g. significant hives, repeatedly projectile vomiting, trouble breathing, etc.  When in doubt, she told us to use it without hesitation, right through his clothes, and to call 911 immediately after.  An allergic reaction can significantly progress in just a matter of minutes and many children die because someone was nervous that the reaction wasn’t severe enough to use.  (I just read a heart wrenching story about a mother in a facebook support group I belong to whose 14-year old son died because she wasn’t sure and tried to get to the ER herself).

I was emotional for the next several weeks, crying at random times when I least expected it, going through everything that happened that Friday.   Continue reading →